SEO-Search Engine Optimization

Friday, January 30, 2009

SEO Dictionary

Author: Wendy McLeod

There are many SEO terms which a self starter of SEO will not understand this article will help SEO beginners to understand the meanings of terms used in SEO, search engine optimization.

Words starting from A to D

1,Algorithm:

Algorithm is a stet of rules and regulations followed by search engines to rank websites in order. Each search engine has its own set of algorithms.

2, Alt tag:

Alt tags are HTML tags used to optimize an Image on the webpage. It can be a picture, company logo or any other image on the website. It is also called as alt attribute. The syntax of the tag is <IMG C=""companylogo.gif"" ALT=""Web design logo""> Web design logo is displayed until the page gets loaded.

3, Anchor text:

The text used on any link is called an anchor text. For example is there is a link Click here to e-mail , In this case 'Click here to e-mail' is the anchor text.

4, Automated submission:

There are many softwares available on the internet which can be used to submit your website to hundreds of search engines and directories automatically. But it is not much useful to submit your website using a software.

5, Back link OR Backward link :

Number of links pointing out to your website is called as backward links. Backward links are also called as Inbound links.It is very important to build backward links to gain good rankings on search engines

6, Black hat SEO:

Black hat SEO are the techniques used to fool the search engines in order to bring in more traffic to websites. You are not suppose to use Black hat techniques because there is a chance of your website being black listed on the search engines

7, Black listed :

A website is black marked by the search engines for various reasons like using Black hat SEO, Illegal content, Spamming etc. Black listed websites never show up on search engines. So you have to be very careful in the SEO techniques you use for your website because once you are on the black list you will never have hits and sure toloose business.

8, Broken link:

A link that existed before but does not exist at present is called a broken link. The search engines might have indexed the link when it existed now the link may havemoved to a different page or removed in this case the search engine removes the indexed link from its database. It is not good for a website to have broken links.Broken links are also called as Dead links.

9, Crawler is also called as spider.

Crawler is a program which is similar to a browser it is owned by search engines, to ""surf"" the web by following links from one page to the next and from one site to the next. It collects information from the sites it visits and that information is stored in the search engine's database.

10, Cross linking:

Suppose you own multiple websites and link all the websites you own into each other it is called Cross linking. cross linking is done to improve link popularity.But when you do too much cross linking there is a chance that your website may get black listed in Google for using bad SEO process.

11, Description tag :

Description tag is a HTML tag which gives a brief description about the website to the search engines. It is not visible on the website but it helps the search engines to index your website by showing it the exact content of the page. Now a days search engines do not give much importance to the description tag.

12,Directory:

Directory is a website with a collection of different websites belonging to various categories. A directory can be a general directory and there are also directories belonging to one particular category. There are some directories which allow free site listings and few offers only paid listings.Directory listing is the best method to build inbound links.

13, Doorway page :

Doorway page is the page which redirects to another page. It is a black had SEO technique where a keyword rich page with no proper content, this page is where search engines land you on but the page gets you redirected to another page or domain.This is not a advisable technique to bring traffic to your website.

14,Dynamic content:

Web site content generated automatically, usually from a based or user selections. Dynamic content typically changes at regular intervals, for example daily or each time the users reload the page. SERPSs are dynamically generated pages, changing depending on user input.

Words starting from E and others will be continued in the next article of mine

About the author: Article written by Wendy www.bizwala.com Wendy McLeod is working for Bizwala.com as a SEO consultant

Thursday, January 29, 2009

SEO - Does it work?

Author: Mark Nenadic

When someone enters the search terms into Google, Yahoo or MSN and press enter, they will have pages of results return. Pages that have been search engine optimized (SEO) and earned their page rankings. Inevitably, the end user skips the banner ads and sponsored results. SEO pages deliver not because they have paid the search engine to premier their results but because the work invested in the pages shows up in the ranking system.

In the world of SEO, individually owned businesses can compete with corporate giants. The playing field is still not completely level, because in contrast to those large corporate entities that can dominate in a local retail market - it is the individual small business that can create a stronger foothold with their niche focus.

SEO counts on the natural search function versus the sites that pay for the number of hits they get. Natural searching is organic because as stated above, the results are more real to what the visitor is looking for. The difference for the visitor is much like watching a paid advertisement on television and talking to a friend who used the product. Chances are greater that a person will be more influenced by their friend's experiences than they will by the paid advertisement.

In world where marketing dollars number into the billions, it is not surprising that the average consumer whether in 'real' or 'virtual' marketplaces is less swayed by the 'advertisement' than they are by the 'experience.' As the search engine visitor scans the results to their search terms, they'll be looking at the links and descriptions as much as they will on the highlighted terms.

A person entering a search for 'do it yourself grout' is likely to get hits like Home Depot, Lowe's and even Sears. There may be paid advertisements for book links on doing it yourself from the larger book chains. There may even be an advertisement for Do It Yourself television shows featuring names like Bob Vila. But if all the person is looking for is some quick instructions on how to use grout, they are highly unlikely to click those links. They will be looking for the more organically returned results that feature step-by-step instructions and more.

Upcoming changes in the Internet market may also influence the effect that SEO companies have on search engines and individual websites. Yahoo, for example, has a new SiteMatch program that will be mixing both organic and sponsored results. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is taking an interest in the process. Paid fees are not supposed to affect rankings. That is why sponsored sites are listed as such. Yet, the very nature of sponsoring puts those websites up on the top part of the page.

Internet visitors are savvy, however and with the scrutiny being put on search engines by the FTC and other marketplace outlets, education in SEO and how it affects a web page's ranking is going to become a must know for all Internet consumers and visitors. Some search engines are removing their sponsored results altogether or separating them to allow visitors to choose what type they want to see. AskJeeves.com is one that announced it was impossible to present sponsored and organic results together in an unbiased format. The end users don't want to see results from the company that pays the most money to get their advertising out there. They want to see the results that most closely match what they are looking for.

In a world of organic search engines, SEO is king. By using SEO web design and professional web designers, a web site can achieve higher page rankings and visitor traffic by being exactly what it is. A hardware store shouldn't pay to be listed on the same page as a lingerie search. They certainly wouldn't be hanging it in their own retail stores.

By the same token, search engine visitors have a right to expect that the results they get are real. That the pages they are going to follow links to will have the information or related information to their search terms. When SEO is done right, promoting the click through links and SEO copywriting supporting the information already presented, then everyone wins. In a world of organic search engines, SEO DOES work.

About the author: Mark Nenadic Mark is the director and face behind FifteenDegrees-North http://www.15dn.com , where you will find articles and resources to help with SEO, marketing and Web design.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Why an SEO Company?

Author: Mark Nenadic

What exactly is an SEO company? Why would a business or person need one? What is SEO? Acronyms are popular on the Internet and new ones crop up every single day. SEO, like the Internet however, is here to stay. Businesses both company and individually run are spending more and more on SEO Company services every day.

Why?

Well, to understand the why of it is to understand what an SEO company does. SEO Company's understand the pivotal role that search engines play in the Internet marketplace. As the old phrase goes: location, location, and location. Location is exactly what an SEO company specializes in.

The market for online advertising is on the rise and well over the ten billion dollar mark. The search engine Google dominates the market when it comes to search engines. While there are numerous others, Google gets a whopping 42% of online searches and generates two to three times longer session times according to studies. This isn't small and an SEO company that knows what it's doing knows that to achieve the market saturation on location, they need to show up in the top page rankings on Google.

If you're still wondering why, the answer is simple. Most people who search the Internet limit their page scans to the first page or two that is returned by the search engine. Depending on the setting that limits the results to about the top 40 or 50 hits that are returned. For a business to use a search engine as their market penetration point, they need to be in the top 40 to 50 hit range to be found on the search engines.

Marketers that know what they are doing recognize this and use an SEO company to optimize their website. This involves everything from paid advertising, click through and populating the website with informative SEO articles. The algorithms behind how Google handles its searches remains a mystery and if Google has its way, it will continue to be so. Understanding the complexity of the search engine's algorithm is what the SEO Company does.

Search engines are getting better about how they filter the optimized material. They can sort the chafe from the genuine. A website that is found to be promoting itself with paid for links, junk articles with repetitive phrases and cheap tricks won't find itself in the top rankings if the page isn't discarded from the ranking system altogether. The marketing budget for a business on the Internet must include an SEO company to secure their spot in a real estate market where the boom doesn't show any signs of slowing.