SEO & PPC

In the 21st century, we all seem to enjoy the Internet and everything that comes with it so freely.  A world of information is available at your finger-tips within seconds; all you need is a computer, power source, and an Internet connection.  But, have you ever asked yourself how the information gets there, who decides what appears at the top of Google, Yahoo, and MSN's search engines?  The simplest answer to this question would be, "YOU,” you decide what appears at the top of these search engines.  But the answer of who decides what appears at the top of the searches is much easier to answer, than how your search results on the Internet appear at the top.

When you type in a keyword or phrase, search engines like Google use an algorithm to search for the relevant information based of your keyword or phrase.  The search engine then pulls up a website based of the keyword you typed in.  So how do the search engines choose which website will be available for the user at the top of the page?  You actually choose; websites are judge on quality, popularity, relevance, and a host of many other things, which are results of the users’ activity on the website.  All of the information is put into an algorithm and put onto your search engine based off of your keyword or phrase.

SEO—which is an acryanm for “search engine optimization”—is the process of using content, and links to make your website more attractive to the search engines’ algorithm system; this is so your website appears at the top of the search results when someone types in a keyword or phrase related to your website.

PPC—which is an acronym for “pay per click”—is the process of paying for ads to appear at the top of the Google search engine results.  These results appear in the paid ads section at the top and far right side of the search engine.  Which ads appear at the top and how much you pay to have your ads appear at the top depend on competition, quality of your website, relevance of your website to the keywords or phrases being searched.