Search Engine Optimization

What SEO is and Why It's Important

SEO is an acronym that stands for Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization is the process through which a web owner edits his or her web pages in order to be more search engine friendly. By optimizing their web pages, a web owner allows for their site to be searched and indexed by robots in a more effective manner, leading to a higher ranking in the search engines, and therefore a higher level of organic traffic.

Not only does SEO allow for more traffic, it allows for more highly targetted traffic. For instance, if you are the owner of a site that sells a program for training parrots to talk, you would like people who search for "parrot training" to find your website. While optimizing your site for people who search for the word "parrot" will allow anyone looking for information about parrots to find your site, it will not help you sell more programs. People who are looking for information on training their parrots will be more likely to buy your program than someone who just wants general parrot information.

When search engine robots crawl your site, they use many factors to determine which pages of your site should be indexed. If one of your pages is buried in a subdirectory far from the root directory of the site, it may not be indexed. Also, some pages or site do not get indexed because they do not have enough traffic or links. It may seem frustrating to those just starting out that you can't get visitors through search engines without already having visitors. This dilemma further legitimizes the need for a properly-optimized web site.