Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of guiding the development of a Web site so that it will naturally attract visitors by winning top ranking on the major search engines for selected keyword phrases. That's a long and rather complicated sentence, and yet it hardly begins to define search engine optimization.

It doesn't address the fact that most often, search engine optimization consultants (SEOs) are not invited to participate in a project until after the Web site is completed and launched, and are therefore not "guiding the development" of the Web site. Rather, SEOs most often are called upon to rehabilitate an existing Web site, usually after it is determined that a competitor is ranking higher in search engine results.

This paper will discuss the evolution of the Internet as a business and marketing medium, the parties involved in promoting the use of the Internet as a business and marketing medium, and the role of search engine optimization experts in the building of successful online marketing campaigns. Particular focus will be given to the difference between winning on the search engines and buying top placement in the search engines' sponsored results.

Brief Introduction to Search Engines

While the public generally refers to all Internet searching tools as “search engines,” there are actually three different types:

• Search engines – Ask.com, Google, Live.com (MSN Search), Yahoo Web Search and others
• Directories - Open Directory, Yahoo Directory, and others
• Portals - AOL, Netscape, iWon, Lycos, HotBot, Excite, WebCrawler, and others

Search engines and directories take the following variables into consideration when determining your site’s ranking in the results for a specific search:

• Quality - The quality of your Web site affects the directory editor's evaluation of your submission. "Quality" refers to utility or usefulness and comprehensiveness. Terrific Web sites are favorably reviewed and may even get "extra credit" in the rankings by being selected as "editor's choice." The quality will also influence other Web masters’ decisions to link to your site, which affects "popularity" (see below).
• Title - The title is one of the most important factors in your site's eventual search engine ranking. The title tag is used by directory editors and other webmasters when they link to your page, is displayed in the search results as the most prominent piece of information available to searchers, is displayed in the visitors browser, and is used by the major search engines as the most important single piece of information available to help them determine the topic of your page. For a comprehensive guide to writing Web site title tags, visit "Web Page Title Tags for Search Engine Optimization and Web Usability" (http://www.seologic.com/faq/title-tags.php).
• Description - The meta description tag is also used by directory editors and other webmasters as the go to description for your website. It must speak convincingly to the search engine user and must include key words and phrases.
• Content - For search engines that index your page using an automated process, such as Ask.com, Live.com and Google, the content is critical. The ultimate example of a Web page with good content would be a page from an encyclopedia. The content must be brief, focused, and internally consistent.
• Popularity - Popularity is a term used to describe search engines' measurement of your site's importance to the Web community. It factors in the number, quality, and type of Web pages that include links back to your page. Google has a branded version of popularity it calls PageRank. Links to your Web site increase your “popularity” and offer search engine spiders or bots more opportunities to index your page.
• Text in Links - The text in the links that point to your web pages is used by the major search engines to help them determine the topic of your page. Google has applied for a patent for the process of evaluating a web page based on the text in the links that point to your web page. To see what text people are using when they link to your site, use Google Webmaster Tools (http://www.google.com/webmaster/tools/).
• Optimization – Optimization is the fine-tuning the code and content on your page to help you win for specific searches

Search engines, directories and portals use the elements above in various combinations to determine the ranking of search results.

Portals actually deliver the search results from one of the other search engines or directories, so the key to winning on searches at a portal is to win in the search engine or directory that they use as a source. AOL, AT&T Worldnet, CompuServe, Earthlink, Netscape, and many more get results from Google. Lycos gets its results from Ask.com. Alltheweb, InfoSpace, AltaVista, and others get results from Yahoo Search and Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture, the pay-per-click search engine).