Here is a basic search engine optimization explanation that discusses some of the more common questions about seo. Simply reading this document does not make one an expert in the field. There is a lot more to SEO than what is commonly or publicly discussed. You should think of this FAQ as a very basic how to guide for the absolute beginner. If SEO were a language this guide would help you to understand how to say "Hello" and "Goodbye" and maybe order a cup of coffee at a restaurant. It would by no means qualify anyone as a literary expert. Having written this, we would however, like to point out that there is some very good information here.
What is search engine optimization? (Back to top)
Search engine optimization or seo for short is the practice of guiding the development or re-development of a website so that it will organically attract visitors by achieving top rankings on the search engines for selected search terms, keywords, and phrases.
What is a search engine spider and how do they work? (Back to top)
A spider is a software script that travels internet links, gathering information about the websites that it discovers and using that information to index webpages to search engine databases.
Search engine spiders follow html links throughout a website then move on to sites that are linked from that website as they travel the internet collecting information. This is the primary reason why getting inbound links is critical to your search engine optimization strategy. Search engines factor in the number and quality of links to your site and can penalize you for paid text links from known link farms. Links to and from your website will directly impact your search engine listings and seo placement.
Spiders can find websites by following links from other sites but there is also a search engine submission process that triggers search engine spiders to collect information about your site. Spiders give more weight to sites that are found naturally as opposed to sites that are submitted.
What is meant by the term weight? (Back to top)
Search engines use a number of different formualae to determine website relevance. That relevance directly influences site placement within their indexes. The more "balanced weight" a site has, better rankings will be achieved. If a site is over seo optimized it can incur ranking penalties. If a site is under seo optimized it will be buried under thousands of other sites in the search results. The factors that determine seo weight constantly change and will influence search results whenever these changes occur.
What is popularity, page rank, and site authority and how does this influence search engine optimization? (Back to top)
Popularity is the measurement that search engines use to determine the number and quality of links that a website has. Page rank is Google's system of determining and displaying it's evaluation of how much popularity and therefore authority any given site posesses. Page rank is displayed in the Google toolbar. PR or page rank is evaluated on a scale of 0 to 10. The higher the number in page rank the more authority it posesses. Page rank and authority is influenced by the sites that link to your website. A high authority web site linking to you can increase your page rank exponentially faster than having thousands of inbound links from non authority sites. Page rank and authority are sometimes important factors in search engine optimization and in other circumstances such as long tail seo, not as important.
What is canonical search? (Back to top)
This simply refers to the path used in a url address. http://sitedomain is different from http://www.sitedomain just as http://blog.sitedomain is different from http://www.sitedomain/blog Each above example of url address paths can lead to different content, so a search engine will make an attempt to figure out which path is the page that should be displayed in results. Sub domains and sub folders are treated differently and can be used to enhance search engine positioning.
What is the Google sandbox? (Back to top)
Factors such as the age of a site, whether the domain has been recently transferred or changed hands,indexing frequency, and authority as it relates to seo are taken into consideration by Google. As with keyword optimization and seo key phrase optimization, the balance needs to be just right in order to secure and hang on to a top search engine listing in their search engine. The Google sandbox is a temporary penalty box that individual web pages can be placed in if Google detects something fishy about any of the above factors. Generally sites that trigger the sandbox penalty only trigger an individual html document to be penalized as opposed to a site wide penalty. This tends to happen more often on new sites that acheive very high ranking competitive keywords and phrases and have a high rate of frequency in terms of content turn over and indexed pages. The sandbox is a means to slow down your search engine placement and penetration from their end while they determine whether or not your site can be trusted. Not every site that triggers a sandbox penalty is seo spam and Google is aware of this. This is why the penalty is a temporary status.
Can search engines index pages that are password protected and is there any way to prevent search engines from indexing specific pages? (Back to top)
Search engines are unable to and unwilling to index pages that appear behind password protection. Additionally search engine spiders are unable to execute scripts such as php, java, etc. To prevent search engine spiders from indexing content that you do not want to be indexed you should create a robots.txt file in the root folder of your website and use the appropriate nofollow meta tag on the actual web page code.
What is longtail search? (Back to top)
The Long Tail is a term first coined by Wired editor Chris Anderson and published in Wired magazine in October 2004.
The idea is that most common one word search terms are extremely competitive, yet many keyword phrases and search term combinations still have traffic and queries and that these are the areas in search that are worth exploring. Conceptually, it raises the question of whether it is better to have one highly trafficed competitive listing versus having thousands of lesser trafficed listings.
Do search engines index ALT text discriptions for JPG and other images? (Back to top)
Most search engines including Google review ALT tags. For sites that are highly graphical these tags carry more weight than they would on a site that is text driven.
What is anchor text? (Back to top)
Anchor text is the click-able text used in hyperlinks and is given weight by Google and other search engines.
Does using frames makes it harder for search engines to properly index my website? (Back to top)
Many search engines will refuse to index pages that are framed because it can cause useability problems. Google and other search engines will index your framed pages regardless of useability issues which is undesirable. There are workarounds such as the "No Frames" tag but it is recommended that frames be avoided or be removed so that the search engine spiders can proplerly index your content and your visitors are able to view the content as it was intended to be seen.
Does the age of a site or domain influence search engine rank and search engine optimization benefits? (Back to top)
If the domain has been recently changed hands or has been just registered it will have less weight than a domain that has acquired even a minimal level of authority.
What are Meta Tags? (Back to top)
Meta tags are html code that appears after the Title tag in the header source code in web pages. Meta tags can be used for execution of various instructions but most commonly they are known for their role in providing search engines with keywords and descriptions in hope that the search engine will use the information during the indexing process.
Contrary to popular belief Meta Tags although not as weighty as they once were are not completely useless. The description tag in particular should be properly designed because that is the information that Google uses in the body of their listing when displaying your indexed page. Meta tags should be no longer than 15 non repeating keywords for the keywords tag, and no longer than 64 characters for the description tag.
Do search engines distinguish between keyword phrases and individual keywords? (Back to top)
You should not repeat the same keywords EXCEPT when the keywords are used within keyphrases. It is always best to include both the keyword as an individual entity and to include it within the keyphrase as well. For example: keywords="search engine optimization, (this is a keyphrase) search engine, (this is a keyword combination), search, (this is a keyword).
What is the Title Tag? (Back to top)
The title tag is html code that appears in a website source code, in the headers above the meta tags. The title tag is important because Google and other search engines will display your listing based on the information provided within this tag. The title tag carries seo weight. It should be no longer than 64 characters.
Will search engine spiders follow meta refresh or meta redirects? (Back to top)
Yes but you will lose weight. I've noticed that sometimes my site appears fourth or fifth position on Google, other times it doesn't appear, and sometimes I'm ranked #1. This can occur on back to back searches.
Why is this?
Google changes their search results and how they are displayed based on a few variables. We suspect that geographic location is one of the variables but also, you may notice that they jumble which sites have the #1 listing quite often although all of the heavy competitors will appear on the first page of results. This indicates that they are somehow rotating the results.
If I have two domains pointing to the same content will the search engines index both domains? (Back to top)
No. The search engines will penalize you for duplicate content and it will hurt your rank.
Is it possible to obtain a top placement in Google or other search engines without paying them for a submission? (Back to top)
Yes, but it will require hard work, luck, and expertise.
In general how long does it take to see the effect of organic seo on search engine rank? (Back to top)
In some cases you may see immediate indexing within twenty four hours. In other cases it could take 4-6 weeks to receive a listing. If you are attempting to capture a first page result it may take time for your listings to climb the authority ladder. In some cases your site may never rank for competitive keywords because the turn over is so great and then even if you did manage to obtain a first page ranking it is likely that your listing may fall very rapidly because of the immense competition for that keyword or keyphrase. Relax. All is not lost. You can generate a lot of targeted traffic through intelligent planning and a long tail content driven approach.
What is the difference between organic search engine optimization and paid placement? (Back to top)
Paid placement firms simply resell pay per click rankings that are retailed on Google or Overture, Yahoo, MSN etc. They offer their expertise and guidance on which keyword combinations will attract the most clicks. They often bill by the click and will ask for a minimum monthly spend. Paid placement service providers often call their service "search engine optimization" but there really is no similarity. True organic search engine optimization is extremely value added because you receive long term traffic and increased web exposure from the campaign long after the ppc money has been spent.