What is search engine optimization (SEO) ?

What is search engine optimization (SEO) ?
search engine optimization (SEO), or search engine optimisation for us brits, is quite simply the technique of making your site appear more relevant and more prominent than any other in its field.

Every hour of every day the major search engines scour the web, cataloging its content and ranking that content in order of relevance, search engine optimization harnesses this by activity by predicting and analyzing words and phrases that your customers are most likely to enter as search terms in engines such as Google. These search optimization terms are then built seamlessly into the fabric of your site in positions that search engines are most likely to favor.

A search engine is far from a simple directory, and so making sure that your site achieves a high search engine ranking is not a simple task. Furthermore, as all search engines -from Google to MSN and from Yahoo to AltaVista - rank and select sites in different ways it is vital that the mechanics of the process are understood by any search engine optimization company.

And search engine optimization (SEO) cannot be considered in isolation. For whist the engines may find the site initially, your customers must still find it appealing, intelligible and attractive. It would be easy to pack each page with the words that a search engine seeks, but chances are that the result would be almost unreadable.

And after all, people purchase, not search engines.

Every hour of every day the main search engines scour the web, cataloging its content and ranking content in order of relevance, search engine optimization (SEO) harnesses this by activity by predicting and analyzing words and phrases that your customers are most likely to enter as search terms in search engines such as Google. These search optimization terms are then built seamlessly into the fabric of your site in positions that search engines are most likely to favor.
Why does my company website need search engine optimization (SEO) ?

The majority of web traffic is driven by the major commercial search engines - Yahoo!, MSN, Google & AskJeeves (although AOL gets nearly 10% of searches, their engine is powered by Google's results). If your site cannot be found by search engines or your content cannot be put into their databases, you miss out on the incredible opportunities available to websites provided via search - people who want what you have visiting your site.

An online search is the most widely used method of attracting qualified visitors to your Web site. According to Jupiter Research, 82% of online shoppers know exactly what they want when they log onto the Internet and almost half of them use search engines to find solutions and vendors. With research confirming that the vast majority of searches end within the first two pages of results, prominent placement on the Internet's major search engines through effective search engine optimization (SEO) is of critical importance. First Worldwide Internet's natural search engine optimization services are designed to get your website noticed when potential buyers are looking for the products and services you have to offer. We achieve this by targeting the Internet's major search properties in order to drive self-qualified prospects to your site - the specific audiences that are looking for your products and/or services.
Why can't the search engines out my site without a search engine optimization company's SEO help?

search engines are always working towards improving their technology to crawl the web more deeply and return increasingly relevant results to users. However, there is and will always be a limit to how search engines can operate. Whereas the right moves can net you thousands of visitors and attention, the wrong moves can hide or bury your site deep in the search results where visibility is minimal. In addition to making content available to search engines, search engine optimization (SEO) can also help boost rankings, so that content that has been found will be placed where searchers will more readily see it. The online environment is becoming increasingly competitive and those companies who perform search engine optimization (SEO) will have a decided advantage in visitors and customers.
What we do!

The process begins with the effective selection of the basic building blocks for your search engine optimization campaign., your keywords.

search engine optimization (SEO) Step 1 - Keyword Analysis
Knowing what words and phrases people use to search the Web is an essential component of any well-executed search engine positioning campaign.

The keyword analysis and selection phase of our search engine positioning process identifies the proper keywords to target ensuring that the most qualified users will find the specific pages within your site that are relevant to their search query.

search engine optimization (SEO) Step 2 - Competitive Analysis
The competitive analysis phase of the search engine optimization (SEO) process will help you size up your competition and provide you with the tools necessary to achieve and maintain your rightful position at the top of the search engines. After establishing the most effective keywords for your website, First Worldwide Internet will prepare a comprehensive competitive analysis and baseline report showing you exactly where you stand relative to your competitors for these keywords.

This phase of the search engine optimization (SEO) process will yield the foundational data necessary to achieve the competitive advantages needed to outperform your competitors on the search engines and gain valuable market share.

search engine optimization (SEO) Step 3 - Content Enhancement
Once effective keywords have been agreed upon, and a strategy has been formulated for outperforming competitors, First Worldwide Internet will perform the content enhancement phase of the search engine optimization (SEO) process.

As the title implies, content enhancement involves the modification of website content. During this phase of the process, First Worldwide Internet will make recommendations to manipulate the current placement of existing content, add new content, or even remove existing content in certain circumstances.

Since the end goal of the search engine optimization (SEO) process is to achieve prominent placement for the right keywords, rather than tricking the search engines into listing your pages, we will need to ensure that the appropriate keywords are incorporated into your site in an appropriate manner. Simply including these keywords into your content is not enough. First Worldwide Internet has years of experience in constructing site content in a search engine friendly format.

First Worldwide Internet will also work with your website editors so that future content (press releases, new products, etc...) will remain synergistic with your newly optimized content.

search engine optimization (SEO) Step 4 - Code Enhancement
Effective copy writing is only part of the battle when it comes to making your website search engine friendly. Regardless of how complex search engines seem, they are not yet complex enough to read all content that the web browsers display. While flash, Java script, DHTML, and framing technologies may look great to the end user, they can stop a search engine spider dead in its tracks and prohibit your website from being crawled effectively.

Even if your site has been programmed in pure, easy to read HTML, you may not be presenting the spider with the appropriate information. Title, H1, and Meta tags are all important elements in effective code writing. Search engines rely on specific code to determine the content within a Web page.

database-driven websites present yet another obstacle for search engine spiders. Without proper search engine optimization (SEO), much of your site may be unreadable to search engines. This can have a significant adverse impact on your sites ability to generate search engine traffic.

First Worldwide Internet has years of experience in making your code work with your content rather than against it.

search engine optimization (SEO) Step 5 - Link Enhancement or Link Building Services
Once the content contained within your site is geared towards the appropriate keywords and search engine spiders can effectively navigate your site, the search engines will attempt to determine the relative importance of your site. Your site may contain information about a subject, but how qualified is your site to talk about it?

Relevancy based search engines use linking to determine the relative credibility of one site versus another with respect to subject matter. You may have heard the terms "Link Popularity" and "Page Rank" through search engine optimization (SEO) research. These terms refer to the existence of external links from sites that link to yours. These links can have a substantial impact on your ability to achieve and maintain prominent positioning for the keywords you covet.

First Worldwide Internet works with you to help increase the number, quality and manner in which external sites are linked to your website. First Worldwide Internet works with you to identify relevant sources for links, where they should direct traffic to, and how they link.

search engine optimization (SEO) Step 6 - Code Implementation
Once the content, code, and link enhancement processes have been completed, the net step in the search engine optimization (SEO) process is implementation. First Worldwide Internet offers varying levels of implementation to address the individual needs of our clients.

We can implement search engine optimization (SEO) by preparing a deliverable that contains a hard copy document and a custom tailored CD with all the code the client needs to make changes. This process enables your Web team to simply paste the optimized code from the CD into your current pages.

Depending on level of access, First Worldwide Internet can also implement search engine optimization (SEO) by accessing your Web servers and uploading the coded pages.

We also offer the option of having one of our search engine optimization (SEO) consultants implement the optimized code on your premises. If the client chooses this option, a First Worldwide Internet search engine optimization (SEO) consultant will travel to your facility, implement code changes, and work with your Web team to train them on the fine points of updating content.

First Worldwide Internet's search engine optimization (SEO) consultants have years of experience in working with content management systems as well as shopping cart systems that can be the source of issues related to changes in content.

search engine optimization (SEO) Step 7 - Web Page and Directory Submission
The final step in the search engine optimization (SEO) process is to make sure that each of the newly optimized pages is included in the indexes of all the relevant search engines. First Worldwide Internet manually submits all pages into search engines and directories.

directory submission requires both effective copy writing and a comprehensive understanding of the search engines. First Worldwide Internet ensures that your directory submissions are in compliance with the directory's technical parameters and ensures that the client's listings are as keyword rich and relevant as possible. Proper directory submission is critical for search engine success.

Additional Steps for search engine optimization (SEO)
The 7 steps outlined above represent the core components of an effective search engine optimization (SEO) process. First Worldwide Internet sets itself apart by the quality in which we perform these tasks, as well as the additional steps we take to ensure the success of our clients.