FAQs
What is a search engine?
Search engines gather information from the web scanning websites for
specific phrases or 'keywords'.
Before a site can be scanned it as to be found or 'indexed' by the search engine.
Examples of Search Engines include Google, Yahoo and MSN.
How long will it take for my site to be indexed by a search engine?
Search engines usually state that a site may take weeks or months to be listed
but they are basically saying they can't guarantee when it will be indexed! From my experience,
if the site is well optimised, it usually takes about a couple of weeks.
What is search engine optimisation/optimization (SEO)?
Search engine optimisation is a process which includes many factors but it
basically means designing a site in such a way that it is easily found by search engines. It also
means getting your site noticed, under specific keywords, once the search engines have indexed
the site e.g. if you are a ventriloquist in Brighton, when somebody types in 'ventriloquist brighton'
in Google they would want their website to come up somewhere near the top. SEO increases the
likelihood of this happening.
What are keywords/keyphrases?
A keyword is a single word that you type into a search engine to find a
certain thing e.g. type in builder and you should get a list of builder's websites.
A keyphase is a sentence (usually enclosed by quotation marks - "") or just a collection of
keywords that you type into a search engine.
What is cross-browser compatibility?
This is where you make a website look virtually the same on all browsers i.e.
Internet Explorer (and all it's different versions), Firefox (and all it's different versions),
Safari (and all it's different versions), and so on. I design my sites to look good on the most
popular browsers (IE6, IE7, Firefox 1.5 and Firefox 2.0).
What is cross-resolution campatibilty?
This is where you make a website usuable in the most popular screen resolutions
(the pixel density varies from one screen to another). The most popular resolution is 1024x768, with
800x600 becoming less common now than even higher resolutions like 1280x1024.