Can Search Engines Find Your Website?

Do you know what the most common online activity after e-mail is?  No, it’s not what you might think.  Actually, it’s search.  Internet users make billions of searches each month and every one of them is focused on specific information.  Typically, the websites that rank at the top of a list of search results are the ones that attract the highest volume of traffic.  That’s why it pays to ensure that your website is search engine optimized.

Basically, search engine optimization, or SEO, is choosing targeted keyword phrases related to your site, and ensuring that your site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a Web search.  This involves research into the type of business you’re operating, the key phrases visitors use most often to search for businesses like yours, and assessing the amount of competition that you have.

SEO for your website works on two levels – first, what you say about yourself, and second, what others say about you.

What you say about yourself on your website must be useful and relevant to your readers.  Longwinded company histories and descriptions of your products or services are likely to be skipped over.  Simple, informative and engaging content works better to enhance your visitor’s experience.  At the same time, your content has to be noticed by Internet search engines, like Google and Bing.  Placing targeted keyword phrases describing your business in strategic locations such as titles, subheadings and introductions will help ensure that the search engines can find you.

Specific keyword phrases work best.  For example, if you’re running a small business as a beauty consultant and distributor of skin-care products in Klang, it won’t help you very much if you choose ‘cosmetics’ as your keyword.  A specific keyword phrase based on location and specialty, like ‘Klang beauty consultant’ will get you better results.

Great content generates links from your visitors, and more links tell the search engines that your visitors trust what you have to say.  That’s why SEO also involves getting the word out and promoting your content. 

Social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook are free content distribution systems that can help you build links with the help of your friends.  In addition, Blogging helps you keep your audience informed and linked without having to add content to your website.  Linking out to other blogs is also an effective way to get linked in.

SEO is both an art and a science, and that’s why there are professional Search Engine Optimizers who can help ensure that your site gets noticed.  It pays to see what they can do for you.  After all, when potential traffic is out there searching for you, you want to be found quickly.