Search Engine Optimization Basics

Google. It started out as a noun. It's evolved into a verb. We're Googling all over the place these days. But the fact that it's become a part of our society's vernacular is an indication of its importance in our daily lives. So what is Google, anyway? And why is it important? Here's a quick low-down on search engines and why they're crucial to finding customers - and for customers to find you.

Search engines are, essentially, giant indexes of information. Stores of gazillions of documents, Web sites and other stuff kept on the Web. Every day, every minute, every second, each engine-- whether it's Google, Bing or others-- have spiders crawling all over the Web to continuously collect information to add to its humongous collection. Not real spiders, of course, but automated programs, if you will, are the spiders in this case.

When someone enters search parameters, or a query, the search engine gets to work hunting for the results, collected by the spiders, that'll best fit your needs. But how is that search engine smart enough to find, generally, what it is you're looking for? Algorithms. This is a fancy word for a group of rules that indicate what's considered a result that's pertinent to the query, as well as useful to the user (as it pertains to their query). And each search engine runs a bunch algorithms at one time to optimize the results you see. It's important to note that different engines interpret what's useful and relevant in different ways. So if you perform a query using two different engines, it's likely that you'll get some different search results. Interesting, huh?

 So how does knowing how a search engine work help you find customers online? Well, knowing how to create online real estate that's search engine-friendly is crucial to helping your customers find you when they need you. Because in today's world, our customers come to us when they're ready to research, buy and engage; we no longer blast our message out to them.

Here are a couple of tips to help you optimize your Web site for search engines.

1. Have great content that includes important keywords. While you should always create content that is geared towards what your customers need and want, your content should also include key words that might be included in a potential customer's search for information on a product or service like yours. This way those spiders can collect that info and share it with a user when they perform a query with those terms.

2. Update your Web site regularly. You don't have to make changes to your Web site every day, or every week for that matter. But updating your Web site regularly shows those search engines that you have a fresh, active site with information that's current-- something users want, need and appreciate.

3. Link up! While you can submit your Web site to Google to be “spidered” (included in the search for information), a good way way to show the spiders that your page is “spider-worthy” is to link to other QUALITY sites on the Internet. Those spiders will see that your page is important enough to those other sites to connect with-- so they should certainly collect your information to share with other users.

4. Hire a pro.  Yes, there are definitely some tried-and-true ways to optimize your site. But search engines change their algorithms regularly, and truthfully, optimizing is a time consuming project that requires knowledge of the current algorithms.  It is worth the investment to work with an SEO professional to maintain your Web site's visibility with the search engines - and improve your rankings.

Jessica Federman is CEO & Principal Strategic Storyteller for MindShuffle, LLC, a strategic storytelling company based in Bucks County, PA.  MindShuffle specializes in collaborating with small businesses and entrepreneurs to help them discover their brand's voice and share their message across digital and traditional channels. For more information, visit www.MindShuffleMarketing.com.