1.   What is Search Engine Optimization?
2.   What is Organic or "Natural" search?
3.   What is PPC or Pay Per Click?
4.   What are the advantages and disadvantages of Organic and Pay Per Click search?
5.   What is a Search Engine?
6.   What do you mean by Search Engine Friendly?
7.    Is there a simple solution to top placement?
8.   How long does it take to see results?
9.   Why might I need to have extra elements added to my website?
10.   If these elements are so important, why didn't they get added when my site was originally designed?

     Search engine optimization (SEO), a subset of Internet (Online) Marketing, is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. SEO can also target specialized searches such as image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

     An organic search is a process by which World Wide Web users find web sites having unpaid search engine listings, as opposed to using the pay per click advertisement listings displayed among the search results.

     Pay per click (PPC) is an advertising technique used on websites, advertising networks, and search engines.
     Advertisers bid on "keywords" that they believe their target market (people they think would be interested in their offer) would type in the search bar when they are looking for their type of product or service. For example, if an advertiser sells red widgets, he/she would bid on the keyword "red widgets", hoping a user would type those words in the search bar, see their ad, click on it and buy. These ads are called "sponsored links" or "sponsored ads" and appear next to and sometimes above the natural or organic results on the page. The advertiser pays only when the user clicks on the ad.

     Below is an illustration of the pros and cons of organic and pay per click.

     A search engine is an online database of websites that allows Internet users to search for information contained on websites contained in the database by "keywords." Keywords are words that Internet searches are likely to use when looking for information on a specific topic.

     We use this term to describe a website that has specific elements added or modified to attract and please search engine spiders or live directory editors.

     There is no simple solution to attaining high search engine rankings. Search engine optimization is difficult work and requires a strong knowledge of how the Internet functions and how search engines operate.

     It can take between 4 - 12 weeks to see results, depending on each search engine. BeSprout starts tracking your website's performance as soon as your website is submitted to the various search engines. We will then analyze data and provide the client with the results we obtain.

     A search engine spider is an automated program that electronically probes every URL submitted to its database. As the spider is a computer program, it is designed to look for and rank very specific items on each page it probes. If those elements are present, the spider computes a higher ranking than it would if those elements were not present.

     Most website designers haven't learned the importance of search engine friendly design. In almost every case we've encountered, the site designer is a highly skilled and creative person whose job is to put your ideas on the web. More often than not, the designers have not received any training in search engine optimization and don't think about it while pursuing a modern and functional website design. Search engines are also constantly changing their ranking criteria. They do this to prevent gross manipulation of their search tools. Often, website designers are not fully up to date with changes at search engines. At BeSprout, we spend time studying how search engines work and how any sudden changes might affect our clients. We have the ability to respond quickly and keep up with these ever changing dynamics.