Search Engine Optimization All-In-One For Dummies®

Chapter 1. Putting Search Engines in Context

In This Chapter

• Identifying search engine users

• Discovering why people use search engines

• Pinpointing elements for getting high keyword rankings

• Defining relationships between search engines

The Internet offers a world of information, both good and bad. Almost anything a person could want is merely a few taps on the keyboard and a couple clicks of a mouse away. A good rule of thumb for the Internet is if you want to know about something or purchase something, there's probably already a Web site just for that. The catch is actually finding it. This is what brings you to this book. You have a Web site. You have hired what you hope is a crack team of designers and have unleashed your slick, shiny new site upon the Web, ready to start making money. However, there is a bit of a problem: Nobody knows that your site exists. How will people find your Web site?

The most common way that new visitors will find your site is through a search engine. A search engine is a Web application designed to hunt for specific keywords and group them according to relevance. It used to be, in the stone age of the 1990s, that most Web sites were found via directories or word-of-mouth. Somebody linked to your Web site from their Web site, or maybe somebody posted about it on one of their newsgroups, and people found their way to you. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft Live were created to cut out the middleman and bring your user to you with little hassle ...