Search Engine Optimization: A Personal Perspective

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the steps taken to make a site search engine friendly. Search engine marketing (SEM) refers to the actions taken to drive traffic to a web site.

I do not currently offer search engine marketing services because I don't have the time or the resources necessary to provide a dedicated, full-time effort to each client's online marketing campaign.

The good news, however, is that I do offer basic search engine optimization as an included service. I won't charge extra for creating a site that should, by nature, be search engine friendly anyway.

There are several basic techniques that I use to help my sites get listed organically (naturally) in the search engines. However, unlike many other web designers, I won't make promises or false claims stating that your site will be listed on the first page of the search results.

To learn some basic search engine optimization tips, read below.

Search Engine Optimization

Some folks grab an html book, teach themselves code, and suddenly proclaim themselves to be web designers. Funny enough, many of these same 'web designers' simultaneously claim to be SEO experts and will charge their clients outrageous amounts for SEO/SEM services. True SEO experts are few and far between, so be on the look-out.

If someone guarantees that they can get you listed at the top of the search results, run the other way. This is a false claim - no one has the exact formula. What we do know is that search engines use special algorithms to index web sites. These algorithms change periodically as search engines refine their web indexing processes, so there's no telling if what works today will work tomorrow.

Algorithms aside, there are still a few tried and true techniques you can use to make your site search engine friendly:

Relevant Title Tags
Informative Meta Tags
Relevant Headings
Keyword-rich Content
Keyword-rich Links
Proper Use of Alt Tags
Robots.txt File
Site Map

Other SEO tidbits:

Number of clicks - don't sit there all day clicking your own link though. Google's smarter than that.
How long the site's been live - gotta love those dated themes from 1996. *hee*
Keyword-rich domain name - stick your main keyword in your domain name.
Keyword-rich file names - you'll be surprised, but even the name of your files can give you a boost.

For Your SEM campaign:

Link Exchanges (from related sites)
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

Therefore, before creating a web site, you must give some thought to your target market and keywords. With proper keyword analysis, you'll know how to make the most of your title, meta and header tags; keyword analysis will provide an enormous amount of guidance regarding site content.

Search Engine Marketing

Credible search engine marketing companies will not make false claims or guarantees. Also, they will not resort to what are called, "black hat" (underhanded) practices in getting your site to the top of the searches.

What credible SEM companies will do is manage your search engine marketing campaign by: analyzing keywords for you, submitting your site to directories and search engines, and managing a well-planned Pay-Per-Click campaign. Many of these companies will also offer to copy write (write content) for you, seek out link partners on your behalf, and monitor your web statistics.

Search Engine Optimization & Marketing is a highly specialized field. Online marketing efforts can get expensive, but they're a part of doing business on the web. Just stick to your budget and be wary of agencies who will promise you the moon.