What is Search Engine Optimization?

If you are just beginning to bring your business online you may hear the words Search Engine Optimization, SEO and Internet Marketing from vendors trying to sell you on the idea and need for it.

Let's start at the beginning.

What is a search engine?

In its most simplistic form a search engine gathers and holds information about websites in its database. It then retrieves and ranks this information based on an algorithm when a user searches. Google, Bing and Ask are good examples of the major search engines.

How does a search engine know how a site should be ranked?

Search Engines have automated “bots” that “spider” across the internet following links to new pages and reading and recording (indexing) the page code.  The page code is what the designer or webmaster used to make the site actually work. You can see this code for yourself in most browsers by right clicking and selecting “view source”.

Using this page code combined with each Search Engines proprietary algorithm they are able to rank each site based on a users specific search query. 

Search Engines are constantly changing the way in which they spider websites, rank websites, or even list websites in their engines. Google’s Matt Cutts has even said that Google had over 550 Algorithm changes in 2009 alone.

All these ongoing changes can make Search Engine Optimization a bit overwhelming and tough to get a grasp on especially, when you’re just starting to learn the basics of the online world. 

However, if you’re bringing a website online you should take the time to get a rudimentary understanding of what Search Engine Optimization is and how to use it properly so that it no longer is a complete mystery.

If you’re dealing with a credible vendor, such as Sales and Marketing Technologies, they will have a team of marketers who will handle the minute details of Internet Marketing for you.