A lot of people offer what they call SEO or Search Engine Optimization. The definition of what SEO entails varies from company to company. Some offer submission to directories or search engines as SEO. Some offer website content updates and meta tag updates. I think we should use a term that addresses the real goals of what most people think SEO addresses; SEM or Search Engine Marketing.
Search Engine Marketing is really what most people want when they ask for SEO. SEO is just one of the methods that makes up SEM. SEM is a combination of marketing methods that are designed to make a website more visible to search engines.
Several of the methods used in SEM are as follows: Search Engine Optimization, Link Building, Directory Submission, Article Creation, Press Releases and Blogs.
Search Engine Optimization is creating a website or website page that is easy for the search engines to navigate and has content that will rank well for a particular term. This includes updating title tags, description tags, keyword tags and page content. It also means making sure that the search engines can navigate your site using the links in the page. Search engine robots don’t activate JavaScript; therefore, if your links are being inserted using JavaScript the robots will not see them.
Link Building is generating links from other websites to the website in question. But, the goal should be getting quality links not just a high number of links. The search engines will give more weight to links from sites in the same industry as the site being linked to. The bottom line is that if you would not use a site then you shouldn’t link to it or request links from it.
Directory Submission is filling out the information needed to be included in a particular directory. Like links, not are directories are created equally. Do a little research and find the most respected directories and go after them.
Article Creation is the art of creating articles that pertain to the industry of the website that is being optimized and getting those articles posted in article sites or on other websites.
Press Releases are created to publish information about a company to the public. It might be a new product or new service. The goal is to get the information in the hands of the public and on Press Release website that are frequented by search engines.
Blogs provide content to websites without needing to be as formal as the main website. Content is still king with the search engines. The more quality, pertinent content a site has the better. Also most blog software is setup to provide RSS feeds which is additional exposure.
It takes a combination of all of the above to properly market a website to the search engines. So, don’t ask if someone can provide you SEO, ask them if they can provide SEM.
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