Search Engine Optimization 

Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) is one of the most important, yet overlooked, phases of the website building process. The amount of SEO put into your site may determine whether your site is a success or just a pretty page that no one sees. So still, we are wondering� what is SEO?

We have all heard of the big three search engines: Google, MSN, and Yahoo. Though there are hundreds of search engines out there, these three are the main players that SEO specialists are aiming for. Our job as SEO specialists is for you TO BE FOUND.

First off, the only way to successful to understanding SEO is to understand what the search engines are really trying to do. A search engine's main goal is to return the most likely results based on a user's search terms. They want to be able to read the pages like a human to decipher what pages are really worth reading and what pages should be tossed aside for this current search. After all, if you search for 'Garden Centers' and end up with results that all relate to football, you're not going to use that search engine again, are you? Search engines are not trying to play tricks. They want you to find them to be the smartest internet repository and continue to use them.

So how does a computer system go about trying to read websites like a human? How can a machine determine if a website contains relevant information based on my search? Well, one of the more likely things that help determine relevant content isn�t really in the site at all. Search engines hold record of who is linking to who within the internet and links (some would argue) are the most important thing in search engine placement. In order for search engines to find you relevant, other sites MUST LINK TO YOU. Feel free to send links to other sites all day but that's not going to help your placement. You must have what are referred to as 'Backlinks.' Also, the more sites that link to a site that links to you, the more relevant that site is the more weight that link to you carries.

How do you get more links to you? Well, number one is to have content worth linking to. You must become a resource of some kind and be willing to offer information that people are looking for. This is why search engines see this as a great point of influence. Obviously if a page has a ton of other sites linking to it, there must be something there worth seeing.

What about your content? Your site's content is another large piece of the puzzle. Content should be written in a way that would allow likely search terms to show up throughout your site in a natural way. This process starts at the very beginning of your site development.

What can we do for you?
Site architecture is an often overlooked point in site development. All of our sites are built to ensure that search engines can come in and read through all of the site's content. Many sites suffer from search engines not being able to scan the whole site, leaving the engines to onlySEO in mind from step one. see portions of the site content. Our sites are built with

Review
Here are the key points

A. THERE IS NO MAGIC BULLET
B. Links to you are king
C. You must be a resource. Educating your visitors is key to search engine placement.
D. Your own content should contain key words.

Search Engine Optimization is a very complex subject and requires more education than we can offer here. Here are some recommended resources for you to use in furthering your education on this subject.

1. SEO Book - Aaron Walls
2. SEOMOZ.org
3. Jim Boykin's search engine tools