Carefully selecting keywords and key phrases that best describe a website's purpose and submitting the website to search engines is simply not enough, even for the most aesthetically-pleasing and well-developed website, for it to be easily found on a search engine results page (SERP) when someone performs a search on the Internet for those keywords or key phrases. To get the SERP visibility a website owner may want for his or her online endeavor, and, subsequently, increase the likelihood of a sale of a product or a service, a website should undergo a little something called search engine optimization, also known as "SEO".

 

Search engine optimization, a part of a broader search engine marketing campaign, is a strategic process to improve a website's relevance in search engine indices and its ranking on a search engine results page. Generally, the more relevant a website and its content are viewed by search engines, such as Google, Microsoft's Windows Live and Yahoo, the higher it ranks on the SERP. The higher the ranking, the more visitor traffic the website is likely to generate. And, with higher visitor traffic, the higher the chances are of generating revenue from a website.

 

Performing the process of search engine optimization on a website most often includes examining and then refining its structure, code, content and appearance. There are two common types of techniques employed by a search engine optimizer or a website designer when performing search engine optimization: white hat SEO and black hat SEO.

 

A good website designer, such as myself, knowledgeable in