Writing and Search Engines

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Not all writers and editors are familiar with what needs to be done when we write articles on the Internet.

Since our goal is not only to write, but to have people see what we write, we need to follow a few rules to make sure people will find our articles on the Internet.

There are basically two ways to use search engines to your advantage:

1. Obtain free traffic or natural search results by getting your Web site listed among the top results.

2. Buy your way to the front page of specific searches. (This strategy is called pay-per-click or sometimes cost-per-click advertising.)

Of the two methods, the first is preferred by most everyone who provides content on the Internet–it is cheaper and it provides the best satisfaction for those seeking information.

When someone uses a search engine such as Google, Yahoo!, or MSN, they use keywords–a word or phrase that best describes the information they want to find. Examples of keywords relevant to the Church may include “Mormonism,” “Joseph Smith,” or “Mormon beliefs.”

When the search is conducted, the search engine uses complex mathematical algorithms to determine whether a particular Web page is relevant to the keywords used by the searcher. If the content on your Web page matches the relevancy criteria used by the search engine, you are ranked high in the results and people will more easily find your content. If your page doesn’t match the criteria, then your page will not be seen–even if it contains the best article ever written about the Church!

To make sure your page matches the criteria it is important to optimize the content on your Web page, as well as the overall Web site. Search engine optimization is designed to make your content more relevant to those people searching for it, and therefore increase its chances of ranking highly in search results.

When a search engine views or reviews a Web site, which it does on a egular basis, it looks for specific characteristics found in the content of Web pages. Characteristics that contribute to the final rank of a page (for a specific keyword) include:

* How many times the specific keyword was repeated in the titles, headings, and especially in the first paragraphs of the article

* Keyword density, or the ratio of keyword occurrence when compared to other text in the article

* The number of links between pages

* The number of links from other Web sites, related to the same keyword, and the quality of those Web sites

* The general organization of the text

By optimizing the written content of pages and creating more pages in general, the natural search ranking can be greatly increased.