Chapter 19. Spotlight on Search (Search Engine Optimization)

To some experienced members of the social networking community, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) may seem like an old-school process. However, it is still the very foundation of how search engines index all of your web site's pages—and therefore, how your customers eventually find you. SEO is incredibly important and relevant to any business. In fact, some people have only two pieces of information on their business cards: their name and their web address. At least one person has gone one step further: only the image of the Google Search Bar with his name in it printed on the face of the business card.

Google Search Bar

Figure 19.1. Google Search Bar

Web sites have become such an important marketing tool nowadays that they essentially serve as the foundation for everything that's done in business. The processes of SEO and Search Engine Marketing (SEM, the focus of the next chapter) are all about being sure that when people are trying to find you, your company, your product, or your service—they can.

What's in It for You

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are techniques by which you optimize your web pages, photos, blogs, social media profiles, and even videos to maximize search engine rankings. They are practices that almost everyone has heard of, but that few people understand. Search engine marketing requires ...

Get The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success, Second Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.