The term “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO) has been abused and seems to have become a catch-all for anything and everything related to increasing search engine ranking/visibility and user traffic to a given website. As I see it, “optimization” is the act of making the website easy for search engine bots and spiders (and bears, oh my!) to crawl through a website and parse the content easily. So, that would include things like:

• Making a website standards compliant
• Appropriate use of “alt” attributes on images
• Appropriate use of “title” tags (and attributes)
• Using CSS for layout (thus making the HTML more compact and easier to get through)
• Use of appropriate content and keywords

The list above won’t do much to increase your rankings in the search engines unless your competition is nonexistant on the web. So, what needs to be done to actively pursue increasing your ranking in the search engines? Well, that is where “Search Engine Marketing” (SEM) comes in. With an active search engine marketing campaign, you can cultivate your website over time and show those search engines that you have a site that is well taken care of and relevant to people.

Websites should not be viewed as static bits of code that just “sit there” until someone stumbles across them. They should not be put out on the web just “to have something out there”. With a nurturing environment, a website can grow and thrive and attract a community of users that value what the site has to offer. Just like people need to be taken care of and encouraged, websites need frequent attention to be seen as successful, high-ranking sites in the eyes of search engines (and users).