What is SEO/Search Engine Optimization?

Everyone wants to be on the first page of a Google search. Obviously, this is a coveted piece of real estate, but what does it take to get there? Search Engine Optimization (also known as SEO) will assist in getting more free and targeted traffic to your website. By making your website more “Search Engine Friendly” and improving your online reputation, a Search Engine Optimization Expert will improve your rankings in Google, Yahoo, and MSN and therefore deliver you more of traffic your business thrives on.

Search Engines like Google and Yahoo are the primary method of navigation for almost all Internet users. If your site cannot be found by search engines or your content cannot be put into their databases, you miss out on the incredible opportunities available to websites provided via search - people who want what you have visiting your site. Whether your site provides content, services, products, or information, Search Engine Optimization provides search engines with the necessary information to guide users to a site matching their search criteria.

A Search Engine Optimization Expert uses special tools and tactics to help ensure that your website is “Search Engine Friendly” and capable of being returned in top search engine results. In recent years, the terms "white hat" and "black hat" have been applied to the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry. Black hat SEO tactics, also called spamdexing, attempt to redirect search results to particular target pages in a fashion that is against the search engines' terms of service, whereas white hat methods are generally approved by the search engines. White hats tend to produce results that last a long time, whereas black hats anticipate that their sites may eventually be banned either temporarily or permanently once the search engines discover what they are doing. The Black hats are the bad guys and they will hurt you in the end. The White hats, like me, do things the right way and though it may take more time, good always wins in the end.