Search Engine Optimization is a set of processes are carried out systematically aimed at improving the volume and quality of traffic through search engines to visit certain web sites by utilizing the mechanism of action or the search engine algorithms. The goal of SEO is to place a website on top position, or at least the first page of search results based on certain keywords that are targeted.
Logically, a web site which occupies the top position in search results have a better chance to get visitors.Along with the growing use of Internet as a medium business networks, the need for SEO is also increasing. Being at the top of search results will improve the chances of a web-based marketing company to gain new customers. This opportunity is utilized a number of parties to offer search engine optimization services for companies that have a base of business on the internet.
History of SEO ( source : wikipedia.com )
According to Danny Sullivan, search engine optimization is a term first used on July 26, 1997 by a spam message posted on Usenet. At that time the search engine algorithms are not complete yet so easy to manipulate.
Initial version of the search algorithm is based entirely on information provided by the webmaster via the meta tag in html code on their web site. Meta tags provide information about the content contained on a web page with a series of keywords (keyword). Most webmasters do manipulation by writing the keyword that does not correspond to the real site's content, so the search engines the wrong place and rank sites. This causes search results to be inaccurate and cause losses to both search engines and for Internet users expect relevant and quality information.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D. students at Stanford University computer science, trying to overcome these problems by building BackRub, a simple search engine that relies on mathematical calculations to rank web pages. Algorithm, called PageRank, is a complex mathematical function is a combination between the calculation of the number of links that point to a web page with an analysis of the quality of each link.
Based on the principle of PageRank, can generally be said that the web pages that get high rankings are a lot of web pages linked by other web pages. PageRank value will be higher if a web page that led to him also have a high quality. The value of a high-quality links from sites like Yahoo! or DMOZ can be valued higher than the combined value of one hundred links from low quality websites.
BackRub is only a beginning. In 1998 Page and Brin founded Google, which is an advanced version of BackRub. In a short time Google acquired a reputation and public trust of Internet users because it successfully provides quality search results (not manipulated), fast, and relevant. PageRank then be a good standard for other search engines as well as for webmasters who try to obtain its website PageRank values as high as possible so that the highest position in the search results.
Webmasters and search engines
Since 1997 the search engine companies recognize that some webmasters do everything to be indexed at the top of search results, including in ways that manipulative and illegal. Infoseek, one of the first generation search engines, make improvements in their algorithms to prevent manipulation of the meta tags that are not relevant.
However, in some ways the search engines are also aware of significant economic value of the ranking of search results, and they sometimes have vested interests of the SEO company's activities. Some search engine companies to send representatives or be a guest at events held regularly SEO community.
The big search engines like Google and Yahoo! to provide programs and guidance that enables webmasters to optimize their site to be indexed properly. Google Webmaster Tools provides application and XML-based sitemap introduce their standards, while Yahoo! Site Explorer provides a program that enables webmasters to register the URL of the site, check the number on their web pages that have been indexed in Yahoo!, and see the incoming link information. However, search engines do not tolerate SEO methods are manipulative and justifies any means.Ethics and legality
PageRank system, although implementing a complex algorithm, the latter also no longer fully able to deal with the tricks and manipulation. Some webmasters and SEO practitioners have developed several methods that take advantage of how the PageRank of web pages that their clients are at the first ranking of search results. Google has officially banned the use of some illegal techniques such as link farming, doorway pages, keyword stuffing, and auto-generated pages or pages scraper. Sites or services that remain to use threatened SEO will be deleted from the search index.
The threat of Google and other search engines is not just bluster. Some SEO services companies and their clients who do not heed the ban was to receive a serious penalty for their illegal actions. In 2005, Matt Cutts of Google says that the URL of an SEO firm called Traffic Power and their clients have been removed from the Google index for using illegal SEO techniques. Another famous case is when Google in February 2006 to remove the website of BMW and Ricoh Germany from the list because of proven SEO methods are manipulative. BMW and Ricoh immediately apologized to Google and improve their sites. Google then re-enter their web site into the search index. But the scandal still leaves a bad image and embarrassing for both companies.
Under the official guidelines of search engines, SEO is not an illegal technique performed by following along the ethics and rules. This is to ensure each website to obtain equal opportunities in search, and ranking is done by an objective, where the greatest role in determining the ranking of a web page is the quality and benefits for Internet users.
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