What is this SEO thing anyway?

Here are the top two questions around SEO once people understand the relationship with SEO and Google

Why aren’t I coming up first on Google?
We used to be ranked higher, now we are lower, why?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a technical process that optimizes Web pages to rank high in search engine returns. This is accomplished by optimizing certain sections of web pages so that when read by search engines and, depending on the level of optimization, can create a greater probability of free referral traffic.

Once an high degree of understanding of how search algorithms work, SEO becomes a powerful marketing tool. The end goal is to create pages that contains words for which people will likely search when looking for information such as that contained on your site.

Also, it important to note that when I say search engine, I mean Google. It appears as though the others don’t matter anymore, especially sensis.com.au.

SEO can be a 60-minute job or a recurring activity. For instance, if you are a leader for rare keywords, then you do not have a lot to do in order to get good placement. But in most cases, you will need to pay special attention to keywords used in your pages, because in the eyes of Google, you are an individual just like everybody else.

Here is some free advice

Since SEO relies so heavily on these keywords, the most important keywords and key phrases should be used liberally in the first two paragraphs of the content of each page. They are then sprinkled throughout the body and once again be keyword rich in the last paragraph of every page.

A suggested rule of thumb is to reach for keyword density between 5-15%. Judgment must be used to invoke keywords liberally without getting too repetitive. It may also help to use bold or italics on a keyword or two, but avoid doing this to excess. Another important placement for keywords is in the H1 and H2 header fields of each page. The most important keywords or key phrases should be found here.

Other strategies include naming image files and anchors with keywords. Anchors, also called crosslinks, are references to other pages within the site. Finally providing links to and from external sites, called backlinks is also important, as search engine spider bots navigate by links.

Sounds really easy doesn’t it. Well thankfully there are many SEO companies that will provide this as a service. However, caution should be used in securing a contractor to make sure that what is being promised is feasible, realistic and cost-effective.

But even if you engage a contractor to do your SEO, don’t just expect to be ranked at the top Unless you have keywords that standout ahead of everyone else on the internet.