Search engine optimization (SEO) is the calibration of a website and its relationship to the network (internet) for the purpose of improving its position, sometimes referred to as ranking, in the results pages of the search engines. While there are numerous subsets of search engine optimization, all fall into two primary categories: "on site" and "off site" search engine optimization.
Onsite search engine optimization is the refactoring of code within the documents that comprise a website. Onsite optimization addresses structural and formatting issues as well as other on-page factors including but not limited to:
Offsite search engine optimization is the improvement of a website's popularity, which is determined by a number of factors, such as: How many websites contain hyperlinks to the site being optimized, the relevance of the anchor text of the inbound links, how popular or unpopular those sites are, and whether those websites are considered relevant by the search engines. This area of off site SEO is referred to as external or inbound linking. Linking is acheived when other websites publish hyperlinks to the site being optimized (usually because the content is noteworthy, informative and/or relevant), thereby increasing its ability to rank for a particular keyword or phrase.
Ultimately, search engines strive to provide their users with the results they seek and rank websites according to how closely they determine they match different search queries. While deceptive search engine optimization tactics might get a site ranked highly for a short period of time, the search engines always realize the site isn't relevant and remove it from the index. Employing both on-site and off-site optimization tactics is the best way to enjoy long-term rankings in the search engines. Achieving those rankings requires the knowledge and technique of a specialized company, one which not only specializes in databases, the structured query language and efficient document retrieval, but one that understands how each piece of the SEO puzzle fits into the whole.
Building a site that ranks well in the search engines requires the services of a company you trust. Many web design companies will offer to create a website for you, but they focus on the aesthetics of the site and forget about ensuring search engine robots can properly crawl the site altogether. Without the proper engineering and set up on the back-end, a highly-relevant site will rank poorly, if at all. You want your site's architecture to be so SEO-friendly that it practically begs to be crawled, a site that invites the search engine robots in and gives them no reason to leave until they've indexed your entire site. So the first step in creating a successful search engine optimization campaign is finding an SEO expert to assemble an SEO-friendly site from the get-go.
Top SEO experts are worth their weight in gold in terms of providing you with business. However, many people claim to be SEO experts when in fact they don't possess the necessary expertise to move you to the forefront of the SERPs. You can vet a potential SEO expert by examining their list of previous clients and letting them explain how they've improves clients' visibility online. You can also meet with them (either in person or over the phone) to ensure your business styles mesh well together and ask for a sample of the reports they intend to provide.
While no legitimate SEO expert can promise you the number-one spot in the organic listings, they should be able to offer you a detailed game plan as well as estimates on time and the success of your campaign. They should be interested in finding out what a successful conversion means for your business so they can rank you for the most relevant keywords.
SEO experts understand that garnering rankings for competitive terms is contingent on a variety of factors. They know how to make a site's architecture as SEO friendly as possible, and to produce unique and relevant content. The top SEO experts also understand the value the search engines place on frequently updated content, and know how to keep it relevant and fresh.
Since SEO and User Experience can overlap at times, noteworthy SEO experts might provide you with User Experience data and suggestions to not only help you achieve rankings in the SERPs but also to help visitors convert at a higher rate. They can choose the right domain name and understand how to structure your URL and internal linking strategies. They will set you up on a reliable and fast server, and employ numerous strategies to help improve the link popularity of your site.
These are but a few of the variables an SEO expert should be able to speak to. Since the search engines alter their algorithms constantly, they should also stay abreast of the latest SEO news and live, sleep and breathe SEO. As we do here. We feel our clients deserve the best.
