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10.28.09 iEntry proudly introduces ItalianWebSearch, the most comprehensive search engine for .IT domains. This search engine is a simple and efficient way for people to submit and search Italian related websites. Check it out now or Submit your site for free! Understanding How Search Engines Work  By Lee Odden The search engine industry frequently innovates as do consumer behaviors for discovery and sharing. Those changes require search marketers to take a fresh look at what search engine optimization (SEO) is and why companies should or should not engage in its practice. Defining search engine optimization is often focused on the mechanics: "SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines." (Wikipedia). Even Google offers a definition of what an SEO is along with guidelines: "Many SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful services for website owners, including: Review of your site content or structure, Technical advice on website, development: for example, hosting, redirects, error pages, use of JavaScript, Content development, Management of online business development campaigns, Keyword research, SEO training, Expertise in specific markets and geographies." Since the key components of how a search engine works include: crawling, indexing and sorting, those are the functional focus areas of most SEO efforts. Most experienced internet marketing professionals will admit that is a limited view of the value SEO brings. What about link building and promotion of content? What about search for content that isn't product or service oriented? What about search within closed networks? What about real-time search? What about niche search: vertical, local, mobile, multi-lingual? What about social search? Readers of Online Marketing Blog and those that have seen @toprank staff speak at conferences know this fundamental premise: "If it can be searched on, it can be optimized". No search engine is perfect, so help in making information available and easily understood is incredibly helpful for the engines, for consumers that use those search engines and the content sources represented in search results. Code, site architecture and server issues that affect how search engine bots interact with and index a web site's content are certainly important as are keyword research and the subsequent use of those keywords in tags, on-page copy, markup and anchor text links between pages. These areas all fall under the realm of "on-page SEO". The Yang to that Yin is "off-page SEO" which is basically link building. For more of this kind of practical SEO advice, read "Basics of Search Engine Optimization". Defining SEO can be as simple as, "Optimizing digital content for better performance in search." That's a broad definition and the implications and value from improved search performance can range from increased sales to lowered customer service costs. It really depends on what customers are searching for, whether available company content is optimized and if analytics are in place to benchmark and measure performance. Consumers are prompted to use search in a variety of scenarios ranging from research to finding products for purchase. In most cases, SEO consultants (like TopRank  ) are hired by corporate marketing departments to improve the search visibility of products and services being marketed to customers. Improved search engine placement typically results in an increase in traffic (qualified by the search terms used) and an increase in sales.Continue reading this article. About the Author: Lee Odden is CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, a digital marketing and public relations firm in Minnesota that specializes in search, social and online PR consulting and training for companies worldwide. Odden has been cited for his internet marketing expertise over the past 10 years by the Economist, Forbes and U.S. News and contributed a chapter to the book, "Online Marketing Heroes" published by Wiley. For the past 5 years he has also been the editor of TopRank's Online Marketing Blog, a Technorati 100 favorite blog and one of the top marketing blogs according to Advertising Age. |
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