Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of enhancing the way your website appears to Google and other search engines. SEO is based on a few core best practices including using relevant keywords, fast loading websites, and standards compliant code. SEO for you translates into higher rankings in search engines and more people visiting your site.
Why SEO?
Search engine optimization, in many cases, is realizing the potential of your website. A website that is imporperly set up will not reach its potential ranking in Google and other search engines.
How does SEO work?
Standards compliant HTML code
Like all aspects of technology, the coding languages used to create websites changes frequently. Search engines expect website to be using the most current iterations of HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flash, etc. This aspect of SEO includes writing relevant keywords and website descriptions in code that search engines are looking for. This may be the easiest and most often overlooked aspect of search engine optmization.
Keyword rich text
If you look closely enough at this website, you’ll see the word “website” used often. Not “site”, nor “web site”; “website”. Using keywords that are relevant to your content, and using them liberally, is essential to ranking highly in search results. This aspect of SEO requires getting in the head of potential visitors and imagining which keywords they will use to get to your website.
Fast loading and efficient websites
Of the many metrics Google and other search engines use to rank your site, loading speed, ease of navigation, and efficient coding are very important. Google expects sites to be fast and using clean and orderly HTML, which in turn results in a more user friendly website. A search engine’s goal is to provide the best website result for a certain search query, and if yours is slow and unresponsive, it will send potential visitors elsewhere.
Submitting your site to search engines & monitoring results
Diagnostics and monitoring is a major part of determining how your website can improve. Google and other search engines provide many tools for monitoring your search result ranking for a given keyword or keywords. Do you know which keywords most visitors who’ve reached your website typed into Google?
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