What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a series of activities undertaken to improve the ranking of a Web site when using Web search engines such as a Google or Yahoo. It is not simply about registering Web sites with search engines and loading Web pages with metadata.

Why is SEO important?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is as important as choosing the right print or electronic media to promote your product or service. Creating a Web site without SEO is like buying radio ad time without consulting the market information provided by the radio station. How do you know that your money is being well spent? How do you know whether you are reaching your target audience?

SEO is a critical part of Web development. Without effective SEO, the resources dedicated to Web development may be wasted because that information is not reaching its intended audience.

Common mistakes made

Now that we’ve established that SEO may be a good thing, how do we go about it? First let’s look at some common mistakes that people make:

• Build it and they will come – Simply uploading your Web site to a Web server won’t put your site in Google’s top ten;
• Loading up on meta tags – Meta tags are pieces of information such as keywords, description, author, location, etc. that are added to the head of a Web page to improve Web searches. They are a useful addition to any Web page, and will help your site with search engines. However, many people rely on them too heavily as THE solution;
• Missing or poor page titles – A page title is part of the head of a Web page, and can be seen by the user in the title bar of the Web browser. It is a really important piece of information that helps search engine robots index your site, and is visible in a search engine search results page. Page titles like “Home”, “Welcome to Adobe GoLive 6”, or “Welcome to our Web site” are not going to help you very much;
• No content – Contrary to popular belief, the hardest part of developing a Web site is putting together the content. Web sites consisting of slogans and catch phrases, or short on content won’t be as effective. Meta tags don’t replace well written content;
• Search engine registration – Some people may register their site with Google or other search engines. This is only a start;
• I hired this firm that guarantees our ranking! – Most of the firms that promise top placement will optimize your site for keyword phrases no one will look for. Of course they can promise top position for that precise keyword phrase, but will anyone ever search for exactly that phrase? Not likely!;
• Don’t use Heading tags – With the common use of cascading style sheets (CSS), many Web designers stopped using the heading tags such as h1, h2, etc. to structure their Web pages. What they don’t know is that when a search engine robot indexes the text on a Web page, it places greater importance on text found within a heading tag. This is just one example of how the structure of Web page can affect a Web site’s ranking.

How do we optimize a Web site for search engines?

Effective search engine optimization involves a number of steps. Documédia has developed its own proven methodology for optimizing Web site for search engines.
>> about Documédia’s SEO methodology

To conclude, SEO can be mastered, but it isn't something that can be learned overnight. Also, search engines continue to become more and more sophisticated in order to provide optimal service, which then affects optimization work that may have already been completed on a Web site. This means that the learning curve and optimization work is ongoing.

How can Documédia help?

Documédia has assisted numerous public and private sector firms with its SEO services. Our clients have seen dramatic improvements in their Web visibility, and their Web sites now play a key role in improving their bottom line. They also gain the long term benefits of adopting our SEO strategy, so that they can maintain their high visibility in the future.
>> more about our SEO services

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