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The Basics of Search Engine Optimization
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg ©Copyright 2004

One means of making sure your site receives maximum visibility 
is search engine optimization (S.E.O.). You must think in terms 
of search engine optimization from the earliest stages of 
planning and design if you want to receive heavy traffic from 
the major search engines. In order to optimize your site, you 
need to understand how search engines work, how web surfers 
search, and what elements of your site contribute to successful 
search placement. While much information (and misinformation) 
exists about search engine optimization, experts agree that the 
elements you must focus on are keywords, meta tags and links 
from other sites. 

How Search Engines Work

Before delving into specific elements, it's necessary to 
understand how search engines work. True search engines (as 
opposed to directories like Yahoo!) use a program called a 
"robot" or "spider" to "crawl" the web while gathering and 
indexing the information they find. A searcher receives the 
results of these crawls when s/he conducts a search. Sounds 
simple, right? Unfortunately, every search engine (and literally 
thousands of engines exist) has its own criteria for indexing 
sites, and further criteria for determining the ranking of 
sites. It's easy to see why S.E.O. consultants can make a 
handsome living – it's virtually impossible for a single 
webmaster to know all of the various rules that will optimize 
his/her site for every engine. 

Feeling Overwhelmed Yet?

While a search engine optimization consultant can provide a 
greater amount of detailed knowledge for an individual web
master, experts tend to agree that there are a few rules that 
almost anyone can apply to optimize his/her site. 

First, while thousands of search engines exist, most surfers do 
their searching on a handful of sites. Yahoo! generally accounts 
for half of all web searches. While they charge a fee for simply 
considering a business listing in their directory (currently 
$299), many business people may find that a reasonable 
investment, considering the popularity of this portal. Among true 
search engines, the most popular by far are Google and Overture. 
It's important to know that many search engines actually get 
their results from these giants, so applying the rules that work 
for these two can help get your site listed in many engines. 

Optimizing You Site 

In order to make sure your site is listed in searches that 
directly apply to your type of business, it's essential to use 
the best keywords and phrases. Keywords are the words that 
searchers use to find web sites that will give them the 
information they want. In order to take advantage of the power 
of keywords, you must find out what keywords and key phrases 
are most popular among the searchers you want to attract to your 
site, so you may want to consider using a service like 
Wordtracker (http://www.wordtracker.com) to find out the words 
and phrases that searchers are using. Once you've determined 
this, you want to place those words and phrases at the points in 
your page most likely to be noticed by search engines. Experts 
tend to agree that the best places to use keywords are in your 
page title, your page's copy, and in the site's meta tags. 

The page title is likely the most important place to use the 
proper keywords, as all search engine spiders tend to look at 
it. Precision is key – use the keywords that are most likely to 
bring the right visitors to that particular page. While some
consultants suggest using many key words, or many slight 
variations of key words, or repeated key words, search engines 
have caught on to these strategies and may actually penalize 
your site for using such tactics. According to Webmonkey.com's
Paul Boutin, it's best not to include extra words, such as a 
company name; using only the keywords as the site title will 
generally bring the best results. 

It's also important to use those keywords and phrases in the 
copy of the page, as spiders do look at this also. Note, for
instance, how often I use phrases like "search engine 
opitimization" and "search engine" in this article. That's 
deliberate. Keep in mind, though, that search engines have 
caught on to the practice of loading down copy with keywords 
to achieve higher rankings, and certain high ratios of keywords 
to overall copy may actually hurt your placement. 

The third place to use keywords is in the site's meta tags, 
which are part of the coding for the page. Again, it's best to 
use only the words that will bring the best results – repetition 
or overuse of variations can hurt your optimization. 

Finally, some consultants will suggest that regardless of your 
site's content, you always include the most popular overall
keywords in your title and meta tags. While this may bring more 
initial traffic to your site, you have to consider whether 
attracting searches on "Eminem" or "Spiderman" will benefit you 
in any way. Generally, it's best to optimize your site so that 
you attract those searchers that would actually be interested in 
what you have to offer. 

Link Popularity 

Another criteria that many search engines use for ranking is 
link popularity. Essentially, is your site linked from other 
sites, and are those sites ranked well in their engines? This 
can be a time consuming process for a webmaster, as getting 
links on other pages generally involves contacting the owner of 
that page and asking for a listing or agreeing to a "link swap": 
you put a link on your page to their site, and they do the same 
for you. Again, don't believe that you can fool the search 
engines through short-cut methods such as FFA pages, as the 
engine administrators have caught on to these as well. Also keep 
in mind that links on other reputable pages account for a high 
percentage of traffic – you really can't lose by having your 
site listed on other sites' "Links" pages. 

Some Final Thoughts 

When optimizing your site for the search engines, it's also 
important to remember that a high ranking in a search doesn't
necessarily mean more qualified traffic. As in many aspects of 
life, presentation is everything. If the listing on the search 
engine appears clear and professional, you're more likely to 
receive more of the traffic that will benefit you. Boutin notes 
that the meta name field in the coding is important in this 
regard, as some engines use the information in this field for 
their site description. While you want to use keywords and 
phrases in this field, do so in a manner that still will make 
sense to a surfer looking for a site like yours. 

Ultimately, search engine optimization involves using tried 
and true methods of design and writing to make your site 
user-friendly. 

More information 

Boutin, Paul. "Search Engine Optimization FREE" 
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/01/23/index1a.html 

================================================================
Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, Ph.D., is an English professor and 
freelance business writer. You may contact Jeff at
mcintirj@lincolnu.edu
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