Thursday, March 6, 2008

Part 3: How Search Engines Work

By better understanding how search engines work, you can make subtle changes to your site to increase the chance that people will find you when they do a relevant search online. The science (and art) of figuring out how to improve search engine rankings by bettering your web site is called “Search Engine Optimization”, or SEO for short.

Thankfully, many SEO experts publish practical tips on increasing your search engine rankings. Here are some of them:

  • Plan Ahead. What keywords do you think people will use to find what you offer? Come up with a list, with the most important keywords at the top.

  • Use Keywords In Your Text. After you come up with your list, use those keywords on your web pages in the text of the web page. Search engines assume the text towards the top or front of the page is more important than the bottom of the page, so put your important keywords first.

  • Bold, Italicize, and Highlight important phrases. Search engines assume that if you've made a phrase bold, italicized, or big, then it must be more important than the rest of the text. Make sure your keywords are in there.

  • Use Descriptive Links. A link that says Click Here is not as helpful to humans or search engines as a link that says Learn More About Our Products. When appropriate, use keywords in the links.

  • Get A Keyword Analysis Audit. SEO experts invest in special software tools, reports, and programs and can give you a detailed roadmap of what to do to increase your search engine rankings. Warning: There are many SEO scams out there. You probably get SPAM e-mail from some of them. Stay away from “experts” that guarantee placement. Stick with companies you trust. See below for our recommendation.

Dan Purcell of Danemco LLC provided this content. Check it out at www.danemcoweb.com

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