The Future of Search Engine Optimization for Newbies

Search Engine Optimization is at the very core of how successful a website will be. If you want to have a presence on the web, it is critical to understand this process. Terms like SEO can be intimidating to the layman, but if you are going to create a lasting and successful presence on the web, you need to get to the heart of it. Let’s break it down into something that everyone understands. Let’s say you are a visitor to Lafayette, LA, and you want to sample some of the fabulous Cajun cuisine the city is known for. How do you find a restaurant? Chances are you will go into a search engine like Google, and type in something like “Cajun restaurants in Lafayette, LA”. Within seconds, a list of restaurants will come up, and you will browse through them to make your choice. Therefore, SEO in Lafayette, LA plays a huge role.

SEO is what will determine which links to restaurants come up, and in what order. Most people will not venture much further than the first page of results – you assume that what comes up first is best, right? And if you do go into a search engine, and type in “Cajun restaurants in Lafayette, LA, you will get over 96 000 results on Google -one is going to wade through all of those, so almost all traffic is going to be driven to the sites that are ranked first. So how do search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing sort out which sites are going to come out ahead of the pack?

Simply put, search engines rank by popularity. When you type in search terms, the search engine brings back results based on both the relevance, and the importance of your query. These factors are determined by complex mathematical equations called algorithms, based on ‘ranking factors’. If the search engines cannot find your site, neither can your potential visitors. Search engine optimization involves improving the internal and external aspects (coding and content) of your site so search engines can find it, and showcase it.

Let’s go to the other side of the coin. You have a great restaurant in Lafayette, LA, and you want to build a website so that people can find you. It’s not a simple matter of designing a site and putting it on the web. You need to factor in houston seo experts so you can ensure that traffic is driven to your site by search engines, or you will find yourself buried under the thousands of other links which come up. So what can you do to ensure that you are making full use of SEO in Lafayette, LA?

These are the basics – make sure your site has excellent content, which you refresh regularly. Make sure you link content from one page on your site to other pages from your own site, and remember – the higher number of quality pages your site has, the higher it can rank. Every word and phrase on every page of your site can make a difference to your ranking in search engines, so choose them well, edit carefully, and update often, so that ‘spiders’ which trawl the net picking up information for search engines, can get the information they need to put your site on the map. Make a point of checking the major search engines for their Webmaster SEO guidelines. Research the use of Meta tags and keywords, along with external links – all of these aspects make a difference, but don’t put these factors ahead of good, solid content. Google and other major search engines are wise to what is known as ‘Black Hat SEO techniques’ – these include ‘keyword stuffing’ aimed at getting search engines to rank a page, but having little relevant content on the page, and misleading title tags. It’s a cheap shot, does nothing for your credibility, and diminishes your web presence.

Many companies specialize in SEO in Lafayette, LA – depending on your budget and your experience, you may want to outsource the SEO of your site to an expert in the field. Brand building, and viral marketing also make a difference. If you have a great little restaurant in Lafayette, LA, I want to visit it to enjoy the local cuisine. But I won’t find it on the web if your SEO is sloppy. This means I miss out on a great meal, and you miss out on my business…