The Basics on Search Engine Optimization for Online Marketing

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a technique webmasters use to get search engines like Google to index and rank their websites well. It’s one thing to build a fantastic website, but if no one can find it, it’s useless. The goal for every webmaster is to have their website appear on the first page of a search listing for their product or service.

Search engines use web crawlers to index websites. This happens when a crawler visits your site and gathers information to determine its subject matter. SEO is when webmasters plant clues, such as keywords, within their websites so that crawlers are able to index and rank them correctly.

Keywords are words or short phrases that searchers use to find information online. The goal is to select keywords that are popular to searchers, but not so popular with webmasters.

Keywords should be added to every page, and within the HTML tags for “keywords,” “description,” and “title,” as well as the “alt” attributes for all images. When writing content, add keywords in headings (H1) and subheadings (H2-4), and within the first and last paragraphs on a page. Search engines recognize websites that are all keywords and no content, so don’t go crazy or your website may be penalized.

Links within a website are helpful for search engines to crawl around your site. Make sure your links take crawlers on an easy journey through your website, but don’t run them around in circles.

Back-links are links on the internet that lead to your website. The more back-links the better because they bring visitors to your site, and that looks good to search engines. You can add back-links by adding content to other sites and adding a link to your signature, or adding comments to blogs and adding a link back to your site.

Not only should your content have keywords, but it should be updated regularly. Search engines will continue to crawl updated sites in order to keep their indexing up to date.

SEO is a fundamental step in building a successful website. It is also a work in progress, so don’t be afraid to change keywords and content periodically to see what works.

About the author: James Mowery is a computer geek that writes about technology and related topics. To read more blog posts by him, go to http://www.laptopcomputers.org/