In building a website there are important things that we have to consider. It is given already that a great web design with the right web page hosting is the key for a good website, but to make it more effective and evident in search engines, one should also take into consideration, SEO.

 

This article explores what is known about website optimization and discusses helpful SEO best practices to help achieve a higher rank with Internet search engines. How do those search engines work and how do website owners increase their ranking in the mysterious world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

 

No one person alone knows exactly how search engines determine rank. Each search engine has its own set of algorithms and methods for website ranking. There is no defined standard that can be followed to ensure that your website will be raised to the top of the list. But, with that said, there are many known actions a web developer can take that will definitely raise a website's ranking. The topic of SEO has been an area of study and experimentation by many. Much has been discovered over the years and, in response to how web pages have been developed, much has changed with how search engines decide their ranking.

 

The best place to begin is to understand the history of how the web has evolved over the years in the area of search engine ranking.

 

 

 

Since the web emerged as a logarithmically growing force in the mid-1990s, those who program websites—known as “webmasters”—only needed to register their website with the various search engines to ensure its listing. The search engine would then send a program, known as a “spider” or “web crawler”, to crawl through the site and take a snapshot of the links and content on each page. When the web crawler was finished, an indexer would then index the page. The process of indexing evaluated the content the spider captured and determined ranking. The index would then enter the site into a scheduler for another visit at a later date.

 

Once webmasters began registering their websites with search engines, the concept of SEO began. Seemingly every webmaster began trying to determine how to get their site ranked as #1. The Holy Grail has always been to crack the search engine algorithm to determine exactly what must be done to attain that top status.

 

Webmasters began realizing that manipulating the content and the raw code on their website affected the site's rank. Even the links on the site and links from other websites to their site would have an effect. It was also discovered that keyword density played a part—that is to say, how often certain keywords or phrases were used.

 

The result of this process of discovery and experimentation resulted in the manipulation and abuse of website ranking. Thus was born the concept of “white hat” and “black hat” SEO. The white hat webmasters developed their websites in ways that were approved of by search engines. Black hat webmasters used deceptive measures, such as keyword stuffing using hidden text or hosting different pages depending what requested the page, a human or a web spider. This was known as “cloaking”.

 

The result of this black hat activity caused search engines to reduce the rank of websites that were deemed deceptive. Search engines modified their algorithms to look for various black hat tactics and webmasters would then modify how they developed their pages based on the modified web index algorithm methodology. And the cycle continued on and on. Web search engine algorithms become more and more sophisticated and the entire ranking process more complex.

 

Now the playing field is far more complex. In 2010, Google garnered about 65% of the web search market; search engines have become big business. Websites have different needs. Market strategies have become part of a website’s development. Websites are often tied to big ideals, big business, and the need to capture the interest of a big audience. Their dependency on search engine ranking has become critical to achieving widespread success.

 

 

 

Search engine optimization is not intended for every website. Each webmaster needs to determine what type of market strategy is needed for their particular site. Some websites benefit most from Internet advertising through search engines or online advertisements. Advertising through search engines is big business and, done properly, can result in big profits. Other websites benefit mostly from optimization methods that generate organic traffic. Organic traffic is traffic generated by the optimization techniques utilized by the site itself.

 

The remainder of this article focuses on optimizing a website using organic methods.

 

 

 

There are two basic methods of optimization that search engines use when determining rank: onsite optimization and offsite optimization. Onsite optimization refers to elements controlled directly from a website. Specifically, these are the website text, code, links, and keywords. Offsite optimization refers to elements external to the website. These elements are typically external links back to the website that originate from other sites. These are known as backlinks. Backlinks hold a critical importance to site ranking.