Findability...yes, it's a real word.

SEO

Everyone wants their 15 seconds of fame. For the online world, that fame is equivalent to being listed first in search engine results. Studies have shown that users view results pages from left to right, top to bottom. Seeing a site being listed first usually signals to the user, 'Hey there Mr User, I am exactly what you're looking for. Your key words exactly match my keywords. Click on me and you'll find what you're looking for!"

The better way to be found on the interwebs is to be listed in the major search engines. The best way to be found on the interwebs is to be listed first in the major search engines. It is of great importance to be listed first in a search result. You have the honor of being the most relevant site and having the highest chance that the user will click the link. How many pages do you personally scroll through before you change the wording in your search to find what you're looking for? If I don't find what I'm looking for in the first couple of pages, I rephrase my search, hoping for better results. Here is where it gets tricky for websites, in terms of content management, to produce better site exposure and findability.

In contrast to Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization uses natural or organice ways of editing and managing onsite content to increase the rankings in search engine results. The reason this is important is because 70% of traffic comes from organice search results, in contrast to the 30% for paid ads in SEM. So how do we optimize a site so that it appears as a relevant site for search queries? We have to first look at how search engines parse the information on a site, what weight is given to what elements, and how the totality of those elements affect the standings.

Search engines have become complicated affairs. They have incorporated a wide number of factors and algorithms they use to evaluate a site. And of course, these algorithms are trade secrets, you wouldn't want the world to know how you make your search engine go VROOM VROOM would you? Then other sites would produce the same results and web sites would edit their sites to make sure they're listed as #1.

On page factors, the content that we can control, plays the major role in creating a level of visibility in search engine queries. Here, we delve deeper into the architecture of the webpage. The Title Tag, body, and header tags all play roles in creating what is called keyword density. Even the domain name should have something relavant to the keywords if not the keywords themselves. If there is any usage of images, make sure descriptions for the images also relate to the content and keywords. Another trick is to have the keyword as part of the filename itself. On site links also play a role; these include links to other relevant sites as well as outside links referring to your own site.

By doing some research to determine what keywords generate the most search queries relavent to your site, you can then optimize the content on your site. But because each search engine runs a different algorithm, it will be hard to find one format that will flourish in every search engine. This will be a game of cat and mouse, determining what works for each different engine. You must take into account, also, that changes made to your site might not be acknowledged by the search engine right away either. There may be some down time before you see a change in the volume of traffic, or lack thereof.