The process of increasing the amount of visitors to a website by ranking high in the search results of a search engine

 In order to publish a website online, you need a Web host – thousands available online  The Web host stores all the pages of your website and makes them available to computers connected to the Internet ◦ Ex: Apache, OS X Server, or Windows Server  Monthly fee that varies  Estimate how big your site will be and how much traffic you expect before signing up for a Web hosting service

 Web sites that are built using these often find it harder to rank well ◦ Adobe Flash Web Development ◦ In HTML, a frameset is a group of named frames to which web pages and media can be directed  Web sites that use frames often have only a singular visible URL  Search engine spiders often have difficulty in navigating or indexing these pages ◦ A spider is a program that visits Web sites and reads their pages and other information in order to create entries for a search engine index  This runs the risk of all your interior pages never getting indexed properly or cached

 Google, Bing, and Yahoo like key words  Start your first sentence with a keyword  Examples of key words ◦ Honeycomb ◦ Roller Shades ◦ Woven Woods  One topic per page  Focus on one thing per page, don't dilute your keyword relevance

 Put keywords with the same or similar text color as your background  Pages targeting a keyword that the page is not really about  Stuffing a page with keywords

 Title tag - HTML tag used to define the text in the top line of a Web browser, also used by many search engines as the title of search listings ◦ Good indicator of what the page is about  Once or twice in the first paragraph on the page  Name your photos with key words  In the domain name - used to identify one or more IP addresses ◦ For example: the domain name microsoft.com represents about a dozen IP addresses ◦ Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular web pages For example, in the URL the domain name is pcwebopedia.com. ◦ This can boost your Google ranking

 Search engines like links into your site ◦ City websites ◦ Other vendors ◦ Chamber of Commerce ◦ Better Business Bureau Links to Your Website Online Directories Social Media / Networks Their Website Content

 Put your keyword in the text of the links from the sites  Only popular sites  Put your keyword in internal links on your site pointing to each page that focuses on a particular keyword ◦ Internal Link: is a hyperlink that is a reference or navigation element in a document to another section of the same document or to another document that may be on or part of the same website or domain of the internet

 PC World suggests that you personally ask the webmasters of well-respected sites if they'll include a link to your site on theirs  Be sure to return the favor -- then everyone wins!

 Page listing and linking to all the other major pages on your site ◦ makes it easier for spiders to search your site  The fewer clicks necessary to get to a page on your website, the better

 Anchor Text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. In modern browsers, it is often blue and underlined, such as honeycomb  Anchor text is the visible characters and words that hyperlinks display when linking to another document or location on the web. In the phrase “Faux wood shutters are good window coverings, but I actually prefer the Wood blinds.” two unique pieces of anchor text exist for two different links  Should be relevant to the page you're linking to, rather than generic text with at least one link per page  Anchor texts are one of the many signals search engines use to determine the topic of a web page, and can direct to an internal or external web page ◦ Bad Example – Click here! ◦ Good Example - anchor text, anchor text definition, learn about anchor text, honeycomb

 It is crucial to have a news or press room on your site as it provides a source of updated content  Use bullet points and italicize or bold your keywords

 An SEO “Search Engine Optimizer” can improve your site and save time  They can: ◦ Review of your site content or structure ◦ Technical advice on website development: for example, hosting, redirects, error pages, use of JavaScript ◦ Content development ◦ Management of online business development campaigns ◦ Keyword research ◦ SEO training ◦ Expertise in specific markets and geographies.

 You can find them online  Very many different SEO companies  Price - ◦ Monthly retainer: clients pay a set fee each month in exchange for an agreed-upon array of services – apx $750-5,000 per month ◦ Contract services at fixed prices: services that an SEO agency offers – apx copywriting ($0.15-$0.50/word), site content audit ($500-$7,500), link profile audit ($500-$7,500), and social media site setup ($500-$3,000) ◦ Project-based pricing: Project fees are similar to contract services with the exception that they are custom projects created specifically for a client – apx $1,000 to $30,000 ◦ Hourly consulting: hourly fee in exchange for services or information – apx $ /hr.