Starting with Search Engines

Search engines are what makes the web useable. When you want to find information about something you go to your favourite search engine and type in a few words (keywords) and you get a list of Web sites to choose from.

You read the short description of the Web sites on the list, and click, off you go to look at that Website. If the search engine has done its job correctly you find what you are looking for. If not you go back try a few other sites on the list or do another search using different keywords.

Notice something very important - People don't search for a particular website - They search for a product or information to solve their current problem

When making you own Website you need to bear this process in mind. You make your website to solve a particular problem and you make it so the search engines recognise that it solves that problem.

A whole industry has grown up around search engines. A quick search on Google for SEO gives over 15million results. These companies all offer to get your Website to rank high in the search engines (see we bsite ranking) . They will optimise your site for this engine and then for that engine, these keywords etc etc etc…

Its not surprising that anyone making their first Website feels a little overwhelmed when it comes to submitting their website to the scrutiny of the search engines.

After reading some of the Search engine articles which talk about offsite and onsite optimisation, keyword stuffing doorway pages, white hat and black hat. You either give up completely or just hand over the money to the experts.

Getting your site ready for the search engines is actually a very simply two step process:  

They will, with time, give you what you want you want- Traffic.

Now in order to do that you don't need to be a search engine expert! Does all this sound a little too simple? Well, its because it actually is! Am I saying that SEO is not important? Well no- I'm going to talk a little more about that later.

What I am saying is that it isn't rocket science and doesn't need years of practise and study to rank well at any search engine providing you follow a few basic steps.

The first step is your website content. So lets find out how your website content affects search engine rankings and how to choose content to rank well at the search engines.