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What is Search
Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search Engine Optimization is the art of manipulating the pages
within a Web site using a variety of techniques so they achieve
higher organic rankings in the respective Search Engines and
directories.
Why do I need
Search Engine Optimization?
In today's highly competitive markets, business Web sites
that aren't optimized for the keyword phrases that are relative
to their business, have little chance of being found by their
potential customers. The goal of most business Web sites
is to achieve one or more of the following:
- Sell Products
- Sell Services
- Build Brand
- Establish Credibility
Search Engine optimization can make your site visible to
your potential customers and help you achieve these goals.
Search engine optimization = Marketing your Business.
Can I
optimize and submit my site?
Yes. With a lot of time, effort and research, you
can optimize and submit your site. However, with the
time and effort you must expend, it would be more logical
to let a professional search engine marketer complete this
work. A poor job of optimization is hard undo and won't yield
any results.
Can I
submit my site for free?
There are still several search engines that offer free submission.
However, they offer no inclusion guarantees and it may take
many months before you see your site listed if at all.
The spiders or robots will also come around much more infrequently
so your changes or tweaks to your optimization program will
not bee seen for a long time. Anyone serious about doing
business on the Web should not rely on free submission.
Paid inclusion, on the other hand, is fairly inexpensive compared
to other forms of advertising (have you checked the price
of a local TV spot, a billboard or just a yellow page ad?)
I found
a company that guaranteed my site top placement in the search
engines. They are also going to submit my site to 40,000 search
engines for 29.95. Should I trust them?
Short answer. No. The Web is plagued by unscrupulous
SEO firms that will say anything to get your money.
The truth is, no one can guarantee you a specific position
in a non pay per click search engine. Period. Also,
There are only 6 search engines that will drive the majority
of the traffic to your site. They are powered by 4 databases.
For a better understanding of how they relate, see our Interactive
Search Engine Relationship
chart.
Below are some eye opening articles about Search Engine Position
"Guarantees".
Top 5 Search Engine optimization Myths
Search Engine Optimization Guarantees - Don't be fooled.
No
one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. (by Google)
Spotting
a Phony SEO Company.
What are Keyword
phrases and why are they important?
Keyword phrases are the terms or words that the user enters
into the search engine to help them find what they are looking
for on the web. Searchers usually enter specific terms to
narrow down their search results. It's important to
know what keyword phrases your potential customers are searching
for so your site can be optimized properly.
What is
a "search engine friendly" design?
A search engine friendly design is a Web site designed with
search engine marketing in mind from the inception.
There are no barriers such as HTML frames, flash or dynamically
generated pages that have obfuscated query strings to stop
the spiders/robots. The design may also include elements
that the search engines specifically look for and will help
increase your keyword phrase relevancy when optimized properly.
How much does it cost to participate in the PPC search engines?
Cost to participate in Pay Per Click search engines such
as Overture and Google Ad Words which provide sponsor results
in many search engines and directories is based on several
factors.
We must determine the number of phrases you wish to promote,
the cost of the particular keyword you wish to promote, the
position you wish to maintain and the frequency of the clicks.
However, we can work within any budget you set.
What is
PageRank and why is it important?
PageRank is specific to the Google search engine. PageRank
is another complex algorithm so we'll just touch on the basics
here. Essentially, Google looks at all the sites that
are linked to you. If those site are high ranking, high
traffic, high relevancy sites you will in turn get a higher
page rank. If you link to lower page ranking sites at the
other end of the spectrum, in turn your page ranking could
be lower and your position will therefore be lower in the
rankings. This is only one of many measurements and
tests Google performs on your site, many of which are closely
guarded secrets of Google! For more information on PageRank
see Google's
PageRank page.
To determine the PageRank of your site and the site you want
to get a link from, get the Google
Toolbar.
What is Search
Engine Spamming?
Search engine spamming is the act of deceiving or trying
to deceive a search engine into giving your page a higher
listing in the search engine results page. Some spamming or
unethical techniques used are: invisible text on the
page, site mirroring, gateway pages, link farming, tag based
spam such as keyword loading, IP cloaking & IP delivery,
redirects.
Anyone caught using these techniques can have their sites
removed from the database or heavily penalized.
For more detailed information on search engine spamming see
the following resources:
What is Search
Engine Spamming?
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2159061
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2160021
http://www.inktomi.com/products/web_search/guidelines.html
What is the
difference between a search engine and a directory?
True search engines such as Google, Yahoo (Web results),
MSN, Teoma, Ask Jeeves, use "spiders" or "bots"
that crawl the web collecting information from Web sites.
The bot is a program that is initiated by a particular search
engine. The information is then written back to the search
engine database. There is no human intervention involved.
A directory on the other hand is a human compiled list of
sites that are categorized, typically in alphabetical order.
Some top directories charge a fee for inclusion. (Yahoo, Business.com)
However, DMOZ
http://www.dmoz.org , A volunteer based directory, is
still free.
What
is "Organic" Marketing or "Organic" Positioning?
Organic marketing is the ability to achieve natural positions
in the search engine results pages. Natural or organic
positions are links that are found by the search engine spider
and included in the database index. The actual positioning
of the organic listing is calculated by the search engines
algorithm. These are free listings (not sponsor pay
per click links). Organic listings are the most coveted
links due to several reasons. You don't have to pay for each
click (it's free) and trends show that these links are clicked
first, before the sponsor (PPC) links.
What
is a "Meta" Search Engine?
A "Meta" search engine is not a true search engine
in the traditional sense. It compiles results from from
other existing search engines and returns those results.
Examples of Meta search engines would be Metacrawler, Dogpile,
and Mamma. MetaCrawler and Dogpile return pages of sponsor
results before organic results are seen. However, Mamma
limits it sponsor results and returns the best results of
the Meta Search Engines. |
Houston Host Marketing 
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