Of course, you have heard the term. All good web developers, webmasters, designers, admit and marketers employed in an IT field have heard it. Yet, strangely, few understand the purpose and power of a web site optimization project. Even professionals working in search engine optimization and search marketing miss the point as to why optimization is so important. However, the mystery of optimizing is about to be unraveled so pay attention or you just might miss something. This article intends to dispel all myths and explain the legitimacy behind an optimization project and clarify the finer points pertaining to increasing internet traffic, search engine optimization claims (SEO), and search engine marketing (SEM).

What is SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process by which a web masters or marketing professional surveys and assesses not only a web page, but also the entire web site, in an effort to improve search engine results page (SERP) and overall search engine rankings. These are two primary factors and reasons for optimizing. This optimization process begins with the selection of keywords, phrases, and brand names associated with the subject and topic. Next, these keys are embedded as “META” tags into the source code. It is important to note here that every topic and subject has specific keywords, which a search engine looks for in the code in its effort to return a results page. By selecting the relevant keywords and including these as tags, a web site and web page establishes a connection for itself between the content and search engine user. Obviously, the necessity for appropriate keywords is crucial and is the primary step to a good optimization project.

What is SEM?

Search engine marketing, or SEM, is the task of submitting your site in hopes of it being indexed in the search engine. In order to be indexed, a web site must make its presence known on the World Wide Web. While many debate whether it is necessary to submit a site to thousands of engines, as an optimization project manager, I believe it is crucial to not only submit to major engines, but also, to directory websites. The reason for this effort is directly connected to the process of link building which is usually another step in an over all optimization project. The more back links pointing to a website, the higher the chances that an internet user will be able to locate it. In other words, a search engine is nothing short of a roadmap, which identifies associates and returns results to websites for users. What hinders most web sites and pages is the absence of keywords, phrases, and content to support the Meta tag data.

Quality Content

In a court of law, a prosecutor is required to present evidence in the effort to convict an offender in the absence of a plea agreement. On the internet, a search engine acts in a similar manner looking for web content to present. This content must support the META tags or keywords. Your content can be in a number of forms such as articles, tutorials, stories, news reports, etc. Always support your META tags with content.

Reasons for Optimizing

The reason for optimizing is based on the magnitude of internet users who query the search engines in an effort to locate sites of interest. By search engine calculations over 85% of internet users, locate what they need by way of an engine. This makes search engines the single most important path to improving over all web traffic. In addition, most users click on only the first two or three listings before searching the engine again. This makes being in the top spots on any search engine a coveted position. Therefore, sites are optimized in an effort to improve traffic to their website. Incidentally, this traffic translates to potential increases in Adsense and other advertising revenue.

Final Thought

Finally, taking all of the information presented into consideration, you now possess the basic knowledge required to improve and optimize your web pages and entire web site. Feel free to visit us again to learn the specific finer points of these optimization steps until then remember the key is the crucial aspect to increasing traffic to any site and the secret to supporting your keys is content. Making content both king and queen in the optimization process.

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