Whitehatmedia News

12/09/2004  |  Why should I care about making my site Search Engine friendly?

Many websites are built without any optimisation whatsoever. Does this matter or are they not getting the traffic they should do because of this? With vast numbers of people now using Search Engines to find websites this is something that all site owners must consider.

When most websites are commissioned or built more often than not most of the effort goes into the design and technology of the site with little thought to making it friendly for Search Engines. There is sometimes a nod to optimisation with the inclusion of some keywords in the code but usually little more.

Statistics vary but it is said that Google now has a 43% reach of the web (Nielsen). That means that out of every million web users 430,000 are using Google to find sites.

If you don't optimise your site then it is unlikely that any of those will find your site. It's possible that you don't care, rather preferring your site to be a form of contact point and not in any way there to really promote what you do. Alternatively the task may just seem too daunting as you may work in a field where you think it would difficult or even impossible to get a decent listing with any words at all.

The fact is it is possible to get a good listing, even a number one position on your chosen keywords. Someone is doing this. It's not usually easy or quick but with time and effort it can be done. Some of your competitors' sites will be Search Engine friendly and they will be getting traffic and sales that should be yours.

Search Engine Marketing is a science. Google is now by far and away the leader in Search Engines and to get a good listing on Google will improve the traffic to your site enormously. And some of that traffic, hopefully most of it will be the traffic you want.

Engineers at Google have said that there are over 100 factors that Google scores a site on. These factors are used by Google in deciding where to rank a site. Some of these are well known such as including keywords in your title, some are less well known.

Making a site Search Engine friendly can cost little or no money. By doing so the traffic to your traffic will improve and your site will work much harder for you.

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