Providing Creative Alternatives

Search Engine Optimization -- also called SEO -- is the art of creating web pages that rank well in the search engines.

Search engine optimization in a nutshell means choosing a key phrase for a page and then using that phrase in the title of the page, the headings, and the text. You want to do this in a natural way, so it sounds okay to readers. The search engines will penalize too many or too few repetitions of one phrase on a page.

If you make a great web page on say, Caribbean scuba diving, but you don't use that phrase much or in the right places, your page will rank lower on Google and other search engines, so fewer people will find you. Generally, your ideal is to be in the top 10 for your phrase, though this isn't possible for every phrase. Web surfers will typically look at fewer than 30 sites on a topic.

It isn't just about one page, either... what you say on other pages in the same directory of your website matters too. The search engines are getting better at figuring out the themes of websites.

So SEO is very important... and you can learn to do it.

The key phrase of this page you are reading is "search engine optimization." I'd be very surprised to get this page in the top 30 on Google for this phrase, because there are too many people slaving long hours over their web pages, optimizing them for that phrase. But our llamas web site is usually in the top 10 at Google for "llamas," for "llama training," and for a number of other llama-related phrases that people type in. My dogs website is usually near #1 on Google for the phrase "potty training dogs."

I say usually because Google, Yahoo, MSN, and the other search engines often vary the methods they use for ranking pages. There's even a nickname for this with Google: the "Google dance." Not to worry if your pages fluctuate. If they are well-optimized, you should do fine overall.

Now how did I know to optimize the page for "potty training dogs" instead of "housebreaking dogs" or "housetraining dogs"? Ah, that's a whole other aspect of SEO! I've always said "housetraining" myself, but it turns out that far more people type in "potty training dogs."

In a case where there were phrases that scored about equally well, you could create two different pages on a website, one optimized for each phrase. But make your pages have different content, or it will seem very weird to your visitors -- and even the search engines don't like that. To use the dog potty training example, I could have one page with the basics of how to potty train dogs, and another page of tips on how to housebreak dogs. (Hmm... better put that on my list of things to do!)

A tool for finding key phrases (usually called keywords) is Wordtracker. It has a free tool that will give you partial search results, or you can pay for their full service. I used the free tool a lot, and then finally tried the full service for a couple of weeks, when I was doing a lot of that kind of work. You can even sign up for just one day at a time, if you wish. Like many of these tools, it is worth taking the time to study it a bit.

Only a small percentage of webmasters know a lot about search engine optimization... So you don't have to become a master to be ahead of the pack.

If you search a key phrase in Google or any search engine, and then go to the top websites, you can see if they have really optimized for that page or just got lucky. Look at the title (at the very top of the screen in small letters), their headers, and their text. In Internet Explorer, you can also click on View, the click on Source, and that will show you the html code for the page. What's interesting there is in the first lines, where you can see the title, keywords or key phrases, and description.

For some keywords and key phrases, the top web sites will all be optimized. (This is a reason to stay away from internet marketing as a topic. In that field, the competition is fierce.) For others, you will have a good chance of getting in the top 10, or even number one! Single words are very much harder to get than phrases.

But it's a waiting game. It can take months for your page to work its way upward, even after the search engines have found it. Keep working on new projects and pretty soon the older pages will show up. And it's a real thrill!

The Nitty Gritty of Search Engine Optimization

I was going to go into more detail on what to do exactly, but then I came across a lovely web site that has a terrific section on search engine optimization. Not surprising -- they have a business doing SEO for people! Take a look at wordsinarow.com.

I highly recommend that you learn the basics of search engine optimization yourself. Paying for someone else to optimize your siteis an option, but the top people get BIG bucks for their work, and the others may not know much more than you could pick up. But then I am a do-it-yourself type. Also,now that I know the basics of SEO, it's just part of how I write.

Another website where you can learn a lot is highrankings.com. I have been reading Jill Whalen's newsletter for years. She has a good forum and a lot of articles that you can read on the site. (I link to the forum and articles pages because her home page is a good sales pitch and it isn't immediately obvious that there is a lot of good free stuff on the site.)

What I specially like about her thinking is that it's really very common sense and not gimmicky. I haven't read her 23-page downloadable report The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines but I'm sure it's excellent. (She and I must be on the same wavelength -- I had already written the "Nitty Gritty" heading above when I went to her site to get the title of her report!)

So -- search engine optimization can be daunting at first but it is also fun! It is such a thrill to see one of your web pages ranking high in the search engines on a popular phrase! Of course the point of all this is to get people to read your pages and buy your products or do whatever else you want them to. That's even more of a thrill!