Search Engine Optimization: What SEO is, and why it Matters By Laura S. Wharton I recently returned from a conference where I learned many things about the Internet I never knew before. In fact, by comparison to many folks, I’m behind the times, just getting my feet wet with e-newsletters and a conversion-driven mentality where my web site is concerned. The topic that most impressed me was search engine optimization. Now for many techies, this will be old news (more like ancient history). But for a writer, paying attention to how search engines work – and thus knowing that my content will make them find the sites I write with greater frequency – was worth the price of admission to the conference. Search engines rank your site high if they “see” that your content is relevant to a given search. Search engines decide what’s relevant by sending out “spiders” or robots which “crawl” (analyze) sites and index or record their findings. If you know anything about algorithms, then you have an idea of how the findings are then determined useful and included in the search results. Since I am not a math whiz, I focus on content and how I can improve my chances of making it relevant. Search engines list search results found through organic or natural searches and results found through searching through paid placements. The natural search results occupy the bulk of your computer screen. The paid listings are on the right side. Paid advertising is how the search engines make their money, so I will focus on tips for making your site more relevant to organic searches: Search engines look for phrases rather than words, so including these phrases in as many places as possible on your pages will bump up the placement of your site in search results. Using links from one page on your site to another page within your site will also appease search engines, and keep readers on your site longer, which should increase conversions (from readers to buyers). This may mean you reference an article you’ve written in an e-newsletter that’s archived on two or three other pages. Use links liberally. “Related Articles” are a great way to do this. Shorter titles are preferred over longer titles on your pages. If you can use keywords or key phrases in your title, so much the better. Use bullets to break up copy on your pages. They are easy on the eyes. Include a call to action on every page. If you are able to incorporate some of these tips into your web pages, you’ll be able to catch the attention of search engines. But the most important lesson I learned was to write for human consumption rather than for the search engines. If you would like more information on writing content for your web site, call me at 336-473-7256 or visit my site, www.whartoncommunications.com.