Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips and Articles

Search Engine Optimization

From a search engine perspective, Search Engine Optimization is the process of making web pages easy to find, easy to crawl and easy to categorize by the search engines. From a webmaster perspective, Search Engine Optimization involves not only that, but also how to make those pages rank high for certain keywords or search terms.

To produce relevant search results, search engines must keep their ranking algorithms (formulas) secret. The more webmasters and search engine optimization professionals learn about how search engines rank pages, the easier it becomes to manipulate results. Search engines, therefore, need to evolve and update their algorithms from time to time, and stay always ahead of the most savvy webmasters and SEO's. Some search engines, like Altavista and Inktomi couldn't keep up and lost relevance, while others like Google or Yahoo! have become very successful.

Search engine optimization begins with making a site very focused, choosing the right domain name, and finding the right keywords for which to optimize each individual page. Then, it involves optimizing page copy using your keywords often, to help search engines understand what your page is about. The third step, the most difficult one, involves getting inbound links from quality sites related to your topic. While some search engines like Yahoo! place heavy importance to page copy, it is impossible to rank high in Google without a wide array of quality inbound links.

Some link building techniques, like reciprocal linking and link renting are being downgraded by search engines these days, so your best way to achieve search engine relevance is to get links from many different sources, like quality directories, articles you write, articles that other people write about you, posts in influential blogs, etc. , preferrably over a long period of time.

The idea is to integrate yourself and your site to the online community for your specific topic, so that over time your site becomes either an authority (an important source of information on your selected topic) or a hub (a place that points readers to other useful resources on your selected topic), so that it starts to attract links naturally.

Search engine optimization takes time. Results usually start to show after a period of three to six months, so it pays to work hard and be patient. If you have just launched a site and/or are new to search engine optimization, you can start by reading my free special report:

Do It Yourself Search Engine Optimization (330 Kb - 18 pages)

If you want to delve deeper into the subject, I recommend that you purchase SEOBOOK, by Aaron Wall. In my opinion, it is the most comprehensive (and entertaining) write-up about search engine optimization available today, and it comes with free updates for life.

You can also browse through our SEO articles here: