Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
To understand what Search Engine Optimisation or SEO can achieve and why it is should be a marketing tool you use, you need first to understand why it is important. Any website that needs traffic to survive needs search engine optimisation. There are literally millions of web pages on the Internet, and it is the job of the search engines to add those pages to its index, and whenever a search query is performed, to find the most relevant webpages to match that search query.
There are many, many factors that search engines take into account when choosing which websites are displayed, and in which order. They look at factors such as onsite tags, and page content – always important, as well as the number of inbound links to a website, and the of quality these inbound links.
What is a search engine?
Search engines provide internet users with a way to find information on a product, service or anything else. Search engines use special software to search the entire web (not just your website) and add these pages to its index. These search engines are used by millions of people every day, and it is up to the search engines to provide their users with the best possible information.
When you perform a search, the search engine will find and display what it thinks is the most relevant web pages from their index to show you.
What is indexing?
Search engines have extremely large search indexes, holding copies of almost every webpage they have ever crawled and chosen to add to their respective index.
The search engine spider finds the web pages by crawling through the web following links and identifying webpages to index. When it finds a page to add, it will make a copy of it and add it to its index. Upon completion, the site can be considered as having been “indexed”.
The process of being indexed can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, and it takes place for all new websites. Your site will only show up in search results after it has been indexed.
To find out whether your site has been indexed, go to Google and search “site: mysite.com” (substituting your website for mysite.com). This will give you a list of your site’s pages that are in the index – if there are no results, the indexing has not happened yet. You can do this same search at Yahoo and Bing.
What’s search engine ranking, and how do search engines rank pages?
Search engine ranking refers to where a website appears in the search engine results. Which page, which position on that page etc.
Each search engine and directory has its own ranking and listing criteria, known as their ranking algorithm. Generally, search engines use proprietary ranking algorithms to determine the quality and relevance of a web page to decide whether or not to add the page to its index. When calculating page rankings, search engines focus on copy, title tags, keyword usage and the amount and relevance of inbound hyperlinks to decide on your search engine ranking.
The exact criteria used are a closely-guarded trade secret. This is to try and ensure that no one can cheat the system and engage in unfair SEO practice, sometimes known a ‘Black Hat SEO’. Hence when an SEO consultant or Marketing Agency tells you they can ‘guarantee results’ they can’t and you should look elsewhere for your SEO service.
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO as a Process
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is a process that all website owners who want to successfully promote their business online must go through in order to achieve positive search results. It’s not something you do once and just forget about it. It’s a form of marketing and if you want to keep on improving your chances at success and growing your business it is something you will constantly evaluate. Remember, if SEO were an easy thing to do, every site would be number one in search engines, which is simply impossible.
Direct Submit prides itself on the underlying process by which we approach each and every SEO project we are involved with. We understand that each client will have specific, individual needs and our approach in creating and implementing the correct SEO strategy is vital to the success of the SEO project. This approach and attention to detail are what has helped Direct Submit become a leading Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) company. Call us today on 0845 2722350 and get your website working harder for your business.
