SEO: Your New Best Friend

By: Chelsey Hennemuth

Google, Yahoo!, and Bing have become household names over the years and it’s no wonder how that has happened. Search engines make surfing the Internet extremely easy by helping to find the correct web address and useful, relevant sites. Simply typing in a few key words can pull up the exact website that you were looking for. But how does that happen? It’s natural to think that the top-positioned sites must have a deal worked out with one of these search engines. However, even the most obscure company can move its way to the top spot with the correct tools.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the tool that can do just that. In short, SEO is knowing how to adjust your website to make it easily accessible through search engines. So why should you incorporate SEO into your website? Certain key words and images can draw people to your site, increasing its visibility among similar sites on the Internet. Utilizing SEO is primarily for the visitors of your site. It is meant to attract more visitors, and not to boost rankings on search engines. SEO works to market your business by presenting the best opportunity for search results.

Even the most minor adjustments can make a difference when using SEO. In its Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, Google suggests starting with the content of the page. Make certain that all areas of the site include quality content that is correctly summarized and written. This includes everything from page titles to page content, images and links. Concise, descriptive language plays an important role in effectively using SEO. However, more complex editing may be needed to increase traffic.

Adjusting the site’s navigation could be the next step in attracting site visitors. Easy navigation will deter from excessive “clicking” through the site. Creating a hierarchy of information will help to keep the site organized and direct visitors to the correct page, post-search. Using descriptive words, again, in the URLs of the site pages will also draw visitors. For example, using “Page1.html” in the URL will not produce any more visits to the site because it is too generic. Descriptive words will now be pulled from not only the page content, but also the URL, during searches.

There are many steps and options when using Search Engine Optimization for your site. But knowing what is best for your visitors and your business are the most important things to remember. Having the number one ranking in a Google search is an accomplishment, but having the best business in the city, with a high-quality website and a record number of visitors is an even greater accomplishment.

Chelsey Hennemuth is a graduate student in the Journalism and Multimedia Arts Department at Duquesne University. She received her B.A. in Graphic Design from St. Vincent College.