How to Get Website Traffic? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is Necessary or Optional?

The Basics: How Search Engines Work?

First, let’s look at how crawler-based search engines work (both Google and Yahoo fall in this category). Each search engine has its own automated program called a “web spider” or “web crawler” that crawls the web. The main purpose of the spider is to crawl web pages, read and collect the content, and follow the links (both internal and external). The spider then deposits the information collected into the search engine’s database called the index. When searchers enter a query in the search box of a search engine, the search engine’s job is to find the most relevant results to the query by matching the search query to the information in its index.

What makes or breaks a search engine is how well it answers your question when you perform a search. That’s based on what’s called the search engine algorithm which is basically a bunch of factors that the search engine uses to say “hey is this page RELEVANT or NOT?”. The higher your page ranks for these factors (yes some factors are more important than others) than the higher your page will get displayed in the search engine result pages.

What is SEO  :-

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.

The acronym “SEO” can also refer to “search engine optimizers,” a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO service as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. So it needs Search engine professionals.

Why SEO is necessary :-

Building a website without search engine optimization is just like that a car without engine.

It may look beautiful, have all the bells and whistles, and make you proud to know it is yours. But without the engine, without the guts, it will never get you where you want to go. Website optimization is essential to gaining traffic. Without traffic your website is just like that car without a motor. Pretty, maybe. But, chances are you wanted it to function as well.

Search engines are used daily by four out of five internet users. Of adults aged 30-49, 82% are internet users. Of those aged 50-64 70% are internet users. Internet use rises proportionately with education and household income. Your website must be found within the search engine results pages, to be an effective advertising medium for your company. Being found in the search results is absolutely necessary to drive traffic to your website.

80% of all internet users say they stop looking for a site after 30 results. That is typically 3 pages of search engine results pages with 10 results on each page. Eye tracking studies have shown, your best bet is to be ‘above the fold’ or on the top portion of the page, on the left.

It stands to reason that the higher your site is positioned within a search engine or directory, the more you will increase your website traffic. Optimizing your website for higher search engine ranking and strategically planning keyword inclusion is a measurable/traceable method of attracting self-qualified customers. Its importance is critical.



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Search Engine Friendly

“Search engine friendly.”

Search engines all have their own confidential algorithms that determine which Web pages are to be shown first. The algorithms assign weights to certain components or variables that it finds within a page. There are MANY people who can design web pages but not many can built a search engine friendly and functional web sites.

3 Important Meta Tags.

META tags are HTML Tags that describe the contents of a web page. The primary purpose of Meta tags is to help catalog and categorize the contents of a web page. If your pages do not contain them then they may not get categorized the way you’d like by the search engines.

You should generally include a META keyword tag on your page within the section of a Web page area.

TITLE

Keep your title quite short and include words relating to your subject area and should include your targeted keyword

Work at home business resources for all

DESCRIPTION

The description tag should be kept between about 100-200 characters. The description should also include words about your subject area and should not simply restate the title of the page, as it should also describe the page.

KEY WORDS

Key words and/or phrases relating to your subject will also be inserted (comma separated), they should be between 200-500 characters long.

Meta tags are hidden in a document’s source, invisible to the reader. Some search engines, however, are able to incorporate the content of meta tags into their algorithms. No engines penalize sites that use meta tags properly, so it’s recommended that you always include them.

The tag of your Web page is the most important HTML tag or element. All the search engines consider the keywords in this tag and generally give those keywords a lot of importance in their ranking system. Therefore, if you were to create one page with a keyword in the title tag and another page with the same keyword in the body tag, the one with the keyword in the title will generally rank higher in most engines.

The text found in the META Description tag will be displayed to the user in the search results for many engines. Therefore, it pays to craft a good description so that you not only rank well, but so people will actually click on your link once they see it. When creating your Meta Description Tag you must adhere to the guidelines that the search engines have in place. For example, there is a limitation to the number of characters that you can use in your Meta Description. Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the search engines and directories use the keywords in the description as a way of determining if your site is relevant to the search performed. This is also where concepts and strategies like keyword proximity come into play and is a high factor for your search engine ranking.

A META keyword tag lists all the keywords for which you would like search engines to rank your site. Although not all search engines support this tag, you should use it for the ones that do.

One of the most important things that you can do for your web site and your search engine ranking to be indexed in the search engines is write a good description and title for your site. If you spend extra time on the title ,description, and tailor it so that it is definitive, concise, and follows all of the guidelines, your web site should not have a problem getting indexed and will positive for your search engine ranking.

Key element is your keywords. Keywords are the key to whether your site is seen in the search engines or not.

Most of the time when people use a search engine they search for common words or phrases like game, travel, music or business. These words are called “key words” or “keywords”. Because of this webmasters try to use key words that are likely to be searched for included within their page. The more often a key word shows up the more likely the page will rank higher in a search engine. If you over do it however you can actually be rejected by a search engine. That is why webmasters try to make each page relative to only one to three keywords. They then use those key words as the first words within their HTML meta tags, image tags, heading tags, title tag, text link tags, alt tags and even the file name of the page itself.

Target the wrong keywords and all your efforts will be in vain! Don’t waste time optimizing for words that will never bring you any traffic.

Few tips for a search engine friendly website.

Keep it simple

Make your site easy to navigate. Give a site map so visitors can see a list of everything contained on the site. They can then use this as their reference point. Search engine spider can also easily follow all your links read it content and store them in the search engine database.

All the major search engines claim to favor pages with high-quality content. They claim that to rank well on their engine that you simply need to create relevant, high quality pages. Keywords should be relevant, applicable, and clearly associated with page body content.

Cloaking is normally associated with sites doing IP and USER-AGENT serving where the internet server will present a page that will vary based upon the visitor characteristics. No matter how great the content, is considered spam by all of the major search engines.

DO keep your content current.

There’s nothing worse than visiting a website in 2008 that was last updated in 1999.

Never Spam. The following techniques are usually considered spam:

Irrelevant keywords in the title and meta tags

Meta refresh tags.

Invisible text and overuse of tiny text.

Excessive repetition and use of keywords

Overuse of mirror sites (same sites that point to different URLs)

Identical or nearly identical pages.

Submitting to an inappropriate category (for directories)

Never use link farms. Link farm are those services that generically link to your site if you agree to link to everyone else’s site that participates in the link exchange service. Theoretically, more the members of that service, more your link popularity.

Conclusions

Build a Search Engine friendly website. Do not break any search engine rules keep your site clean surely will earn a place in the search engines. Make your pages the best they can be for your users and search engines in general, and your site will do great!

About the Author: Hash is the president club member of SFIMG. A work at home business site.

http://www.work-home-business.com

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FutureLogic’s TableXchange Printer/Scanner Wins Award at G2E

FutureLogic, Inc. announced today that its TableXchange® printer/scanner was named a second-place winner in Global Gaming Business magazine’s 8th Annual Gaming & Technology Awards. The 2010 G&T Awards recognizes excellence in innovation and practical application in all gaming disciplines. The awards were presented at the Global Gaming Expo 2009 (G2E), recently held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The TableXchange printer/scanner, the only peripheral device to earn an award in the Best Productivity-Enhancement category, connects table games to the casino’s existing Ticket-In-Ticket-Out network by scanning and printing TITO vouchers. This technology provides a common currency across the casino, creates a bridge between slots and tables, and helps casinos identify valuable crossover players. It further streamlines casino operations by virtually eliminating the need to replenish chips at table games.

Award winners (Best Productivity-Enhancement Technology category):
–  1st Place: Bally — Biometric Recognition
–  2nd Place: FutureLogic — TableXchange printer/scanner
–  3rd Place: Bally — Business Intelligence

For further information, contact FutureLogic at 949.487.4829 for sales inquiries, or 702.439.2755 for technical service.

About FutureLogic

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Glendale, Calif., FutureLogic designs and builds high-reliability electromechanical assembly solutions for nearly every printing need. As the undisputed leader in super-robust thermal printer technology, FutureLogic is the industry’s premier supplier of thermal printers for casino gaming, promotional equipment, kiosk, industrial, RTAL, gas pumps and medical applications. FutureLogic has shipped more than 1.2 million gaming printers worldwide, which produce approximately four billion vouchers annually. In July 2004 the company founded FutureLogic Europe, Ltd. to provide direct sales and engineering support for the growing OEM thermal printer markets in Europe. In October 2006 FutureLogic expanded its global support network into the Asia Pacific market, with a new sales and service center in Macau, China. More information on the company is available at www.futurelogic-inc.com.

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Materials Science and Mathematics Research Honored at Nation’s Premier High School Science Competition

2009 Siemens Competition Regional Winners Announced at The University of Texas at Austin; Will Move on to National Finals for Chance at $100,000 Peter Hu Wins Top Individual Prize; Sean Karson, Dan Liu and Kevin Chen Win Top Team Prize.

Research projects in the areas of materials science and mathematics scored top marks this evening, as Peter Hu of Denton, Texas and the team of Sean Karson of Winter Park, Florida, Dan Liu of Austin, Texas and Kevin Chen of Missouri City, Texas received the highest honors at the Region Two Finals of the 2009 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, the nation’s premier high school science competition.

Tonight’s winners will receive thousands of dollars in college scholarships and be invited to compete at the National Finals in New York City on December 3-7, where the winners of six regional competitions across the United States will vie for scholarships ranging from $10,000 to the top prize of $100,000. The Siemens Competition, a signature program of the Siemens Foundation, is administered by the College Board.

“These students have just earned their place among the nation’s greatest high school scientists,” said James Whaley, President of the Siemens Foundation, based in Iselin, New Jersey. “Each year, the students’ work becomes more impressive, and in a record-setting year such as this one, their achievements become even more outstanding. We are proud to welcome them into our family of Siemens Scholars and look forward to their participation at the national finals in New York City.”

The students presented their research this weekend to a panel of judges from The University of Texas at Austin, host of the Siemens Competition Region Two Finals.

Individual Winner

Peter Hu, a senior at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science in Denton, Texas, won the individual category and a $3,000 college scholarship for his materials science project that aimed to develop a novel and biologically compatible material for protein drug delivery. While similar delivery systems for therapeutic proteins are known in scientific literature, many of these materials were found to be carcinogenic. Mr. Hu’s research, titled Novel Thermogelling Dispersions of Polymer Nanoparticles for Controlled Drug Delivery, focused on an alternative FDA-approved material to mimic the behavior of these previous delivery systems, effectively avoiding prior toxicity issues.

“While all of the projects were very impressive today, Mr. Hu’s research was successful on many levels,” said Dr. Christopher Bielawski, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Texas at Austin. “This research project established a key proof of concept in the laboratory and the materials presented are poised for examination in living systems. Mr. Hu’s work is very advanced and comparable to that of a second or third year graduate student; with minimal tweaks, this research project stands an excellent chance at being published in a top-tier scientific journal and will likely make quite a splash in many scientific communities.”

Mr. Hu is a senior who aspires to one day lead a research team at a university or facility, such as the National Cancer Institute. Currently, he is the Vice President of the Junior Engineering Technical Society, and is organizing a science demonstration team in order to promote interest in math and science among elementary and middle school students. Mr. Hu is also a member of his school’s Research Organization.

Both of Mr. Hu’s parents are physicists, spurring his interest in science at a young age. In addition to his academic pursuits, Mr. Hu plays piano and violin, as well as basketball and table tennis in his free time. His mentor for this research project was Professor Liping Tang of the Department of Bioengineering at The University of Texas at Arlington.

Team Winners

Sean Karson, a senior at Trinity Prepatory High School in Winter Park, Florida; Dan Liu, a junior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School in Austin, Texas; and Kevin Chen, a junior at William P. Clements High School in Sugar Land, Texas, won the team category and will share a $6,000 college scholarship for their mathematics project entitled Relating Missing and Decycling Edges in Directed Graphs. The team’s mathematics project has the potential to increase efficiency in real world networks by establishing an upper bound on the minimum number of connections that must be removed to destroy all cyclic pathways in systems like the World Wide Web and transcontinental trade routes.

“The team’s work was truly impressive in that it focused on a topic in pure mathematics,” said Dr. Haskell Rosenthal, John T. Stuart III Centennial Professor Emeritus in Mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin. “With new and delicate techniques, they have advanced the infrastructure and knowledge of graph theory by providing better bounds, which is of fundamental importance to the mathematics community. Their depth of knowledge was remarkable, and their work was on the same level of that of a Ph.D.”

Mr. Karson is a senior who has received Excellence Awards for Honors Computer Programming C++, Graphics I, Honors Chemistry, Honors Precalculus, AP JAVA and AP Chemistry. He has also received the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Math & Science Award, and is recognized as a National Merit Semifinalist. Mr. Karson is Captain of the Quiz Bowl Team, President of Mu Alpha Theta, a member of the Spanish Honor Society and the National Honor Society and volunteers for the Center of Math, Arts and Science Achievement. He has also received the Varsity Baseball Coach’s Award and the Most Valuable Defensive Player Award, and has been the starting third baseman on the Varsity Baseball Team since his sophomore year. Mr. Karson has also leveraged his love of puzzles to create a club called Rubik’s Revenge, aimed to teach middle school students how to solve Rubik’s Cubes.

Mr. Liu is a junior who aspires to one day become a computer or electronics engineer or programmer. He is currently Vice President of the InvenTeams Club, Co-Director of his school’s Math Team, and a member of the Liberal Arts and Science Academy’s (LASA) National Honor Society Chapter. Mr. Liu is also a part of the LASA Camerata Orchestra and Science Olympiad Team. He is a part of the Circle C Swim Team, and also plays badminton and ping-pong.

Mr. Chen is a junior and is a member of his school’s Mu Alpha Theta, Junior Engineering Technical Society and Computer Science Team.  He is also an active volunteer at a local middle school Math Club. Mr. Chen’s dad is a computer engineer and has taught mathematics and physics in the past, playing a large role in sparking his interest in math when he was young. His mother is also very encouraging and supportive of his passion for math and science, helping to foster his current academic interests. He enjoys practicing piano, playing tennis and programming games in his free time.

The team’s mentor was Dr. Jian Shen, Professor of Mathematics at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Regional Finalists
Regional Finalists each received a $1,000 scholarship.

Regional Finalists in the individual category were:
–  Sai Achi, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX
–  Somak Das, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX
–  Prianka Ghoshal, Westlake High School, Austin, TX

–  Sahil Khetpal, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX

Regional Finalists in the team category were:
–  Fayen Bastani and Jonathan Lin, Jasper High School, Plano, TX
–  Sumit Gogia and Patrick Kim, The Science Academy of South Texas,
Mercedes, TX; and Vincent Yu, Sha Tin College, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
–  Sunil Pai, The Kinkaid School, Houston TX; and Aneesh Sampath, Ward
Melville High School, East Setauket, NY

–  Tianjiao (Tom) Zhang and Liang Gu, Bellaire High School, Bellaire, TX

The Siemens Competition

The Siemens Competition was launched in 1998 to recognize America’s best and brightest math and science students. In another record-setting year, 2,151 students registered to enter the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology in 2009 – more than ever before – for a total of 1,348 project submissions – a 14% increase in project submissions over 2008 figures and more than a 12% increase in the number of registrations.

Entries are judged at the regional level by esteemed scientists at six leading research universities which host the regional competitions: California Institute of Technology; Carnegie Mellon University; Georgia Institute of Technology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of Notre Dame; and The University of Texas at Austin.

Winners of the regional events are invited to compete at the National Finals at New York University in New York City, December 3 – December 7, 2009. Visit www.siemens-foundation.org on December 7, 2009 at 9:30 am EST to view a live webcast of the National Finalist Award Presentation. You can also log into and follow the Siemens Foundation on Twitter (http://twitter.com/SFoundation) for the latest information and announcements throughout this year’s competition.

About the Siemens Foundation

The Siemens Foundation provides more than $7 million annually in support of educational initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math in the United States. Its signature programs, the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology and Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement, reward exceptional achievement in science, math and technology. The newest program, The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, encourages K-12 students to develop innovative green solutions for environmental issues. By supporting outstanding students today, and recognizing the teachers and schools that inspire their excellence, the Foundation helps nurture tomorrow’s scientists and engineers. The Foundation’s mission is based on the culture of innovation, research and educational support that is the hallmark of Siemens’ U.S. companies and its parent company, Siemens AG.

For further information, visit www.siemens-foundation.org.

The College Board

The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board is composed of more than 5,700 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves seven million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,800 colleges through major programs and services in college readiness, college admission, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT®, the PSAT/NMSQT® and the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®). The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities and concerns.

For further information, visit www.collegeboard.com.

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Tech Awards Circle Silver Winner: Asankya

Tech Awards Circle celebrates the products, services, vendors and individuals making a difference in the industry today. The winners represent a broad range of achievements, from hardware to software to services in consumer/SOHO, SMB, midrange, and enterprise markets. Gold, silver and bronze awards were given out in each category.

Asankya, a leading provider of high-performance for a new generation of Internet applications that need high throughput, security and two-way delivery, has been selected as a winner of the Tech Awards Circle, taking Silver in the Enterprise Service category.  Winners were selected by an independent circle of publication reviewers/journalists from nominations based on a broad range of achievements – from product and technology innovations to talented executive leadership and engineering innovators.

“Despite overwhelmingly strong competition, Asankya exhibited true industry excellence to be recognized among the top of the Tech Awards Circle,” said Kevin Anderson, awards program coordinator. “Our judges were pleased at the level of submissions from all the vendors entering this year’s competition, so to be named a winner of this prestigious award is a testament to the quality and innovation unrivaled in the high tech community.  We wish Asankya continued success and look forward to them defending their title during the next awards period.”

According to Asankya CEO, Scott Ryan, “Asankya take pride in enabling the secure delivery of mission-critical applications in the cloud for enterprises, SaaS providers and agencies of the Federal government, and we are pleased to be recognized for our technology advancement and innovation.”

About Asankya’s Award-Winning RAPIDnet Application Enabling Network

Asankya’s RAPIDnet is the premier Application Enabling Network for the high-speed delivery of secure Internet applications. The breakthrough Asankya RAPID Protocol uses multiple pathways across the Internet to deliver large improvements in throughput and consistency while maintaining the security and availability that enterprise applications require. This enables Asankya’s customers to take advantage of public cloud economics while preserving the security and speed benefits of private networks.

Asankya’s RAPIDnet is the only application delivery service that accelerates encrypted traffic, optimizes bi-directionally, and improves the performance of both TCP- and UDP-based applications. The RAPID Protocol, the cornerstone of Asankya’s RAPIDnet, is a breakthrough parallel networking technology that increases throughput across the Internet by using multiple pathways, solves transport inefficiencies inherent in TCP, and reduces network load by removing duplicate packets. The research leading to RAPID was initially funded by the National Science Foundation, developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and first utilized by the U.S. Intelligence Community.

About Tech Awards Circle

Tech Awards Circle was established this year to truly honor the ‘best of the best’ in technology. Tech Awards Circle is not affiliated with an analyst firm or a media company, both of which are directly supported by tech vendors through consulting relationships or advertising sales, so it is uniquely unbiased and immune to conflicts of interest. Entries are judged by an independent circle of journalists, including product reviewers, each with at least a decade of experience covering technology from consumer electronics to enterprise-class computing. To prevent these judges from being unduly influenced by vendors, they have agreed to remain anonymous. For more information or to be added to the mailing list please visit www.techawardscircle.com.

About Asankya (www.asankya.com)

Asankya enables high-performance for the new generation of Internet applications that need high throughput, security and two-way delivery. The company’s RAPIDnet Application Enabling Network is utilized by leading SaaS companies, cloud storage providers, private enterprise cloud users and key government entities. Asankya is venture-backed by Veritas Venture Partners, In-Q-Tel, Seraph Group, Georgia Research Alliance and Ridgewood Advisors. Asankya is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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