Search engine optimization is a lot
like trying to catch the steam that youbreathe on a cold winter day. You can see it. You know it exists, but there’s
no way to actually contain and quantify the steam. You can see the results
of SEO and you can figure out how best to achieve it, but it’s still possible to
do everything right and not achieve the ultimate goal — landing the very first
listing on a search engine results page, or SERP.
Good news though, you don’t necessarily want to be the very top listing on a
SERP. Think about this — how often do you click the first search result and
not go any farther? Even if you find exactly what you’re looking for on the
first page you jump to, you still click through some of the other results just
to make sure the first page isn’t lying to you.
As a general rule, I go through the listings of about ten results pages, just to
make sure I’m getting the best info. Admittedly, I may be a little more patient
than your average searcher. Most people don’t go much deeper than the
second page of results. Because you should probably be targeting your Web
site to normal folks rather than obsessive-compulsive types like me, you want
your Web site to fall somewhere on the first or second page of results. If it
does, you’re fine — you can count your search marketing efforts a success,
even if your site isn’t at the very tippy-top of the first SERP.
The crawler uses a very lengthy and complicated algorithm as its search
formula. The algorithm compares the number of times a keyword is used to
indicators that tell it if that keyword is important on the Web site. Like color
coding, that algorithm makes it possible to define a Web site in terms of how
it relates to a specific topic.
Algorithmsin general are computer programs that systematically solve problems
such as determining how many times a keyword is used on a Web site.
They’re complicated creatures, highly technical in nature, and they are a
search engine’s lifeblood — which is why they’re so jealously guarded. Just
try to pry Google’s secret algorithm from their tightly clenched fist and see
where that gets you.
The crawler takes a stab at what your Web site’s all about by registering the
site’s keywords. The crawler then takes another look at the site, this time
considering those keywords in the context of the Web site
Getting the number-one keyword down is like
shooting fish in a barrel, but you can’t stop there. You need a larger pool of
keywords to get you started. If you keep brainstorming additional words,
you’ll probably come up with the following keywords:
Search engine
Search
Marketing
List
Link
Linking strategy
Alt tags
Metatags
Metadata
Media
Content
Social media
That’s just the short list. If you really put some time into brainstorming the
SEO topic, you could come up with a couple hundred words. And don’t forget
phrases, too — up to three words. They’re more useful and help you target
better than just single words.
The CPC,or cost-per-click,is the amount that it costs an advertiser every
time one of their ads based on that keyword is clicked. That amount is
paid to Google, which then distributes portions of the money to AdSense
publishers that allow those ads to be shown on their Web sites. Of
course, Google keeps a fair chunk of it to line its own pockets, too.