What is SEO?

If you're new to the Web or Web marketing, you might not yet have heard of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. It's the art of designing, developing, and optimizing a site in a way that boosts its ranking for relevant keywords in the search engines.

Is SEO a Scam?

The other day, a friend asked me, "If all these Web designers know Seach Engine Optimization, and they're all doing the same thing, how can anybody rank higher than someone else in Google?" Good question. The answer: most Web designers don't know SEO. In fact, the search engine giants are very secretive about the technology they use to actually determine how sites get ranked. On top of that, they're always changing the way they index pages...so just when you think you have 'em figured out, it's back to the testing lab.

That being said, there's a lot we do know about the way search engines work, and we use that knowledge to help clients drive lots of quality traffic to their sites. In fact, it's our most highly recommended Web marketing strategy.

How Do Search Engines Work?

Every so often, search engines send "spiders" to crawl the Web. They look at every page on your website, and determine what the content of your pages is. Then they determine the relevance of your site based on undisclosed criteria, such as what sites are linking to you, what your server situation is, and how long your site has been online. They then take all this information and decide which search queries your site qualifies for, and where in those search queries your site will be ranked.

The Most Important Part of an SEO Campaign

The first thing we tell our SEO clients is "Be Relevant". Don't rely on some magic SEO formula to bring traffic to your site if your site has nothing to do with the keywords you want to show up for. Create valuable content, relevant to your keyword strategy.

That being said, we do a lot on our end to develop search-engine-friendly sites. We start with creating well-designed sites, and using as little code as possible in the layout. We accomplish this through smart use of a language called CSS, which stores most of the layout information in a separate file. Search engine spiders see more content than code on our sites, making it easier for them to parse information.

Be Careful Who You Trust

We don't claim to be full-service SEO. That's why we work with trusted partners who provide more complex research, analysis and strategy to us and our clients. Though we've been fortunate enough to build solid relationships with reliable specialized SEO firms, there are plenty out there who won't boost anything but your blood-pressure. Some warning signs that an SEO firm might be a dud:

• They guarantee you top placement (Read the fine print)
• They have a fixed price for SEO for any and all websites (Ballpark figures are okay)
• They promise you'll instantly climb in the rankings

And some questions you should ask:

• What sites have you performed this service for in the past, and for what keywords are those sites optimized?
• Can you tell me specifically what services you'll perform, and what your process is?
• What's the most competitive keyword or keyphrase your firm has ever optimized a site for, and how successful were you? (Do your followup research)
• How do you charge for this service (hourly, fixed, monthly)?

There's a lot more to the world of SEO, but hopefully this article will help you have a basic understanding of it. Shoot me an email if you have any questions, or feel free to leave a comment on this entry.

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