Google, Yahoo and Microsoft created search engines that use crawlers to find pages on websites for their search results. Some search engines such as Yahoo offer a paid submission service which guarantee crawling with a cost per click. Keep in mind this doesn’t guarantee ranking within the search results.

It is important to realize that not every page is indexed by search engines and the page distance from the root directory of a site can be a contributing factor in whether pages are crawled or not. You can instruct the crawler not to scan log-in specific pages such as shopping carts and user-specific content such as internal searches (this is often called search spam).

SEO is pretty much black and white. Or more specifically – ‘Black Hat’ versus ‘White Hat’. White Hat activities produce positive results that last for a long time; on the other hand Black Hat activities are banned either temporarily or permanently once the activity is discovered. White Hat conforms to search engine standards and involves no deception. White Hat is classified in many ways is similar to web development that promotes accessibility. Black Hat uses deception through the utilization of hidden text or employs bait & switch tactics that take you to different pages (this is also known as cloaking). Usually the page displayed is not the one that was requested.

The entire point of search engine optimization is to boost your company’s reputation and ranking through honest marketing and advertising and to make your business lucrative and profitable. It goes without saying that businesses that utilize deception to boost their rankings or to obtain traffic will be penalized by search engines for not being honest with consumers.

Call Marcy Design, a Columbus Ohio website design company to help with your web, marketing and advertising campaigns.