FAQ ON SEO
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... What is SEO ?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines. It can be described as an art of creating a web site that is search engine friendly, using scientific, specialized techniques to increase the chances of placing the web site well and ranking highly in search results. SEO is a dynamic continuous process that involves the initial optimization, monthly maintenance and necessary adjustments to the site, in addition to regular evaluation of search results.

What are search engine spiders ?

A search engine spider is an automated program that electronically probes every URL submitted to its database. The “spider” follows each and every link on, off and through a web site. Whenever it encounters a new URL it adds the same to the search engine’s database. The “spider” not only adds ‘flesh’ to the search engine in this way, it is also designed to look for and rank specific items on each web page it probes. The more such specific items it finds on the web page, the higher will be the rank it assigns to the web site.

What is page rank ?

Page Rank (PR) is a Google ranking system that is based on links. It is calculated by “votes” given to links on a web page (Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a “vote” by page A for page B) and the number of links pointing to that web page. This means, lesser the number of links, the more is the share of the vote provided to each link. However, Page Rank does not work merely on the basis of the vote count; relevance and quality of the content in that web page are also given due consideration.

In terms of jargon, Page Rank is a link analysis algorithm that assigns a numerical weight to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents such as the World Wide Web, for the purpose of measuring its relative importance within the set. The name PageRank is a trademark of Google, while the patent is assigned to Stanford University, where it was actually developed by Larry Page and later Sergey Brin when they were working on a research project on developing a new kind of search engine. Page Rank is and continues to be the basis of all Google’s web search tools.

What is Black Hat SEO ?

Black Hat SEO is a phrase used to describe those who use dubious – and fraudulent – tricks to fool Google with a view to generate more traffic and eyeballs for their Web site. There are various kinds of Black Hat SEO “tricks” such as page cloaking, Link farms, keyword stuffing, spamming keywords, pagejacking and so on. With time, search engines have gotten smart enough to see through these tricks and penalize those Web sites who resort to such dubious methods to increase their bandwidth and popularity.

How long it takes to see the SEO results ?

This cannot be accurately benchmarked or calculated. Search engine optimization could throw up results between a few weeks to a few months. It all depends on how regularly the search engines update their index and subsequently rank and re-rank sites.

How to achieve top 10 results ?

For achieving the top 10 results, a Web site should typically the following rules of thumb:

Have a search-engine-friendly web design; avoid Java script navigation or if it cannot be avoided, use it as a secondary navigation; conduct extensive keyword research and base your content on it; make your Web pages the most relevant to the keywords in the search engine index; build back links to your site to better the Page Rank and thus improve search results.

Can you guarantee a number # 1 position in the search engine ?

It is impossible to guarantee a number # 1 position or specific ranking for your Web site or a given keyword phrase in the organic search engine results. This is because there are too many factors at play that are beyond one’s control. The search engines keep changing their ranking algorithms, the addition of newer and newer Web sites being added to the Web, the intense efforts made by competitors, and so on. Asking for a guarantee of a specific rank or totem pole position in the search engine results is like expecting your wealth manager to guarantee the return on your portfolio. Your advisor can at best give you the best advice possible. Just like how a SEO can.

What is Link Building?

Link building is building inbound links to your Web site to bring and increase traffic and thus better its Page Rank. The various links to your site can be described as votes. The more links (votes) a web site (say, a candidate in an election i.e. the search engine) has, the more important the site is, and the higher its ranking. Links are thus the single most important factor in ranking.

What are directories and should I submit my site to them?

A directory can be said to be similar to a search engine in the sense that like the latter, it too indexes web sites. Directories are websites or web pages that give a list of the websites along with a brief intro. There are free directories and pay by directories. Free directories offer a free link to your web site, though, these links may not be worth that much. Pay by directories are good, but they are expensive.