SEO: There's a lot to know, use and understand

Search Engine Optimization is something I'm only familiar with in passing. And when I say that, I mean from people I've met at Newhouse, especially those in the Content Management class. Wow I wish I had room for that class now in my schedule.

The first piece of information that stood out to me was how you use your words when building and promoting websites. Whether its page titles, heading tags, images or URLs one should choose their words wisely. Gregory Markel a SEO expert, demonstrated to a crowd at a recent conference just how effective being mindful or your videos can be.

Clear, concise, to the point and some creativity go a long way to helping make your site accessible for search engines. By simplifying these things in website construction its easier for someone a search engine to analyze your page content and therefore easier for people to find.

Self-promotion was another concept that opened my eyes. Updating your website content and explaining why you're doing so not only keeps your content up to date, but is also another way for SEO to pick up your content. Also, promoting yourself offline can be just as important as what you do online. I thought the concept of putting your website or a business card made a lot of sense. People are more directed towards the internet these days and if they see a website in this format, they're more apt to check it out a few times.

Promoting your website through social networking seems like common sense to me. Every time I'm on a blog or even Facebook someone if promoting themselves. It's a concept that people have latched onto and learned to capitalize on. This article even explains how Facebook acts as a promoter through "newsfeed. " It also points out how Facebook allows you to use their services to enhance your content and the people your reach, much the same way Google Analytics and Website Optimizer do.