Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
The Difference Between Web Design and Search Engine Optimization
I recently ran into an issue with a customer that I believe many web designers have run into. I offered them a website design that I had previously designed for another customer that was live for about a year. I offered it to them at a very low cost since they are a very small start-up business, and all I had to do was change the name and logo for the company. Once the site went live, the customer has incessantly called me about why their page is not ranked higher in Google, and why they are not getting phone calls and emails from the website yet. I am having a hard time explaining to them that search engine optimization is a completely different field from website design and that they will have to pay extra for the extra work that it involves. Most people don't realize just how time consuming SEO really is. Search engine optimization requires least 30 minutes a day dedicated to each website that you administer to.
Why is search engine optimization so time consuming? Each search engine that you use such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have their own algorithm (an algorithm is a very complicated math equation) to rank each website according to the search term that a person types into the search box. For example, when someone goes to Google.com looking for a printing company in Charleston, South Carolina, they type in the terms that make the most sense to them, such as "color printing company in Charleston SC". What most people don't realize is that the search term they think is the most logical, is not the same term that the person sitting next to them would choose. The person sitting next to them may use a more specific search, such as "booklet printers in Charleston SC" or "Where can I send a booklet for printing in Charleston SC?". With so many word combinations available, how do the search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, rank each website for each set of keywords? Google, Yahoo , Bing and other search engines crawl each website and log every word that is on every page of every website. Using specified standards calculated using their algorithm, they rank the page for each search that is typed into the search box on their home page according to keyword density, correct page coding, page load time, etc. There are thousands of variables that each search engine tracks for every website. The algorithms are not public information and each search engine is very secretive about out what the right combination of design elements and content will achieve a high ranking. That is where search engine optimization comes in and why it is such a time consuming job. Since key word combinations vary from person to person and search to search, it is not effective to target only one set of keywords on your website. Search engine optimization should target multiple key word searches.
Keywords are not the only factor taken into consideration by search engines. Below are a few other factors that some search engines look at when ranking your website
SEO is a delicate balancing act of trial an error, and for every search engine that you achieve a top ranking, your ranking may drop on other search engines since each one looks for different criteria. There are thousands of criteria to pay attention to when trying to optimize your website for search engines.
Any search engine optimization specialist will try to tell you that they know exactly the right word combinations to use, that it is easy and that they can get you new business in a matter of days. Don't let them fool you. None of the search engines available today have given us a straight answer as to what the key is to writing the perfect website for high ranking, so it is still trial and error. There are some general rules you can stick to that usually work, but each search engine is constantly updating and changing their algorithm and criteria to keep designers from monopolizing specific searches, which is the main reason why search engine optimization is so time consuming. It can also take up to a month or more to get your website ranking changed or even recognized by the search engines.
Update 7-13-2012:
I just found this site that explains everything I wrote above in much easier terms! www.stepforth.com Common Seo Questions
Why is search engine optimization so time consuming? Each search engine that you use such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have their own algorithm (an algorithm is a very complicated math equation) to rank each website according to the search term that a person types into the search box. For example, when someone goes to Google.com looking for a printing company in Charleston, South Carolina, they type in the terms that make the most sense to them, such as "color printing company in Charleston SC". What most people don't realize is that the search term they think is the most logical, is not the same term that the person sitting next to them would choose. The person sitting next to them may use a more specific search, such as "booklet printers in Charleston SC" or "Where can I send a booklet for printing in Charleston SC?". With so many word combinations available, how do the search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, rank each website for each set of keywords? Google, Yahoo , Bing and other search engines crawl each website and log every word that is on every page of every website. Using specified standards calculated using their algorithm, they rank the page for each search that is typed into the search box on their home page according to keyword density, correct page coding, page load time, etc. There are thousands of variables that each search engine tracks for every website. The algorithms are not public information and each search engine is very secretive about out what the right combination of design elements and content will achieve a high ranking. That is where search engine optimization comes in and why it is such a time consuming job. Since key word combinations vary from person to person and search to search, it is not effective to target only one set of keywords on your website. Search engine optimization should target multiple key word searches.
Keywords are not the only factor taken into consideration by search engines. Below are a few other factors that some search engines look at when ranking your website
- Ensure that your website is built with correct code.
- Minimize heavy design elements that take a long time to load.
- Update your site on a regular basis.
SEO is a delicate balancing act of trial an error, and for every search engine that you achieve a top ranking, your ranking may drop on other search engines since each one looks for different criteria. There are thousands of criteria to pay attention to when trying to optimize your website for search engines.
Any search engine optimization specialist will try to tell you that they know exactly the right word combinations to use, that it is easy and that they can get you new business in a matter of days. Don't let them fool you. None of the search engines available today have given us a straight answer as to what the key is to writing the perfect website for high ranking, so it is still trial and error. There are some general rules you can stick to that usually work, but each search engine is constantly updating and changing their algorithm and criteria to keep designers from monopolizing specific searches, which is the main reason why search engine optimization is so time consuming. It can also take up to a month or more to get your website ranking changed or even recognized by the search engines.
Update 7-13-2012:
I just found this site that explains everything I wrote above in much easier terms! www.stepforth.com Common Seo Questions
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