Search engine optimization is an often misunderstood concept. Many people have the idea that SEO is some black art that is used by seedy operators to make undeserving sites rank well. It is often presented in this way and sometimes it can be. But it doesn’t have to be that. There is a very legitimate use of search optimization that legitimate companies should consider to better serve their customers. It is actually a good practice to produce web material which is highly indexed by the major search providers and that is easily found by searchers when they need it.

Why optimize content for search providers? Well it is just good practice to produce web content that is easily retrieved when people are looking for it. There are a lot of misconceptions about search optimization. Much of it comes from companies that promote themselves as web optimizers. Search optimization is the process of constructing web content that is easily indexed and that can be readily retrieved by Internet users.

The thing is search optimization is relatively simple. It is sometimes so simple that people seem to miss it. First and foremost the content on your web site needs to match what your site is about. If you are selling product “a” then your web content needs to be everything about product “a”. Sounds simple enough. But oftentimes it isn’t. Websites built in technologies such as flash aren’t easily indexed, and search engines can’t see web graphics but the code behind the web page itself. So, legitimate companies have legitimate reasons to consider SEO.

Basic SEO principles are this, provide lots and lots of good original on topic content about product “a” or your service or your organization. There is no substitute for good original content. Next make good use of page titles. This is what users see in the search results and what they see in the top of the browser window bar. If a page isn’t titled correctly, people won’t click on the result if in fact it does make the search results page.

Other page elements may not be as easily noticed by users but are noticed by search engines. These elements include things such as the use of headline text, the selection of words placed in anchor text, the use of bold or italicized text and other subtle elements. These subtle elements are ofter not a part of the presentation of the web page because usually there are alternate ways to present content using html and images. Sometimes subtle alterations of a web sites template structure can yield desirable results. This may be as subtle as restructuring a template so that the main content appears at the top of the html code of the web page on the top of elements which may be on a left side menu or a right side column. Usually the code behind a web page is transparent to the web user, but these variations make all the difference to search indexing web spiders.

These are simple concepts, yet the execution of them requires a seasoned professional with an eye to search spiders, search indexes and the elements used in search algorithms. I have a great deal of experience with these elements and in structuring them in a sensible way to make your content highly visible on the Internet. To get started, call me at 813-748-3055.