12. Search Engine Optimization

SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. It basically means to improve a web site so that is search engines pick up gets and gets more traffic. This practice has been initiated in the 1990's with the appearance of search engines like Google and is now more popular than ever. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results or the higher it "ranks", the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of searches, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As a marketing strategy for increasing a site's relevance, SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people search for. SEO efforts may involve a site's coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully spidering a site. Another class of techniques, known as black hat SEO or spamdexing use methods such as link farms and keyword stuffing that tend to harm search engine user experience. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques and may remove them from their indices.

With more and more companies offering Search engine optimization services, the web has become a competitive place where only the strongest survive. Unfortunately, many web marketers out there are applying unethical marketing strategies and fooling their clients as well as search engines along the way. Since Search Engine Optimization is becoming more and more popular, it is now important more than ever to be sure that the SEO firm you are dealing with is doing things right.

The initialism "SEO" can also refer to "search engine optimizers", terms adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems, URLs, and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.

Simply put, SEO is marketing through an understanding of how search algorithms work combined with knowledge of what human users might search for. The end goal is to create a site that contains words for which people will likely search when looking for information such as that contained on your site. SEO is an extremely powerful tool online use is regularly to promote your website.