Search Engine Optimization

Taylor and Francis Ltd CJAU_A_165203.sgm 10.1080/01405110600652297 Journal of Visual Co munication in Medicine 0140-511X (print)/1465-34 4 ( l e) Original Art cle 2 06 & Francis 002 06 A web designer’s primary goal is to create sites with intuitive navigation, useful content and pleasing design elements. The measure of success is the ease of use and value to the end user, but what is often overlooked is the ease of how users choose to visit a specific website in the first place. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques aimed at improving the ranking of a website in search engine listings, thereby making it more likely that the end user will choose to visit the site. Attention to SEO is especially critical when designing for the general public. The most elegantly designed site with the most useful information on the web is of no value to those who can not find it. Using search engines, visitors can find sites in a variety of ways, such as advertisements in the search engine results pages, third parties who are listed in the search engines, or ‘organic’ listings, i.e. the results the search engines present users. This article will focus on ways to improve the ranking of a site in the organic search results.