Have you ever wondered why your Internet search results don’t always return exactly what you’re looking for? Why some excellent websites appear at the top of the list, while other results seem completely irrelevant? How do search engines deliver responses? Users frequently visit the top few sites in their search results, assuming that these are more relevant to their query.  Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a highly effective and sophisticated web marketing tool that directs and filters search results to specific sites. Search engines index results based on keywords and, sometimes, on user-specific content. Using SEO effectively can help put your website at the top of the list.

Search engines work by using a software program called a web crawler, or spider, that searches the World Wide Web for terms that fit certain criteria –that is, the words in your search query. The most important thing to remember about these programs is that they are not human, and they do not see your search items in the same ways that a human would see them. Crawlers and spiders don’t see images or dynamic web page designs; they are text-driven, and they index results based on the content of an average of 20 billion web pages, including any tidbits related to the search criteria that might be incidentally included on any number of web pages. They are robots — designed to respond to explicit instructions. Robots, however, are controlled by humans, and they can be directed to target and retrieve information specific to your business or service. This is where search engine optimization comes in.

Keywords are the first and most basic tool in your SEO arsenal. Narrow, specific keywords achieve better results than broad terms. “Key lime pie recipe” would return more exact web offerings for your clients than would “pies” for your cooking site. Choose keywords that describe or relate to your content, and know your users and their needs or interests. Keywords can be inserted into page headings, titles, URLs, and other visible and hidden places on your site to increase hits.

Other ways to achieve the search results you desire, and increase traffic to your website include:

*adding links to additional informational sites or pages
*inserting links to other pages on your own website to the text
*adding your business to directories, such as Yahoo, Bing, and local “yellow pages”-type directories
*writing news announcements and press releases relating to your site
*joining or creating forums where you include a link to your site
*initiating or keeping blogs, or online journals
*creating a solid Internet presence through the use of social media websites, like Digg, Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook

Ultimately, you must remember that content is what the user is seeking. Your content should be  practical, informative, and intriguing – capturing and holding the reader’s interest and imagination. Ideally, your web content should be concise and specific, devoid of spam and filler phrases, and  unique to your specialty.  Excellent content  should increase hits on your page, and should raise your search engine rankings in the process. It can also entice other website owners to link to your site.  Placing effective keywords and using good search engine optimization techniques is important, but remember: your goal is to not only maximize your search engine hits, but to attract real live humans, who can spend real money on your product or service, to your site.