Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization is a set of rules and practices that enhance
the "findability" of
your site by search engines, thus improving your ranking in the search
engine results pages. There are many components to search optimization,
including proper selection and use of keywords and other metatag information,
building your site correctly, and using links to maximize your ranking.
How important is it to optimize my web site for search engines?
If you want to use your website to grow your business, then it is advisable
to ensure your site is properly optimized. More
than 80% of all Internet users use search to find what they need
online. Why hide from potential customers?
There are many components
to SEO, and you can choose to implement everything at once, or implement
the techniques progressively. Of course, the sooner the changes are
made, the sooner you will see the results.
Will I have to redo my entire website to make it search engine optimized?
There are many levels of search engine optimization, and much will depend
on how your site was originally built. Changing
the site's architecture is usually the most involved alteration.
However, there are many other items within your site that can be
modified more easily and quickly.
When will I start seeing results of SEO?
The time frame varies from a few days to many weeks, depending on when
your site is re-indexed.
What are search engine spiders?
Search engine spiders (also called "crawlers" or "bots") are programs that browse the Internet for web pages. They index and rank each page they find, based on subject matter and a number of other factors. The spiders work on unique algorithms programmed by software engineers for the various engines.
What is Page Rank?
Page Rank is a term used by Google that reflects their
system for ranking pages on the basis of their importance and relevance
to certain keywords. If Page Rank likes your page and finds it useful
according to its parameters you will receive a high ranking on the
search result page.
What is black hat SEO?
Many website use "black hat" techniques in an attempt to trick the search engines for better results. These techniques include
page cloaking, link farms, duplicate content, keyword spamming and
many others. These methods may work temporarily, but
search engines are getting more sophisticated. Eventually, your site
will be penalized or banned altogether.
Are Keywords in Domain Names Important?
Yes, keywords in a domain name are taken into consideration by the search engines. We don't know exactly how much of a factor this is in determining search rank, but we know that keywords in a domain name are not weighed nearly as heavily as the keywords in your title tags and page content.
Does the length of a domain name have any effect on SEO?
No, it does not.
Is it wise to use hyphens in domain names?
Hyphens may help search engines more easily parse long domain names for keywords, but it's better to just shorten your potential domain name before opting for hyphens. The difference that hyphens make in the search engines is minimal at best. Most engines will still parse the keywords in the domain name regardless of the presence of hyphens.
