Search Egine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of
improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web
site from search
engines via "natural" ("organic" or
"algorithmic") search
results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is
presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks",
the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target
different kinds of search, including image
search, local
search, and industry-specific vertical
search engines.
As a marketing
strategy for increasing a site's relevance, SEO considers how search
algorithms
work and what people search for. SEO efforts may involve a site's
coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that
could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully spidering
a site. Other, more noticeable efforts may include adding unique content
to a site, ensuring that content is easily indexed by search engine
robots, and making the site more appealing to users. Another class
of techniques, known as black
hat SEO or spamdexing,
use methods such as link
farms and keyword
stuffing that tend to harm search engine user experience. Search
engines look for sites that employ these techniques and may remove
them from their indexes.
The initialism
"SEO" can also refer to "search engine
optimizers", a term adopted by an industry of consultants
who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by
employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine
optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a
broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require
changes to the HTML
source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site
development and design.
The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe
web site designs, menus,
content
management systems and shopping
carts that are easy to optimize.
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Search Egine Optimization
The leading search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, use
crawlers to find pages for their algorithmic search results. Pages
that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need
to be submitted because they are found automatically. Some search
engines, notably Yahoo!, operate a paid submission service that
guarantee crawling for either a set fee or cost
per click. Such programs usually guarantee inclusion in the
database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search
results.
Yahoo's paid inclusion program has drawn criticism from
advertisers and competitors. Two major directories, the Yahoo
Directory and the Open
Directory Project both require manual submission and human
editorial review. Google offers Google
Sitemaps, for which an XML type feed can be created and
submitted for free to ensure that all pages are found, especially
pages that aren't discoverable by automatically following links.
Search
engine crawlers may look at a number of different factors when crawling
a site. Not every page is indexed by the search engines. Distance of
pages from the root directory of a site may also be a factor in
whether or not pages get crawled.
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