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Testimonial

"Internet Marketing NW guided me through every aspect of Web site design for my new Web site "PhiloSophos.com", in order to maximize search engine visibility. Their knowledge and attention to detail is impressive. The result is that my new Web site is gaining 500 visitors per day, ten times the number of visitors at the original, well-established Pathways to Philosophy site."

Dr. Geoffrey Klempner,
University of Sheffield

Importance of SEO
in Internet Marketing

If you are already running an Internet marketing campaign or are about to embark on an Internet marketing campaign, one concept you cannot afford to miss is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is one of the most popular buzz words in Internet marketing but unfortunately many Internet marketers simply do not know enough about SEO to make this strategy work for them. Even those who are knowledgeable about SEO may have difficulty executing their SEO strategies to produce the desired effect.

Advertising is a very important part of promoting any type of business. You need to advertise to reach new customers and market your products or services. Whether you run your business online or not, you probably already realize how important it is to advertise. If you are running your business online, you must realize that there is the possibility for a great deal of free advertising available simply in the form of optimal search engine rankings.

Well known search engines such as Google rank Web sites according to complex algorithms which are designed to determine which Web sites are most relevant for particular search terms. Therefore taking the time and effort to optimize your Web site for relevant search terms may result in you being rewarded with high search engine rankings for these terms. This is important because most Internet users rely heavily on these rankings. It is not uncommon for Internet users to only review the first page of results when they search on a particular term. This means that if your Web site ranks high enough to appear on the first page of the search results you will likely benefit from increased Web site traffic. However, if your Web site doesn't make it to the first page or even the second page, it is unlikely you will receive a great deal of Web site traffic from the search engines.

Now that it is understood why good search engine rankings are so important, you might wonder how to achieve these rankings. The easiest way to optimize your Web site is to hire an SEO specialist to do this work for you. The world of SEO is complex and continually evolving making it difficult for most business owners who do not specialize in SEO to keep up with the changes in the industry. Therefore, business owners who attempt to optimize their Web site by themselves may have difficulty keeping up with competitors who hire an SEO consultant to optimize their Web site.



The algorithms used by search engines can be rather complex and include a number of different factors. Some of the common factors in the equation include keyword density, meta tags, titles, inbound links, Web site traffic and content.

Keyword density refers to the number of times a particular keyword is used in the content of your Web site. The theory behind this concept is that a Web site that uses a keyword often is likely very relevant for that keyword query. However, overuse of that keyword may result in penalties to the Web site if the search engine deems that the keywords are not being used appropriately. Penalties include reduced or poor rankings, and even removing a Web site from a search engine. It usually takes drastic abuses to be dropped from a search engine.

Meta tags are HTML tags that contain keywords and information about a Web site which many search engines use in evaluating the content of a Web site. Placing keywords in these tags can be beneficial in search engines. However, care should be taken to avoid placing irrelevant keywords in these tags as this may result in your Web site being penalized (and rank poorly).

Inbound links are also used by some search engines to rank Web sites. Inbound links refers to links on other Web sites which point to your Web site. Some search engines evaluate the quantity of these inbound links and the quality of Web sites providing these links to your Web site. This means that you should try to develop reciprocal links with other quality Web sites to receive the most benefit from these links.

Click popularity is the measure of how often a listing presented by a search engine is clicked. Some search engines will rank a site higher on their results pages if a site proves to be popular among searchers by being clicked more frequently, the duration that the user stays on a Web site before returning to the search results page, etc. There is also a special SEO expertise in improving click popularity. Too, a high quality, well designed and well written Web site comes into play in this measurement.

Finally, the content on your Web site can do a great deal to bolster your search engine rankings. An SEO firm must be skilled in providing quality content which is also optimized for relevant keywords. This will help to ensure that the copy on your Web site is not only valuable to your visitors but also is considered valuable to the search engines.