SEO: Understanding Online Marketing

For you to understand how the internet works, try visualizing it as a complex grid of traffic lights in a busy metropolis. Every single stop light is unique; just as web files (webpages, document files or audiovisual files) are distinctive in its own right. And with the immense volume of traffic, search engines must have its own GPS to be able to find the best possible route or (links) available in order to maneuver ("crawl") its way around. It is actually this rerouting scheme that provides the framework for programmed "spiders" or "crawlers" to reach the billions of interconnecting pages.

Have you noticed how you type in the search box and millions of hits come up in just a split second? Well, search engines accomplish this through spiders that decode and save particular information as it crawls its way through a page. The information is indexed, allowing for a swift retrieval of data should any future queries be made regarding or associated with the page itself. It is this perceived relevance where the process of search engine optimization comes in.

Relevance is not just a mere matching of words that you've typed in. It has mainly to do with popularity. The assumption is that more "popular" sites, pages or documents have the most valuable information. This is not done by merely hitting a "like" button. But rather, relevance is determined through complex mathematical algorithms.

There are no golden tickets here. As with everything in life, you have to work your way up to the top. The same goes with page ranking. Search engines are not just going to hand us some sort of secret formula on how to increase our rank. However, there are some guidelines on how to achieve this.

Robots can't read; people can. Focus on the user by providing pertinent information and not on the finding ways to cheat the system such as engaging in cloaking (trying to deceive search engines by presenting something totally different from what you are showing the user).
Provide fresh, keyword-rich content regularly. Make sure that you analyze which keywords are relevant to your page and how popular it is amongst users.
Use static (permanent) links. Use of this to ensure proper indexing is still popular but it is not the only way to get noticed. With the advanced algorithms, dynamic links (such as java script or flash) are now not that detrimental to use.
Your site should have a clearly defined hierarchy. This means that your site should be arranged in an ordered manner that would seem logical for both the users and search engines as well.
By optimizing those guidelines (SEO or search engine optimization), you can increase your rank in the search results page and increase traffic to your site as well. This is important because an increase in traffic may be coupled with an influx of potential buyers leading to a possible increase in sales. Although the effects of SEO may be promising for some, it should not only be the focus of your online marketing strategy. There are many on and offline methods to choose from. It's just a matter of finding the most appropriate one for your campaign.