Search engine optimization can be defined as a process of actively optimizing a particular website by constantly looking into its various aspects for the sole purpose of acquiring higher traffic through search engines like Google and Yahoo. Simply put, all of the interrelated elements of a site should be considered. What you sell such as products, services, contents, or information can be easily found using Google, Yahoo, MSN, and other popular search engines today. But this is not going to happen unless you seriously equip yourself with the right tools and knowledge especially if you are still unfamiliar with SEO.
What can search engines do to your business? Search engines are powerful because it can shape or alter the fate of your business. Basically, Google and Yahoo operate using automated programs called "bots" or "spider" which search the entire page or document of the web. If a specific term is found, like "home improvement", it is stored in a database. This process is called indexing. It requires strict management so that for each term being entered, only a fraction of a second is needed for its retrieval. After getting a match of the results, the results are calculated to determine the relevancy of to a particular query. As you can see in Google and Yahoo, the results are sorted from the most relevant to the least so that people can choose which one they need.
Optimizing your site also requires an understanding about popularity and relevancy. Essentially, search engines look into who is linking to your site and, at the same time, monitor what these sites are saying about you. These are all thoroughly analyzed and filtered using complex algorithms. Ultimately, your site will bejudged for its page ranking. This means that a search engine measures all the links that connect to your site and determinates your ranking.
These are only some aspects of SEO which requires time, attention and money. If you want to invest and put up a website for your business, then absolutely you need to learn the routes, discover and research about the various aspects of SEO and get the advice from the SEO experts.
