Search Engine Optimization is a step by step process in which a web site is optimized to the expectations of Search Engines.

What is the relevance of Search Engines in Internet Marketing?

Search Engines are the link between the customer and the product. They prioritise the websites according to their relevance to the key word searched and thus direct the stream of customers to different websites. Today studies show that almost 95% of the customers are finding their products using Search Engines which means a site which is not listed in a Search Engine or ranking low in a search engine is likely to get no customers at all.

What is the need of SEO?

SEO is most relevant for online sellers and service providers. The purpose of creating a web site is to get people visit it and to get customers. 95% of the customers are using Search Engines to find what they want. There may be a hundred or thousand websites dealing with the same topic in internet. The search pattern of customers shows that most of them refer only the first one or two pages while searching for a product. So if a website is not positioned in the first two pages of the Search Engine it is less likely to get any customers. This shows the importance of optimizing a web site. If a website is positioned in one of the first two pages of search results it can have lot of customers. The more the SERP (Search Engine Ranking position) you have the better.

How SEO is done?

Search Engine Optimization is a step by step procedure. The working of each Search Engine is based on a specially made algorithm which ranks web sites according to certain factors like keyword density, number of back links etc. In SEO theses qualities of websites are optimized so that the web site ranks better in search results. The first step to be done in optimizing a web site is Keyword Analysis ie, finding the right keyword for which the site is to be optimized. The keyword for a web site depends on many factors. It depends on the purpose of the web site, what the web site sell, the service it provides, the nature of its business etc. For example for a web site selling laptops the most appropriate keyword may be “buy laptops”. After analysing the keywords the second step is Competition Analysis. Here the competition for each keyword is analysed and the strategy of the competitors are found out. Consider the above example. In internet there are lakhs of websites selling laptops. So naturally the competition for this keyword “buy laptops” is pretty high. On seeing the strategy of the competitors who are already occupying the top positions in Search Engines one can calculate the work needed to improve his website's ranking position. It is always better to know what your opponents are doing. After knowing this much one can start his works like link building, PPC advertisement, Content Optimization etc.

Cutting through the competition and getting high in the Search Engines is not an easy task. It takes time and effort. Only dedicated people can get good results through SEO. Seeing the vastness of its opportunities there are many companies dedicated for providing SEO services. Their services can be made available a any time. For a web site SEO is as important as its design and contents.