Background

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making sure a website follows all the rules established by the primary search engines, such as Google, so that the website is indexed as well as possible. The task of search engine optimization is good for the website, the search engines, and people surfing the web. Why?

Imagine this conversation.

Joe: “Hey, look at those zebras on the tube! Aren’t they cool?”
Sue: “Yes. I wonder if they are white with black stripes or black with white stripes?”
Joe: “I knew once, but can’t remember.”
Sue: “Well, you’re at the computer. Look it up.”

Joe opens up a browser, goes to Google, and types in “zebras white black stripes.”

The sites that popped up are likely to be “optimized.” The authors wrote the web sites to answer the question “Are zebras black or white?” So, when that question was typed into Google, the answer popped up.

What made these web sites come up first instead of the Denver Zoo or National Geographic? Following the rules issued by Google probably had a lot to do with these sites coming up first.

Black and White

Google’s intent is to have web surfers’ type in something and get relevant web sites back. What good is a search engine if you type in “zebra stripes white black” and get web sites on Viagra?

The techniques that Google and other search engines approve of are called “white hat” SEO techniques.

Humans constantly try to outthink the search engines and try to manipulate the system. If you were the Viagra salesperson and Viagra came up at the top of every search out there, you might sell more Viagra, right? Manipulating the system is called “black hat” techniques and Google and the other search engines constantly change their algorithms to punish “black hat” techniques and reward “white hat” techniques.

Black hat SEO is only good in the short term, because you will get caught.

What are the rules?

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769

The gist of the rules are to put up good quality, useful web pages for people, set meta data accurately, make sure you don’t have broken links, and to think of the words webs surfers would use to find you and actually put that text on your website.

This SEO article was written by Gwen Nicodemus of Shiny Newts, LLC.