Search engine optimization has proven to be one of the most effective methods used to generate traffic to a website. If you are just starting with your first site, you may feel as if Google and other prevalent search engines are playing favoritism and giving rankings to more popular sites. Although popularity does have something to do with the results, there are a number of factors that go into the equation. This article will help you understand where to focus your efforts when trying to attract the search engine spiders.
Keyword Implementation
You probably know that most internet users rely on search engines to find what they need whether its information, entertainment or products. The role of search engine spiders is to crawl the web, find information relevant to a certain topic and index it for listing. For example, if a web surfer enters keywords such as “IT consulting” into a search engine, the results will consist of web pages that have content most relevant to that field. Keywords are a very important aspect of SEO and must be properly fused into your web pages in order to entice the spiders and boost rankings.
Keyword Position
The actual positioning of your keywords also plays a critical role in the search engine algorithm. The idea is to present your information to the visitor almost immediately. This basically means that you need to insert your keywords as soon possible – in the page, article header and preferably the first paragraph. Experts will tell you that sites with keywords at the top of the page generally rank higher than those that don’t. Without taking keyword positioning into account, you stand the risk of ranking incredibly low or not at all.
Keyword Spamming
As we mentioned, keywords are a highly effective weapon in the race for rankings. However, they can also lead to your downfall. There is such a thing as overusing keywords, something the search engines refer to as spamming. This practice all started with overzealous webmasters who stuff as many keywords and phrases into their web pages as possible, trying to force their way into the search engine rankings. To prevent this, search engines are designed to automatically disqualify web pages deemed as having too many keywords. Whether it is you or designer putting the site together, keyword spamming is something you certainly want to be cautious of.
Popularity
When it comes to search engine results, popularity is taken into account but it isn’t the type you may think. Popularity is determined by the demand for particular keyword and backlinks. Often referred to as inbound links, backlinks are formed when you have your URL posted on other sites. The key is to get your link listed on other sites in your niche. The more it is posted on the web, the more popular it becomes.
Conclusion
Trying to understand search engine results and how they are calculated can be a complex undertaking. During your SEO campaign, keep in mind that nothing is guaranteed as some keywords are tied to very competitive markets. For this reason, you should never waste all of your time on optimization to the point where other vital aspects are neglected.
May 25th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I got a quick question for you.
I have downloaded the WP-theme Extreme from wp themes. I love it.. thanks for ur nice work.. How do i disable the style switcher?
I needed to add an extra post to the main page to make them 4. I was able to edit the css on the first default orange color. However when I switch the style of the page the css modification doesn’t work. Since the CSS of the other styles is not located under my site. Its located under Zirrus.com I beleive.
Please help!!
thanks