Small Buisness Web Sites

What is SEO? First of all SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization.  It is the process of increasing the visibility of a website in search engine results. This is usually referred to as organic. Organic means that the results are unpaid results. A page that is ranked well on the search engine results will receive more traffic. Most webmasters aim to have their page listed in the top 10 results or on the first page that Google serves to readers. Falling to the second page will lower your traffic substantially.

There are a common list of basic things you need to do to rank well. Obviously the first is to have a working web site that delivers content to the reader.  The fundamental rule for all web sites and the one that Google gives as the highest priority is quality content. It should answer the reader’s question clearly and not be filled with useless keywords etc.

What is SEO and How Does it Work

Beyond high-quality content, there are numerous other factors that search engines take into account when ranking a page or web site. In fact, Google is rumored to have over 200 factors that contribute to page rank. But quality content is at the very top of the list.

In addition, page load speed is a factor, as is mobility adaptable content. A page written for a desktop must also be able to be rendered on a smartphone equally quick. The page must also be readable. If not, search engines will rank your page low and readers will move onto other pages if it does not load quickly or is so small it cannot be read on a smartphone screen.

Once you are listed on the search engine results page, you must have meta data or a short sentence that captures the reader’s interest. They have 10 results to choose from. They might select the first one listed. Or they might select the one that has a description closest to what they are looking for. Always make sure that you have a great meta description for your post to attract readers.

For more details and additional SEO info, check out some of the other posts on this site.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.