What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization is the on-going process of increasing the exposure of a web site by ranking high in the search results of the major search engines. Where a site ranks in a search is essential for directing more traffic toward the site. The higher a web site ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that users will visit the site. SEO not only helps to ensure that a site is accessible to users but it also improves the chances that the site will be found and indexed by the search engines. There are currently 2 types of SEO - on page and off page.

On-page SEO and Off-page SEO

On page SEO refers to altering a website's content (such as page titles, page text, meta tags, alt tags, heading tags and anchor text), to include relevant, and highly searched for, keywords and phrases. Knowing the exact search terms and phrases that your target audience uses is invaluable for developing web site content that is optimized for organic search.

Off page SEO is not located on the site itself, but can greatly influence the rankings of a website. More precisely this aspect is mainly the incoming links from other websites where each link counts as a "vote" and the more votes the better. It is much more difficult and time consuming to control the off-page factors, than the on-page SEO. There are a number of ways to obtain inbound links - all of which must be utilized for maximum effect.

How do search engines work?

In order to find web pages, search engines send out automated programs called "robots". These robots (aka spiders) act as content gatherers bringing back the information for inclusion (or exclusion) in the main search index. Visiting numerous websites, reading the content and following links is a SE robot's main function. This is known as "spidering" or "crawling" a website.

If a website offers unique, useful content and is of value to users, then it will most likely be included (or indexed) in the search results of the major SE's. Being "included" in the index does NOT mean you'll be found during a search though. In order to be visible your site must rank within the first 3 pages of search results (preferably 1st page) for keywords that closely relate to what you offer. The trick is getting to the top, when there are in some cases millions of other web pages that are competing for the same keywords. For example in Google, the key phrase "energy news" currently has 491 Million pages competing and the key phrase "oil and gas news" has over 65 Million listings. Aspiring to rank top ten for these terms will require the use of some very innovative SEO techniques.

How do search engines rank webpages?

Search engine ranking is based on algorithms - unpublished formulas by which search engines determine how to rank websites. One of the main rules in a ranking algorithm involves the location of keywords on a web page. For example, pages with the search terms appearing in the HTML title tag are often assumed to be more relevant than others to the topic. Search engines will also check to see if the search keywords appear near the top of a web page, such as in the headline or in the first few paragraphs of text. They assume that any page relevant to the topic will mention those words right from the beginning.

Frequency (aka: keyword density) is the other major factor in how search engines determine relevancy. A search engine will analyze how often keywords appear in relation to other words in a web page. Those with a higher frequency (not too high though!) are often deemed more relevant than other web pages.

In order to rank higher in search results, your web site must also convince the search engines - with their complex algorithms - that you have established a strong business network in your industry. This is accomplished by establishing inbound links that the search engines recognize as being both relevant and important.

There are literally hundreds of factors to consider when attempting high rankings for a website. The Statusfirm professional SEO team will work with you to ensure your site gets the search engine exposure it deserves. Contact us today!