People who do business on the internet will constantly be telling you why search engine optimization is important, but few will bother to explains what it means.  In its most basic form, search engine optimization so the process of making a website relevant to a search and ensuring that it appears high in the search results.  The internet is the largest source of information mankind has ever known and that makes finding the data people are searching for difficult; and this is a problem that everyone faces, from students to businessmen to the casual web surfer looking for entertainment.

Think of the internet as the biggest mall ever built and your business as just one of the thousands of shops in it; all of them without a sign of any kind outside to tell people what the shop sells.  There will be millions of people coming to the mall every day to buy things but how long are they going to spend hunting for what they need and, what happens when they get tired?  They will give up and go home and perhaps, try again later in some other mall or maybe just return to a shop that they are familiar with.  Now suppose the mall has floor plans to show people which store is where, each store had a signboard and there were guides to tell people which parts of the mall stocked what they are looking for?

Now you know why search engine optimization is so important; it is the guide that tells people where to look for information on the internet and saves them from aimlessly wandering around and wasting your time.  Look at search engine optimization as like placing a large signboard outside the stores to tell people what is available inside.  But on the internet there will be thousands of others stores in competition with you and so you will need something extra to attract customers’ attention.  When you optimize your site for search engines, it is like placing it near the top of the list of stores, the best position for attracting customers.  People do not want to waste time going through a long list of possibilities; they prefer to go to the first one they find hoping that they will find what they want there and will only go to places lower down the list if they cannot get what they want.

If you are wondering why search engine optimization is so important, it is because it places your website in the prime position in search engine results and so more people will visit your website as compared to those lower on the list.