Search Engine Optimization Basics Whitewater WI

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The Basics of SEO

So you have a website and want it to rank well in Google, Yahoo and MSN search results (along with all the other, lesser-known search engines). You'd think that having a quality site dedicated to a specific topic would be enough, but that isn't always the case. The major search engines use automated "spiders" to crawl through millions of webpages a day to determine what each site (and page) is about. Each search engine uses its own algorithm to determine which sites and pages are the most relevant for each search a user types in.

These algorithms are constantly being updated and are always kept a secret from the public. Nobody knows the exact formula for showing up #1 in a search result and if you found it, it would likely change a few months later. Nevertheless, there are a few things that will always be important in the world of search engines and implementing these few tips will help you optimize your site in every search engine.

1. Quality, Dynamic, Original Content. The first thing to remember when trying to optimize your website for search engines is the goal of the search engines themselves: to provide users with the most relevant, pertinent information for their search. Since search engines want to provide their users with the most useful webpages surrounding the topics that the users are searching for, they are looking for content that is unique, updated regularly and of high quality.
   
   If you only have a few sentences of general information on a certain topic, you're going to lose rankings (as you should) to sites with a lot of specific, original content that is pertinent to the user's search.
   
   If you have a small site, take the time to write out a few in-depth articles about some of the basics surrounding your site's topic(s). If you have a large site with a variety of topics, consider hiring some freelance writers to do some research and write a detailed article about each topic.
   
   Take the time to make each article original and different. If you simply replace a few words in each article but leave the majority of the content the same, the search engines will notice.
   
   Note: Ensure that your content is not plagiarized from another site. The search engines can detect this and will look unfavorably on your site.
   
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Author: Liz Smith