search-engine optimization

Although much has been said about the value of television and billboard advertisements driving traffic to Web sites, the main way that people reach sites is by typing an inquiry into one of the many search engines that index the Web, [Rob M.] Laporte said. “I used to think that the search engines would become less important than other methods, but I was surprised to find that doesn’t seem to have happened.” Advertising and search-engine optimization are complementary, Laporte tells clients.

2000 November 24, William Freebairn, “Web: Hadley firm helps dress up sites”, in Union-News, Springfield, Mass.: The Republican Company, →ISSN, page B10, columns 3–4

Sometimes you may not actually want the search-engine spiders to visit certain pages within your Web site. Although this is often not the case, especially because the goals of search-engine optimization are to increase search-engine-generated traffic, there are situations where the privacy of a particular Web page or Web site is of utmost concern.

2008, Kristopher B. Jones, “An Introduction to Creating Pages”, in Search Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint for Effective Internet Marketing, Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley Publishing, Inc., →ISBN, page 33, column 1

And second, by leaving the writing for last, chances are that no one has planned the site properly. The designer cares about how the pages look. The programmers are concerned with site structure and navigation. Other specialists may focus on search-engine optimization. Who asks what the site’s goals are, who its audiences will be, what features might draw visitors, and how they will use it?

2010, Natalie Canavor, Claire Meirowitz, “Truth 34. Writing is the missing factor in your competitors’ Web sites”, in The Truth About the New Rules of Business Writing (Truth About), Upper Saddle River, N.J.: FT Press, →ISBN, Part VI (The truth about Web sites)