What Owning a Website actually meansAs a Web Developer and SEOconsultant I deal with many existing website owners who are looking to modifyor improve their website. I also dealwith many people who are looking to start their web presence with a newwebsite. Through both of theseinteractions there is often a common theme; a misunderstanding or an attitude. I call this a misconception of reality, asoften the reality of what the Internet can actually do for the persons businessand what they think it can do differ massively.
Often it is presumed thatby simply owning a domain and having a website built and published on the Internet,thousands of people will magically find the website, visit it and buy their products. If you build it, they will comes should beremoved from the vocabulary as soon as possible if you are to adjust attitudesto the underlying search technology. Asa businessman in the real World, it is obvious that it would not happen outsideof the Internet ether, so what is so different online? Maybe it was the Technology boom 10 years agothat caused a rift in understanding or maybe the buzz that caused the meteoricrise in the stock prices of Tech Companies, I can hear the thoughts of thesmall businessman, surely this can be replicated for my business in answerI would say, well, it is unlikely, but you should be able to achieve someresults over time.It is most important whentaking on a project like Search Engine Optimization for websites, to know thatit is important to be committed for the long haul. It is no small task and sufficient funds needto be allocated to the project. Deliverydeadlines need to be correctly scoped against required changes, in order tomeet client expectations. The key pointsof responsibility to the SEO project are in knowing that there are big changesnear the start and during setup but the changes do not stop after setup, thereare a continuous ongoing refinements to the design and system over time. In this regard I find it important to manageexpectations and set realistic long term goals on what a website can beexpected to achieve and in what time frames those goals hope to be met.
So what should your goal bewhen you are delving into SEO for your website? Well, everyone's goal is exactly the same; improve page rankings,improve page visits and hits and finally gain more sales through the website.
When it comes to SEO andachieving these goals you have to have principles and my main principle is, Goodwebsites get good ratings and bad websites get bad ratings or none at all. As time goes on with the improvement ofsearch engine technology and the refinement of search engine results thisstatement becomes truer and truer. I believein results through "white hat"(reads; "Grey Hat") principles and methodologies.
What are "white hat"principles? I guess I would compare itto doing things the honest way and the right way without risk. So develop a good site, promote good linking,have good informative content and keep working on it and then you are on theroad to good rankings through "White Hat" principles.
So, why should you dothings the "white hat" way? Well, searchengines do have some kind of understanding, an artificial intelligence. They soon catch on to websites spamming or linkingto websites with no relevance and bad cross linking. It's about being smart, in for the long termand wanting your business to grow organically, naturally.
So how do I go about improving my site and making it optimized for search engines naturally? Well, that's why you're here! So let's run through few of the things youshould be doing in your websites from a fundamental level
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SEO & Websites Howto 