Top 3 Search Engines: Google, Yahoo!, MSN

Search engine optimization usually requires a lot of time and hard work, but one doesn't have to be a professional to learn the most successful strategies of SEO. Implementing these SEO strategies will help you improve your search engine rankings and drive visitors to your site. You have to keep in mind that implementing SEO is an ongoing process. Once you start implementing it, you have to keep it up, even when the expected increases in traffic and monetization are achieved.

First of all, the effort put into these strategies will pay off in terms of traffic driven to your site. Moreover, the increased traffic will bring along an improved conversion rate.

There are many aspects of SEO and to understand them all you should know how different search engines work.  Search engines (e.g. Yahoo, AltaVista, Google, MSN Search, etc.) are complex and refined programs which help people to search files and documents using the words and phrases they would otherwise use in everyday life situations.

The basic concept of a search engine:

When you need to find a piece of information on the Internet, you choose one of the search engines and type the term or phrase you are looking for in the search box, and then click the Search button. After a few seconds, references to hundreds of thousands pages appear. Then you click through the results to find exactly what you want.

A search engine finds and collects information about web pages; the information is mostly in form of keywords and keyword phrases that indicate what is held within a web page, the URL and the code making up the page, and links into and out of that page. The collected information is then indexed and stored in a database.

This process is performed by an agent called a crawler (also by essentially the same programs known as spiders and robots). A crawler is a program that actually crawls around the web, classifies and lists data so that it can be found.

Search engines have several parts, query interface and search engine results pages (SERP's) being the only ones visible to users.

Ø  The query interface is the user interface or the pages visible to users when they navigate to a search engine in order to enter a search term. For example, Yahoo! has an interesting interface; the search service makes it possible for users to personalize their pages with a free-email account, news, weather and sports information, etc. Google users have the opportunity to add different gadgets to the customizable interface of the Google search engine (gadgets make it possible for users to add features that satisfy their personal needs or preferences to their customized Google search home page).

Ø  Search engine result pages (SERP's) are the collection of pages returned by a search engine after users enter a keyword or phrase and click the Search button on a search home page. The goal of each SEO consultant, article writer or web owner is to end up as high as possible in the search results. Why? The higher one's page is in the search results, the more traffic one generates from search. The most important method of ranking for Google is called quality scoring or PageRank and precisely this method is one of the most intricate and enigmatic parts of SEO.

The importance of keywords and quality of content

Keywords or keyword phrases were once the most important factor used to rank a page and obtain a high-quality score. Today, keywords still convey strength and vitality to web page ranking but they're just one of the many elements taken in consideration. You must be aware that keywords can cause damage if not used the right way or if used excessively (the consequence may be lower page rank).

The search algorithm returns results based on the detected quality of the page, which is expressed in the quality score. A search for one keyword or phrase will supply different results from different search engines and this is because the search engines use different algorithms.

The quality score or page rank depends on carefully balanced factors such as domain names and URLs, page content and structure, link structure, meta tags, usability and accessibility, etc.  Although we don't know how important each of the factors is, one thing is for sure: the better the quality score, the better your search results will be. Better search results mean better page rank and this also means you will generate more traffic.

Search engines are created in a different way, which means there are different types of search engines. In general terms, search engines are divided into three main categories: primary, secondary and targeted search engines.

Primary search engines

Primary search engines are also called major search engines. They generate the majority of traffic to different websites and they are usually the primary focus of SEO experts.  Examples are Google, Yahoo and MSN. These search engine companies  also provide additional features to their query interface: free e-mail account, news, mapping, entertainment applications, etc.

• GOOGLE – the king of search engines

Google is the most popular among search engines due to the precision with which the search engine returns search results. This precision is based on combined keyword searches and popularity of links (among other elements).  Google also offers value-added services such as e-mail, personalized home pages, productivity applications, etc. It also places paid advertisements in particular parts of the page and gives the opportunity to users, publishers and web owners to earn money through pay-per-click programs.

• YAHOO!

Yahoo is a search engine but also a web directory. Simply said, a web directory is a catalogue of separate web pages available online, systematically arranged by category and subcategories.  However, the link-ranking ability of Yahoo! is not as precise as Google's. Some users believe that Yahoo!'s search results are reoriented towards highest payers because of the paid-inclusion program.

• MSN

MSN has not yet developed mature search capabilities compared to Google and Yahoo. Ranking objectives of MSN depend greatly on web site content, which is a benefit for new sites and pages aiming to get listed high in search engines.

Google and Yahoo! mostly prevent new web sites or pages from being listed for a certain period of time after their creation. Why, you wonder?! This is most probably because Google and Yahoo! consider the quality of link during ranking – therefore, new links are likely to be ignored until they have been in place for a certain period.

A page which has the proper keyword density within content and which is tagged in the right way will be listed with MSN sooner that with Google or Yahoo! Although it's not the most widely liked or appreciated search engine, MSN is one of the three primary search engines so being listed there certainly helps increasing traffic to your targeted page or web site.

Secondary search engines

Secondary search engines do not generate as much traffic as the primary search engines, but they have a beneficial use in regional and more focused searches. Examples are Ask.com, Espotting, LookSmart, Lycos and Miva. These search engines differ in the way they rank search results; some rely more on keywords and some on backlinks (including other criteria such as meta tags and/or proprietary criteria).

Targeted search engines

They are also known as topical search engines, and as the name implies, these search engines are the most specific of them all. Examples are CitySearch, MusicSearch and Travel. They are very narrowly focused, often to general topics such as law or branches of science, economy, medicine, sports, etc.

Search engine optimization depends on how you design your web site or your targeted article page in order to maximize search engine rankings. This means you must:

• keep in mind the number and quality of entry and exit pages (or links)
• provide the best page title
• write good quality content
• include graphics
• think about the web site (or page structure)
• include the right keyword density (in the text and URL)
• include meta tags
• remember that update frequency also affects your SEO achievements

Search engines are constantly changing, which means that SEO methods and strategies change, too.

Search engine designers make changes in the search algorithm based on the behavior of users or searchers. Therefore, build your web site and write your articles with users (searchers or visitors) in mind first, and then search rankings. If you meet the needs of your visitors, your site or targeted article page won't be affected by new changes in the SEO process.

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