Search Optimization Or Search Engine Optimization

Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Monday, 18 of August , 2008 at 10:47 pm

Having a good search engine optimization program is fine and chances are you will rank well in the search results. However, I am finding that more and more websites are concentrating too heavily on search engines.

Before undertaking any website activity, your number one question has to be - “why am I doing this, who is it for?” If your answer is the search engines, then quit now, pack your website away and go home.

If your answer is the reader, then start to work on your search optimization first. By search optimization I am referring to what your visitors sees when they arrive. SEO can help deliver quality traffic. However, you have to have quality content to keep your visitor from fleeing, and perhaps take the next step be that buying, subscribing or bookmarking to return again.

When I first started computing many years ago, there was a simple saying:

“GIGO - garbage in - garbage out.”

The same principles apply to your websites today. Provide garbage to your visitors and you will get garbage in the results.

Create your site for the visitor first and foremost. It makes good sense to include good search engine optimization techniques along the way; however, the principle focus needs to be on your visitor. People are becoming far more sophisticated in their expectations today. If they find your site at the top of the search results, it almost indicates a vote of quality so that is what they expect to find.

Give them a site full of keyword stuffed content that makes reading difficult, the visitor will disappear. Some sites, because they insist on placing keywords everywhere, have content that feels and reads like a poorly translated instruction manual.

While ranking well in the major search engines is important to get those visitors in, search optimization is important to give those visitors what they now demand. If you let them down, ultimately, you let yourself down.

                      Category: SEO                      

No comments yet.