Search Engine Optimization and Web Design

For the sake of this specific discussion, let’s presume you are novice at search engine optimization. You want to know some basics about seo and why you would need to apply it to your Web site. Place your mouse over the “SEO in General” tab to see the various levels of SEO information.

Search engine optimization is the application of tags and manipulation of copy in your Web site. The tags, such as the <h1></h1> through <h6></h6>, <meta content=”" /> (or <meta ??=”" />), <p></p>, <img src=”" width=”" height=”" alt=”picture description” />,  are a few of the most important tags you need in the markup of your Web site pages. Without these tags the search engines have no idea what’s important in your Web site. More succinctly, they have no idea what you consider as your “keywords” or “keyword phrases”.

Keywords or keyword phrases are specific words that describe your business or service. For instance, you don’t simply expect search engines to know that your site is all about pizza if you have pictures of pizza in all of your pages and only once mention the word “pizza” in any of your content. If you practice this the search engines will presume the word(s) they find most often are what your site is about. That could be the word “we”, or “company” or whatever the search engines find is the word or phrase used most often in any single page.

Your ‘home’ page, technically called the index page or ‘default’ page, is your primary concern. The search engines want to see your keywords/phrases in your home page so that they have an idea of what to search in the remaining pages of your site. If you optimize only one page of your site, make that one page the home page. However, do not completely neglect the remaining pages. Often times the search engine will determine ‘another’ page of your site is more “relevant” than your home page to your keyword/phrases.

Relevant – remember this word and use it as your most sacred when referring to seo. The more relevant your site/page is to your keyword/phrases, the better chance you have of beating your competition to a top 10 search engine position. But, do not ‘overkill’ your optimization. If you repeat your keyword/phrase(s) too many times within the total number of words you have on any given page, the search engines may determine your page is “spamming” the search engines. That will buy you a place at the ‘last’ position of the search results for your keyword/phrase, or, simply get you banned from the search engine altogether. If you are banned from a search engine that means you are removed and never allowed back using the domain name that was found to be spamming.

Ok. That’s a lot of information for the novice optimizer. So let’s hold this page to a discussion about what’s here and how to understand seo at this level. For those who are more advanced you will move on to another level you feel addresses your information or needs better.