Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via natural (organic or algorithmic) search results. This is one of a dozen general definitions you can find on the web but what does it mean to you and your web campaign?

Before it ever became a named methodology, what we now call SEO (in its most basic form) was initially used to categorize web sites. Metadata was the primary tool used to define a sites content so when a search was performed, results were returned that were relevant to the search criteria. As the World Wide Web became inundated with more and more content, individuals as well as businesses struggled for position in search results.

Search engines begin to recognize the need to return more relevant search results, the criteria used to determine how important a page was or where it was ranked in the results needed to be more sophisticated. Standards started to form as the web shifted from a library resource to a business resource.

If you do business on the internet via a company website or you are thinking of building a website for your business, it's important to understand the role SEO plays in your success. SEO is the foundation, the starting place... it's like building a house on solid ground verses sand.

Understanding Basic Webmaster Standards for Design and Content

A great place to start learning about search engine optimization is with the search engines themselves. Google, Yahoo, MSN (Bing) and other major search providers offer webmaster guidelines that can assist you in learning some of the general do’s and don’ts of good web mastering practices. After all it’s to their benefit to do so – what good would it be to have a search engine that did not return relevant results? Let’s take a closer look at some of the guidelines provided by Google in their webmaster area.

Google: Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.

AWPI: Design navigation for human use. If your link structure is hard for a human to follow, how much harder will it be for the search engine crawlers to follow? Link structures (menus) should have a logical order. Keep menus consistent from page to page with a static top menu or sidebar navigation and whenever possible use search engine friendly (SEF) URLs (more on SEFs will be discussed in my next article "Technical Standards for SEO").

Google: Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages.

AWPI: An on-page site map offers users an easy way to navigate to topics or items of interest without trying to figure out menu structure. This is not the same as an XML sitemap which is designed for the search engines, allowing them to find the data faster and more efficiently (more on XML sitemaps will be discussed in my next article "Technical Standards for SEO").

Google: Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.

AWPI: Content is king an overused phrase but still very relevant in creating what is now termed an "authority site". Relevant, updated and fresh content is what a search engine looks for and although metadata is not as heavily used to determine a site’s content or theme it is still a factor search engines take into consideration when ranking your site. Keyword and key phrase research is probably one of the more time consuming efforts you’ll undertake in the quest to optimize your site. However, the importance of strategic placement of such terms within your text and metadata can dramatically increase the prominence or positioning of your site in search results.

Google: Make sure that your TITLE tags and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate.

AWPI: Keywords or phrases used within the body of your site should be used in the title tags of your images as well. As search engines cannot read images, naming your graphics or images appropriately can assist end-users navigating the site or explain their purpose. A general rule of thumb, ALL CAPS, symbols including punctuation should not be used in the title. The title should not be excessive, a good practice is to try to keep it at 3-4 words. A title should be strong and consistent with keywords that are found in the metadata and/or content of your site.

ALT attributes provide alternative information about an image in the event the image cannot be viewed. W3C standards require that you define alt tags when present in order to validate a site (more on W3C standards will be discussed in my next article "Technical Standards for SEO").

Google: Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images.

AWPI: As described above, defining Titles and ALT tags can help alleviate some of the confusion surrounding images and their use within a site. Another factor you’ll want to consider is optimizing your images. Images come in all sizes and forms; slow page load time can deter visitors and crawlers alike. Use a graphic program to convert images to their best quality, lowest file size before uploading them to your site.

Becoming a search engine optimization service provider or expert does not require a degree but it does require advanced knowledge of web practices and the constant study of web trends. There is much more to search engine optimization then what is outlined above however, starting with the concepts above will provide you with some basic knowledge to help increase your chances for success on the web.