According to Wikipedia, search engine optimization (SEO) “is the process of improving the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines via the ‘natural’ or unpaid (organic or algorithmic) search results.

What this basically means is that SEO is the preferred, natural method for driving traffic to your web site. While there are other methods in which a site owner can bring traffic to her site (some of which are unethical and can result in your site being penalized by search engines like Google) SEO is still the best way to ensure that people find you on the web.

Why Do You As a Site Owner Need SEO?

It’s natural to think of a web-based business as something different than a brick and mortar store, but in fact, the principles in how the business operates are nearly identical. Your web site is your storefront whereby people can see what it is you have to offer. The only difference is that traffic doesn’t come from people walking along the sidewalk, but rather through people typing into a search engine exactly what they’re looking for.

When people do these kinds of searches, statistics show that the results that appear on the first 2-3 pages of a search are the ones that get the most attention. Those that are lower down on the search rankings often go ignored, which is why it’s so vital to use good SEO techniques to ensure that your site shows up within the first 3 pages.

A Few Words About Web Site Design

When people think about web site design, they often think of the layout, the colors, the graphics and the fonts. And while those are all important to the image of your business, and for visitors to easily navigate your site, the truth is that it doesn’t matter how nice your site looks if no one can find it; that’s where SEO can help.

Every good web site design should employ content that’s optimized to be found when someone types what you’re offering into a search engine. But good SEO and web site design require optimized content such as keyword placement in title tags, heading tags, etc. – things a good web site designer will know how to use to your benefit.

Increasing Sales is Your Goal

If you’re operating an online business then you’re probably doing it to get more clients. While some people have their sites up for information or other purposes, we’re focusing on SEO as a way to bring paying customers to an online business. And if you’re not using good SEO techniques, you might not be getting the clients who are looking for what you’re offering. Unless you have an advertising budget like Amazon, you’re going to have to find other ways to drive traffic to your site, and SEO is the best way to do that.

Good SEO techniques will result in not only more traffic coming to your site, but the kind of traffic that’s made up of people who are searching for targeted keywords, which can help your business in the long run. And that’s what it’s all about.

Having a sitemap may seem redundant at first, but a well-constructed sitemap can be a tremendous benefit to your readers, and your return traffic.

What is a sitemap?
A sitemap performs the same basic function that an outline performs for printed material. It gives the reader, or visitor, an overview of the pages contained within the rest of the site. Sitemaps for small websites can include every page the site has to offer, while maps of larger websites may only include the major categories and subcategories.

Navigation purposes
While your website’s navigation should already be optimized for easy use, a sitemap is beneficial for people who get lost and can’t find their way back to a particular page. Having the sitemap ensures that there’s a way for the reader to get where they’re going, which makes it more likely that they’ll spend more time at your site, instead of navigating away out of frustration.

Convey your site’s theme
When a visitor loads up your sitemap they can quickly get an overview of what your site has to offer without having to read through each page. Web surfers typically want information “right now” so any time you can save them is a bonus for you.

Site optimization purposes
Your sitemap typically exists on its own page, and contains links to every other page on your website. When search bots hit the sitemap page they’re able to index every page on your site by following the links. It can also help boost your ranking in the search engines if you’re using relevant keywords in the links on your sitemap. Also, remember to put a prominent link to your sitemap right on your front page to assist the search engines.

Organization and relevance
A sitemap also makes it easier for you to add content or new sections because you can look at an overview of your site’s structure and determine what changes you want to make. The end result is that you’ll have a perfectly organized site with everything according to its relevance.

There’s really no downside to having a sitemap, and if you have a particularly large website, it should be considered mandatory.

Want to improve your search engine rankings? Google’s Matt Cutts offers tips on how you can optimize your site so it is ranked high in Google’s search engines.

Read about it here.