Search Engine Optimization F.A.Q.s and Information

What is search engine optimization? For that matter, what exactly is a search engine?

Search engines are sites like Google, AOL, MSN or Yahoo where searches for information on the Internet are conducted. Searches are conducted by typing keywords or key phrases into the search box and then reviewing the results. To see a list and try searches on some of the major search engines go to our website.

Search engine optimization is the process of getting a website ranked in the top search engine results under certain keywords. For example, if you own a business that sells shower heads in Houston, you would probably want to rank well when a searcher typed in "shower heads houston" in the keyword box. If you run a charity that provides international aid to hungry children, you may want to be in the top ten results when a searcher typed in "children's charities" or "international charity."

How important are search engines? Do I really need a good ranking in a search engine?

We believe the facts speak for themselves. Consider the following results of current Internet studies:

• Search engines are the top way consumers find new web sites online, used by 73.4% of those surveyed.
• Search engines are the top information resource Americans use when seeking answers. When searching answers to questions, search engines are used more than any other option including: consulting friends, using books, encyclopedias or dictionaries, going to the library, reading newspapers or magazines or looking something up in the yellow pages
• When users are looking for products online, they are far more likely to type the product name into a search engine rather than go into a "shopping" channel or click on ads.
• Nine out of ten web users visit a search engine or a website with search options on a "religious-like basis." These sites also command the most amount of time, with surfers spending an average of an hour and a half in and around the site. This means that nearly 95 million people spend a large portion of their day at sites like Google, AOL, Yahoo or Microsoft's MSN properties
• Between 40 and 70 percent of Americans reported that they searched the internet when making a variety of major decisions including: buying a car, choosing a school, searching for career training, researching a new hobby, helping friends through a serious illness, changing jobs, buying a house, meeting love interests and investing money.
• From December 2001 to May 2002, search engine traffic has grown 11 percent to 92.3 million visitors. The leaders in the search space saw even more dramatic growth: Yahoo! Search grew 20 percent to 38.4 million; Microsoft's MSN Search saw a traffic increase of 16 percent, to 42.4 million and Google--which syndicates its results to other sites -- including Yahoo! -- increased its traffic figures 54 percent, to 34.2 million

I thought a search engine always produced the most relevant results to my queries. Isn't having a good web site enough?

Yes and No. Unfortunately, having a good website is not enough. Why? Search engines look for very specific information such as: the content (text) and the underlying code and of the website. If the search engine doesn't find what it's looking for, the search engine will most often not recognize your site as being relevant. Search engines must attempt to sort over 30 million domains and, of course, each of these domains can have dozens of pages. The fact is, search engines are doing the best they can to return relevant results, but the fact that they must have criteria by which to sort these results creates a need for search engine optimization.

Can Directory One really get my website ranking among the top sites in a particular search engine?

Yes we can. We have done it for scores of search engine optimization clients owning websites with a wide-range of focuses. Wedding services, bedrock sales, special medical disorders, online driving courses, international moving and storage, golf courses, industrial chemicals and cooking shows are the themes of just some of our successful clients. Our clients range from multi-million dollar companies to mom-and-pop corner stores. No matter what your target audience, we can reach them.

Why should I choose Directory One to do my search engine optimization?

There are many companies that offer search engine optimization. It is a little known fact, however, that many companies that offer search engine optimization can do your website more harm than good. Many search engine optimization companies do not, in fact, know how to truly optimize--they know how to spam.

Spamming is a term search engines use for people who bombard their services with shady tactics and automated submissions that negatively influence the way a search engine produces results. When a search engine optimizer gets into the HTML code of your website, he or she can put a lot of "spam" code and hidden code into it to hopefully make you rank well. He may also try to put you into link farms which is also forbidden by search engines.

The problem with these methods is that, although they may work for a while, search engines eventually will catch the spam, and you risk the possibly of being banned. They will remove you entirely. Once you are banned from a major search engine it is almost impossible to get back into their directories. They don't care if you didn't know what the search engine optimization company was doing. As far as the search engine is concerned. It is your website, and your responsibility.

Directory One guarantees you that we will not only optimize your website well, but we will optimize it correctly. Why should you choose us? It's simple. We know what we're doing.

How do you do it? What process is involved in search engine optimization?

The first step in the optimization of a web page is to decide what keywords you want your business to be ranking under. Directory One can determine what searchers are most likely to type in to a search engine to find a website like yours. For example, if you own a website that sells real estate in New York, are searchers most likely to type in "real estate new york," "new york real estate" or a misspelling such as "new york real estate"? If you own a site that sells discount German books online are your clients more likely to type in "books online in german" or "cheap foreign books"? If you provide marriage counseling are people more likely to type in "marriage help"? Directory One will help you find the most asked-for keywords relating to your site.

Once the best keywords for your website have been determined, Directory One begins the actual optimization of your website, making it more search engine friendly. Soon after, your website will begin to show up in major search engines ranking under the keywords you have chosen.