Only 10 percent people go to page two of a search engine,Moreover, it is estimated that while 43 percent click on the top three links, only 16 percent go further, making it imperative for a company to get in the top three on page one. That’s where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes to play.
SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines. With Google commanding nearly 2/3 of all Internet searches – SEO trends are determined mostly by what works or not for Google. Search engine optimization is useless if you don't know what you're trying to optimize: in this article we share with you the do’s and don’ts of SEO.
1. Choose the right keywords
Keywords are critical in turning searches into leads; therefore it’s crucial to accurately select them. Many companies futilely endeavor to get a top placement by using broad keywords. Not only does this fail in generating traffic given that users rarely search for broad terms but it also lowers SERP (Search Engine Result Page) ranking. Google calculates the number of times users didn’t choose a listing and the number of times they returned to the search results to choose a different website.
Various keyword-research tools help in the selecting the best terms for SEO. The free Google AdWords Keyword Tool and SEO Book Keyword Suggestion help you gauge how frequently keywords are searched and how competitive a keyword is. Besides employing organic or free techniques, many companies invest resources to find the best keywords. Sponsored Ads and paying for high end design and usability are common SEO practices.
2. Original website content
Distribution of keywords on a page is as important as their selection. When the entire context of a page is about a particular subject, chances at getting noticed by search engines increases. Therefore, optimizing each page for a particular keyword (and its synonyms) increases the relevance of a page.
Another SEO tip is using keywords in the page's HTML title tag. Search engines emphasize on title tags when determining a page's relevancy to a query. Ideally, the title tag and the Meta description should be 65 and 250 characters respectively, including spaces and punctuation.
A well-written, unique and correctly spelled content matters most in SEO. Although Google auto-corrects search words, typos can translate into huge losses in ecommerce sites like eBay where no one bids for ‘Tiffanny’ bracelets. According to Tanuj Nigam, Co-Founder and Director of Bindaas Bargain.com, India’s first daily deal e-shop, “Keywords need to be free of spelling errors, except in cases where the incorrect form of a words is more popular than its standard version.
For example, Genealogy, Tattoo and Britney Spears are largely misspelled as Geneology, Tatoo and Britany Spears. In such cases, it’s wiser to include both the spellings as keywords.
3. Search engine friendly website with linkable content
An easily navigable website allows Google to index all its pages thereby improving its search results. Implementing a valid HTML code and a sitemap using static text links (hyperlinks) facilitate crawling. So does minimizing the file size of all attachments, pictures, and videos.
Another aspect of SEO is linkable content. These include external (within different websites) and internal (from one page to another within a website) links. Both are highly valued by Google and improve a site’s search result ranking. Internal links have anchor text which should accurately reflect the content of the target page. Instead of words like ‘Hint’ or ‘Click Here’; two to three keywords should be used as link text.
Don’ts: Apart from the must-do’s, a lot in SEO is dependent upon what not to do. With BMW Germany being spammed by Google for implementing Black Hat techniques, SEO experts are increasingly conscious of avoiding any SEO trick that Google considers unethical or illegal.
• Stuffing Keywords: An effective usage of keywords enable search engines to discover your site but an overuse can cause them to ignore you.
• Unnatural Link Building: - Link Farms
One of the Black Hat techniques is when websites try to get a large number of back links using various spam techniques. Once caught, Google blacklists such sites, banning them from its search results.
• Plagiarism: Duplicate content is a huge challenge for SEO. Often search engines fail to discriminate between original and copied versions. This causes problems with Supplemental Results in Google.
• Avoid Frames: These cause website accessibility and usability problems and make a site uncrawlable.
As countless websites inundate the internet, SEO helps companies connect with their target audience. As search engine algorithms become more complex, the race for top ranks is heating up. Those who stay committed to the process are the ones who will stay ahead in the quest to be number one.
Showing posts with label basic seo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basic seo. Show all posts
09 March 2011
21 December 2010
SEO in 2011 - new SEO trends to look out for
With 2010 nearing an end, we are all looking ahead optimistically towards 2011. In the world of web technology, we have not witnessed any major upheaval this year. Being head of marketing and SEO for Scream Media it's all but natural for me to become curious about what the future holds for us in 2011. The most interesting area to look forward to is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) without which no website under the sun passes the fitness test. The SEO domain has acquired a tremendous boost from the growing popularity of social networking sites and various improvements in search technology.
Social Media Optimization
Close on the heels of Search Engine Optimization, comes Social Media Optimization, the newest incarnation of SEO. I know that you are no longer surprised by this new term thanks to the tremendous popularity of social networking sites worldwide. Webmasters should not consider Social Media Optimization as a distraction from their normal SEO efforts; but this new activity should be deployed to boost a site's SEO prospects. Social Media Optimization activities may include back links from individual social media sites, development of a credible profile on these sites, and targeting towards real time searching. The greater impact you can have on the social networking sites, the more your SEO prospects will improve in the coming year.
Website Speed and On-Page SEO Activities
There are some webmasters who rely on off-page optimization rather than on-page optimization. But in 2011, you should give equal, if not more, attention to on-page optimization. Most importantly, the site load time is going to be the litmus test. Google, in its effort to improve website performance, has decided to penalize those sites that have a longer load time. Also, improper use of Meta tags in website coding will have a negative effect on site rankings in the major search engines in the coming year.
The Web Is Going Mobile
Smartphones are getting more and more ubiquitous and people have started surfing websites on their mobiles more than ever. This trend is going to grow in 2011. The number of mobile Internet users has touched 90 million already. The need for optimizing your site for mobile users will naturally be more pressing. Your site needs to be optimized for relevant mobile applications, such as Google's Mobile Search Services and mobile keyword tool in AdWords. Google itself has stated that mobile search results take precedence over desktop search results when it comes to mobile searching. This underscores the need to invest your time and money in mobile SEO in the coming year.
Close on the heels of Search Engine Optimization, comes Social Media Optimization, the newest incarnation of SEO. I know that you are no longer surprised by this new term thanks to the tremendous popularity of social networking sites worldwide. Webmasters should not consider Social Media Optimization as a distraction from their normal SEO efforts; but this new activity should be deployed to boost a site's SEO prospects. Social Media Optimization activities may include back links from individual social media sites, development of a credible profile on these sites, and targeting towards real time searching. The greater impact you can have on the social networking sites, the more your SEO prospects will improve in the coming year.
Website Speed and On-Page SEO Activities
There are some webmasters who rely on off-page optimization rather than on-page optimization. But in 2011, you should give equal, if not more, attention to on-page optimization. Most importantly, the site load time is going to be the litmus test. Google, in its effort to improve website performance, has decided to penalize those sites that have a longer load time. Also, improper use of Meta tags in website coding will have a negative effect on site rankings in the major search engines in the coming year.
The Web Is Going Mobile
Smartphones are getting more and more ubiquitous and people have started surfing websites on their mobiles more than ever. This trend is going to grow in 2011. The number of mobile Internet users has touched 90 million already. The need for optimizing your site for mobile users will naturally be more pressing. Your site needs to be optimized for relevant mobile applications, such as Google's Mobile Search Services and mobile keyword tool in AdWords. Google itself has stated that mobile search results take precedence over desktop search results when it comes to mobile searching. This underscores the need to invest your time and money in mobile SEO in the coming year.
16 December 2010
Using CSS to Re-Order Content vs Display
Using CSS and/or Javascript to re-order how content appears on a website, means that search engines get what they want and visitors get what they want. It's a win, win. For example, you can have [h1]Keyword Phrase[/h1] at the very top of your source code, but it is wrapped in a [div] tag called "displaynone" . Then at the very bottom of the source code is some javascript with a function called "DisplayH1" that actually displays the [h1] text at the bottom of the page. So, the [h1] is first in the source code, but last to display on the page in a browser.
One can also have several paragraphs of keyword rich text at the top of the source code, with [h] tags, keyword rich links, etc. However, you can also use [divs] and absolute positioning to have all of it physically appear at the bottom of the page when viewed in a browser, below all the links, pictures, etc.
This type of use of CSS can go a long way to getting your website to #1 & 2 in Google's organic results for competitive key phrases.
All sound a little Greek?! Give Scream Media a call on 021 559 0800 and we will take care of your SEO starting with the code for your website, using techniques like these above and more. Contact us today for a free no obligation SEO health check
One can also have several paragraphs of keyword rich text at the top of the source code, with [h] tags, keyword rich links, etc. However, you can also use [divs] and absolute positioning to have all of it physically appear at the bottom of the page when viewed in a browser, below all the links, pictures, etc.
This type of use of CSS can go a long way to getting your website to #1 & 2 in Google's organic results for competitive key phrases.
All sound a little Greek?! Give Scream Media a call on 021 559 0800 and we will take care of your SEO starting with the code for your website, using techniques like these above and more. Contact us today for a free no obligation SEO health check
11 October 2010
Seo Content for your Website
"You have a great website. It has beautiful images, a compelling theme and intuitive navigation, all designed to take eager visitors to complete descriptions of your proprietary products and services," "The only problem is your website shows up somewhere after page 10 on search-engine results."
To rectify the problem—and optimize your content for search engines—Wessley has advice like this:
Before making any changes, clearly establish what you want to achieve. Don't be distracted by the glittering allure of top rankings for each and every page at your site. "Rather," , "the goal should be to incorporate search-engine-friendly content that performs well on the most important 'money phrases.' These are areas that you've identified that typically lead to additional action by visitors and prospects."
Carefully select your keywords—and remember they're likely to be keyword phrases. If you sell doors, explains Wessley, you'll get nowhere with a generic term like doors. "A better keyword phrase would be aluminum exterior house doors or solid core wood doors."
Organize your chosen keywords into thematic silos. "[These] may be interior doors, exterior doors and garage doors," she says, "with the specific types of each category being grouped together."
When writing copy, err on the side of making sense to humans. Don't forget customers—not search-engine spiders—are the ones making a purchase. "Search engines may love you but if your content isn't attractive to your visitors and they choose to leave your site, all your work is for nothing."
The Po!nt: Think clearly, and state it clearly. Implementing a common-sense SEO strategy is the best route over time from page 10 to page one of search results. Let Scream Media assist you with SEO friendly content and optimisation of your website
To rectify the problem—and optimize your content for search engines—Wessley has advice like this:
Before making any changes, clearly establish what you want to achieve. Don't be distracted by the glittering allure of top rankings for each and every page at your site. "Rather," , "the goal should be to incorporate search-engine-friendly content that performs well on the most important 'money phrases.' These are areas that you've identified that typically lead to additional action by visitors and prospects."
Carefully select your keywords—and remember they're likely to be keyword phrases. If you sell doors, explains Wessley, you'll get nowhere with a generic term like doors. "A better keyword phrase would be aluminum exterior house doors or solid core wood doors."
Organize your chosen keywords into thematic silos. "[These] may be interior doors, exterior doors and garage doors," she says, "with the specific types of each category being grouped together."
When writing copy, err on the side of making sense to humans. Don't forget customers—not search-engine spiders—are the ones making a purchase. "Search engines may love you but if your content isn't attractive to your visitors and they choose to leave your site, all your work is for nothing."
The Po!nt: Think clearly, and state it clearly. Implementing a common-sense SEO strategy is the best route over time from page 10 to page one of search results. Let Scream Media assist you with SEO friendly content and optimisation of your website
04 October 2010
How SEO can benefit your Website.
In this article, I am going to detail some of the stories I’ve heard, which frequently tells more about some of the people in our industry, than it does about the effectiveness of search engine marketing.
PROBLEM #1 – “I rank number one in Google, and yet, I have never earned a cent from my website…”
When I first heard this story, I was very surprised… After all, if your SEO company did good keyword research, there is no reason why you should not be getting traffic and a few sales from a top ranking in Google.
I pressed for more details… I learned that the company who built the website also did the search engine optimization.
It only took a couple of minutes to learn that the website design company optimized this fellows’ website for the name of his company. There was no other optimization performed on that website.
LESSON #1 – It is rather pointless to optimize a website for the name of the company. UNLESS that name is a descriptive URL - "keyword rich url" The only consumers who will be searching for the name of your company are existing customers.
But, if your company is unknown to the general public, then the people who would like to buy your products or services will not be able to find you among your competitors.
If you sell widgets in Cape Town, your future customers will be typing “Cape Town widgets” into their favorite search engines, trying to find your business. And, if your prospective customers cannot find your business, your business does not exist in their minds.
PROBLEM #2 – “I had a company build a website for my business, but I have never received a single customer for my business, through my website…”
Are you sure?
Asking this question is not meant to offend you, but rather to get more details as to how you track incoming business.
If you are the average off-line business owner who has built a website to promote an off-line business, chances are real good that you probably have never received a single customer from your website.
However, if your website does not request for your prospective customers to let you know how they found out about your business, then chances are that people who did find you through your website would never tell you that.
If more than one person answers the phone at your business, chances are just as good that someone may have mentioned finding you on a website, but no one conveyed that information to you.
In your business, you should have systems in place to track and record where new customers have found your business. To do otherwise is like driving your car in the fast lane during rush-hour traffic with a blindfold over your eyes. At Scream Media we give all our clients a FREE Statcounter account with their own login.
LESSON #2 – If you are not asking your customers how they found your business, you will never know what kind of advertising is producing profits for your business and which advertising is sucking the wind out of your business.
PROBLEM #3 – “I spend a great deal of money on PPC listings (pay-per-click) to get my business in front of search engine users, because after spending thousands of Rands on SEO, I could not rank in the search engines at all…”
What keywords were you trying to rank for in the search engines?
“Travel. I have a travel business based in Cape Town that caters to business professionals…”
Have you ever noticed the caliber of companies who rank on page 1 in Google for the keyword: travel?
Those are companies who spend millions of dollars per year to market their businesses online and off-line. Do you have a marketing budget that will allow you to effectively compete with Travelocity, Expedia or Priceline?
Besides that, where do the majority of your customers work and reside?
“Johannesburg of course.”
If that is the case, why would you spend your limited marketing budget to target consumers who would never buy from you because they are outside your local marketing area?
“I never really thought about it in that way…”
Most of your competitors are making the same mistakes that you are. That is to your advantage because when you start to market your business in a more realistic and cost-effective manner, then you will be able to compete with your competitors, while spending far less money than your competitors are spending.
LESSON #3 – If you operate a local or regional business, do yourself a favor, and stop trying to compete in the national marketplace.
Final Thoughts…
Listed inside this article are three lessons that could potentially help your off-line business to find new customers and to generate new sales, as a result of your online advertising.
Depending on the average ticket price of purchases in your store or service business, how much could an extra 20, 50 or 100 new customers bring into your business each month? You do the math.
You could spend the next ten years learning what we have learned to maximize the effectiveness of your online advertising. Or you could employ us to work on your behalf to support your local business in your local marketplace.
More consumers are ignoring their phone books and searching for products and services online. If you don’t want to compete for those consumers, your competitors will thank you.
PROBLEM #1 – “I rank number one in Google, and yet, I have never earned a cent from my website…”
When I first heard this story, I was very surprised… After all, if your SEO company did good keyword research, there is no reason why you should not be getting traffic and a few sales from a top ranking in Google.
I pressed for more details… I learned that the company who built the website also did the search engine optimization.
It only took a couple of minutes to learn that the website design company optimized this fellows’ website for the name of his company. There was no other optimization performed on that website.
LESSON #1 – It is rather pointless to optimize a website for the name of the company. UNLESS that name is a descriptive URL - "keyword rich url" The only consumers who will be searching for the name of your company are existing customers.
But, if your company is unknown to the general public, then the people who would like to buy your products or services will not be able to find you among your competitors.
If you sell widgets in Cape Town, your future customers will be typing “Cape Town widgets” into their favorite search engines, trying to find your business. And, if your prospective customers cannot find your business, your business does not exist in their minds.
PROBLEM #2 – “I had a company build a website for my business, but I have never received a single customer for my business, through my website…”
Are you sure?
Asking this question is not meant to offend you, but rather to get more details as to how you track incoming business.
If you are the average off-line business owner who has built a website to promote an off-line business, chances are real good that you probably have never received a single customer from your website.
However, if your website does not request for your prospective customers to let you know how they found out about your business, then chances are that people who did find you through your website would never tell you that.
If more than one person answers the phone at your business, chances are just as good that someone may have mentioned finding you on a website, but no one conveyed that information to you.
In your business, you should have systems in place to track and record where new customers have found your business. To do otherwise is like driving your car in the fast lane during rush-hour traffic with a blindfold over your eyes. At Scream Media we give all our clients a FREE Statcounter account with their own login.
LESSON #2 – If you are not asking your customers how they found your business, you will never know what kind of advertising is producing profits for your business and which advertising is sucking the wind out of your business.
PROBLEM #3 – “I spend a great deal of money on PPC listings (pay-per-click) to get my business in front of search engine users, because after spending thousands of Rands on SEO, I could not rank in the search engines at all…”
What keywords were you trying to rank for in the search engines?
“Travel. I have a travel business based in Cape Town that caters to business professionals…”
Have you ever noticed the caliber of companies who rank on page 1 in Google for the keyword: travel?
Those are companies who spend millions of dollars per year to market their businesses online and off-line. Do you have a marketing budget that will allow you to effectively compete with Travelocity, Expedia or Priceline?
Besides that, where do the majority of your customers work and reside?
“Johannesburg of course.”
If that is the case, why would you spend your limited marketing budget to target consumers who would never buy from you because they are outside your local marketing area?
“I never really thought about it in that way…”
Most of your competitors are making the same mistakes that you are. That is to your advantage because when you start to market your business in a more realistic and cost-effective manner, then you will be able to compete with your competitors, while spending far less money than your competitors are spending.
LESSON #3 – If you operate a local or regional business, do yourself a favor, and stop trying to compete in the national marketplace.
Final Thoughts…
Listed inside this article are three lessons that could potentially help your off-line business to find new customers and to generate new sales, as a result of your online advertising.
Depending on the average ticket price of purchases in your store or service business, how much could an extra 20, 50 or 100 new customers bring into your business each month? You do the math.
You could spend the next ten years learning what we have learned to maximize the effectiveness of your online advertising. Or you could employ us to work on your behalf to support your local business in your local marketplace.
More consumers are ignoring their phone books and searching for products and services online. If you don’t want to compete for those consumers, your competitors will thank you.
30 July 2010
Is Google displaying the correct Sitelinks for your website?
When Google displays Sitelinks below your website listing in the search results, it's very likely that your website will get more clicks and more visitors. The majority of searchers click on the top 3 results. For that reason, getting more links in the top three results increases the number of clicks that your website will get.
Unfortunately, Google does not always display the right Sitelinks. This article explains how to check your Sitelinks and how to make sure that Google displays the right Sitelinks for your website.
How to check which Sitelinks Google displays for your website
Unfortunately, Google does not always display the right Sitelinks. This article explains how to check your Sitelinks and how to make sure that Google displays the right Sitelinks for your website.
How to check which Sitelinks Google displays for your website
Which type of Sitelinks does Google display for your website?It seems that Google only return Sitelinks when they are confident that the search query is looking for a specific site.
If you want to see the Sitelinks for your website, search Google for your domain name without the .co.za or for any other keyword for which your website is listed on the first position.
For example, if your domain name is "bluewidgets.com", search Google for "bluewidgets".
If you search Google as explained above, Google will display one of the following Sitelinks below your listing:How to get better Sitelinks
- Google shows up to eight text links that are identical to your website navigation links. If you see these links, the navigation of your website can be parsed by Google and it divides your website into separate categories. This is good.
- Sitelinks that go to random pages on your website. If you get these links, the navigation of your website probably can't be parsed by Google and Google took the pages with the most backlinks for the Sitelinks. This is not so good.
- Google does not display any Sitelinks. If Google does not display any Sitelinks for your website then it's very likely that your website is not search engine friendly and that your pages cannot be parsed correctly. This is bad.
Google generates the Sitelinks for your website based on your website navigation and based on the links that point to your website.Site links can make your website listings on Google's result pages more attractive. However, they have nothing to do with the position that your website gets in Google. If you want to get high rankings on Google for the keywords of your choice, you must make sure that your website has both optimised content and good backlinks.
If Google shows the wrong Sitelinks or no Sitelinks at all for your website then you should work on your website navigation:
If your website has a clear navigation, it will be much easier to get Sitelinks for your website.
- Avoid JavaScript and Flash navigation and try to use regular links as often as possible.
- If you use images for your website navigation, make sure that the images contain alternative texts that allow Google to categorize your links.
Do not use too many navigation links and make it easy for web surfers and search engines to find out which pages of your website are the most important pages. The better a web page is linked, the more likely it is that it will appear in the Sitelinks.
20 July 2010
SEO critical steps for ranking
There are a variety of misconceptions surrounding search engine optimization today. One big misconception that many website owners have is that once they have their site set up and they submit it to search engines, they’ll get traffic right away. The truth is that there is a lot more to bringing traffic to your website. Search engine optimization is a task that is ongoing and it does take quite a bit of work. Instead of submitting your site to the search engines right away, here are a few critical steps to great SEO that you should take first.
Step #1 – Research Your Keywords
One of the important steps you need to take for great SEO before you submit your site to the search engines is to research your keywords. No doubt, you already know what the topic of your site is all about. It is important that you choose the right keywords now before you submit your site. When you select keywords, keep in mind criteria that the search engines have for keywords. Look for niche keywords instead of keywords that are so broad you’ll never rank well with them.
Step #2 – Improve Your Title Tags
Another step to take before submitting to the search engines is improving your title tags. One of the biggest things that will determine your score within the search engines is the appearance of keywords in the title tags. Do not go with title tags that don’t use your keywords. Your title tags should be keyword rich, which can help you ensure that you get strong rankings when your site is submitted to the search engines.
Step #3 – Check Out Your Site Technology
Take some time to check out your site technology before submitting your site to the search engines as well. Some technology built into sites can end up confusing the spiders that crawl through websites. Image maps, CGI scripts, frames, and other types of technology may not be understood by many of the spiders out there. Go through your site carefully and ensure that technology is not holding you back from getting high rankings in the search engines.
Step #4 – Check for Errors
Checking your website for errors is also going to be a critical step to great SEO. It’s a good idea to use a site maintenance tool to make sure that you catch any errors before you start bringing customers to your website. Any errors in HTML can end up causing problems for search engine spiders. Not only can errors cause problems with spiders, but they can also be frustrating to site a user, which means they may leave your site. Now is the time to ensure that any errors are taken care of.
Each of these steps is essential to the success of your website. Before you submit your website to the search engines, go through these steps and ensure that your site is ready. For professional advise on SEO contact Scream Media today - make sure your SEEN on the web.
Step #1 – Research Your Keywords
One of the important steps you need to take for great SEO before you submit your site to the search engines is to research your keywords. No doubt, you already know what the topic of your site is all about. It is important that you choose the right keywords now before you submit your site. When you select keywords, keep in mind criteria that the search engines have for keywords. Look for niche keywords instead of keywords that are so broad you’ll never rank well with them.
Step #2 – Improve Your Title Tags
Another step to take before submitting to the search engines is improving your title tags. One of the biggest things that will determine your score within the search engines is the appearance of keywords in the title tags. Do not go with title tags that don’t use your keywords. Your title tags should be keyword rich, which can help you ensure that you get strong rankings when your site is submitted to the search engines.
Step #3 – Check Out Your Site Technology
Take some time to check out your site technology before submitting your site to the search engines as well. Some technology built into sites can end up confusing the spiders that crawl through websites. Image maps, CGI scripts, frames, and other types of technology may not be understood by many of the spiders out there. Go through your site carefully and ensure that technology is not holding you back from getting high rankings in the search engines.
Step #4 – Check for Errors
Checking your website for errors is also going to be a critical step to great SEO. It’s a good idea to use a site maintenance tool to make sure that you catch any errors before you start bringing customers to your website. Any errors in HTML can end up causing problems for search engine spiders. Not only can errors cause problems with spiders, but they can also be frustrating to site a user, which means they may leave your site. Now is the time to ensure that any errors are taken care of.
Each of these steps is essential to the success of your website. Before you submit your website to the search engines, go through these steps and ensure that your site is ready. For professional advise on SEO contact Scream Media today - make sure your SEEN on the web.
14 July 2010
Choosing a Domain Name
There are two ways of selecting a domain name. You can choose the domain name first and use it as your organization name or vice versa. Most of the old organizations prefer to retain their brand name in their URL.
Many startup organizations select their URL first and then name their organization. This is because of the non availability of the perfect URL.
Your website URL is your online identity that is visible to millions of internet users. It impacts your organization name, website SEO and future business endeavors. All these factors should be taken into consideration before selecting a URL.
Boost Your Website SEO with the Following Domain Selection Tips:
Many startup organizations select their URL first and then name their organization. This is because of the non availability of the perfect URL.
Your website URL is your online identity that is visible to millions of internet users. It impacts your organization name, website SEO and future business endeavors. All these factors should be taken into consideration before selecting a URL.
Boost Your Website SEO with the Following Domain Selection Tips:
- Choose a Keyword Rich Domain Name: A keyword rich URL is a bonus for any website. It helps boost ranking in the search engine results pages. If the desired keyword rich URL is not available, you can add a prefix or a suffix to the keyword. A URL which contains a combination of keywords helps in drawing more traffic to the website.
- Include Hyphens in the Domain Name: Search engines can distinguish between hyphenated keywords very easily. This helps in ranking better in search results pages. Hyphenated keywords in the URL are a good option if the desired keyword rich URL is not available. There is one pitfall in using hyphens in the URL. Your website visitor can land on the competitor’s website if they forget to add the hyphens. Webmasters should include hyphens as a last option to obtain the perfect domain name.
- Select A Top Level Domain Name: A website URL should be selected based on the geographical location of the customers. If your website caters to the customers at a global level, a dot-com domain is suitable for you. If the dot-com domain is not available, you can opt between dot-net and dot-org. If your organization is based in United Kingdom, your top level domain should be dot-co-dot-uk. A non-profit organization should opt for dot-org as their top level domain.
- Purchase a New Domain Name: A domain name should be researched well before purchasing. It is an important to get a URL related to your niche.
- The name should be easy to spell & remember.
- URL’s are inexpensive. You can register multiple keywords rich URL and redirect them to the main domain. As a result, a lot of traffic will be directed to the main site.
- Make sure that you are not infringing another organizations brand name.
- If your organization belongs to a particular region, Purchase a geo specific URL. This helps in capturing the target audience.
- Always check the background of an aged domain before purchasing it. Aged domains can give your website SEO a good boost. Tips for purchasing an aged URL:
- Check the domain age. This will give you an idea of how old the domain is. Google gives a lot of importance to aged domains in search results pages. Your chances of ranking well improve with the age of the domain name.
- Note the page rank of the aged domain. As the page rank increases, the importance of the domain increases.
- Calculate the number of backlinks of the aged domain. An aged domain should have a few hundred backlinks. If the backlinks are not sufficient or are of poor quality, move on to purchasing another aged domain.
13 July 2010
Writing content with Effective Keywords
So, you have your list of keywords and you’re wondering how to incorporate them into your article titles. You’re wondering if it’s possible to do SEO article writing that also makes sense to humans.
If you go overboard with your key phrases, then your article has a good chance of being declined by publishers right off the bat.
How can you effectively use keywords in your article titles?
Is it possible to please search engines, publishers, and human readers?
Yes! This article spotlights a few techniques you can implement to effectively and correctly use your keywords in your article titles.
First, let’s lay the ground rule:
*Your title must serve your reader, first and foremost. The purpose of your title is to tell the reader what your article is about. A title is a great place to use your keywords, but the title must still make sense, be grammatically correct with proper spelling, and accurately portray the subject matter of the article.
Now, on to the tips:
What is wrong with that?
Well first of all, this title is not very specific, nor does it draw a reader in. If you’re using a two word key phrase, most likely your phrase is extremely general and not specific enough to make a good title.
Your title should specifically indicate what your article is about, and if your article is about a specific aspect of “hiking boots”, then the title should reflect that. For example: “Hiking Boots: Top 5 Best Performers”
If you’re using long tail keyword phrases (3-5 words long), then the title almost writes itself sometimes. For example “How To Eat Healthy” may be your long tail key phrase, which also works well as a title.
But many long tail key phrases need extra words added to them in order to make sense. For example, the phrase “Used Car Values” is pretty general, and the article is likely about a more specific topic, such as “Used Car Values: How To Negotiate The Best Price For A Used Car”
3 – This almost goes without saying, but unfortunately I see this sometimes: Your title should not be a list of keywords.
What would you think if you saw a “title” that looked like this:
Used Car Pricing, Used Car Values, Used Car Deals
This type of title does not make sense, is not helpful to the reader, and was obviously an attempt to get as many keywords in the title as possible. Most publishers would immediately decline an article with a title like that.
The main idea is to write for your human readers first by creating a helpful and specific title that reflects what your article is about. You may use your keywords in the title if they sound natural and make sense.
If you would like a free no obligation quote for your websites copy writing, contact us today
If you go overboard with your key phrases, then your article has a good chance of being declined by publishers right off the bat.
How can you effectively use keywords in your article titles?
Is it possible to please search engines, publishers, and human readers?
Yes! This article spotlights a few techniques you can implement to effectively and correctly use your keywords in your article titles.
First, let’s lay the ground rule:
*Your title must serve your reader, first and foremost. The purpose of your title is to tell the reader what your article is about. A title is a great place to use your keywords, but the title must still make sense, be grammatically correct with proper spelling, and accurately portray the subject matter of the article.
Now, on to the tips:
- Your title must reflect what your article is about. Most of the time this decline reason comes up when a person writes an article and then tries to include their keywords in the title as an afterthought, when the article is not really about the keywords. For example: If your article title is “10 Heart Healthy Soups”, then your article must talk about 10 heart healthy soups. Whatever is promised in the title must be delivered in the article.
- Resist the urge to use a minimalist keyword-only title. If you’re extremely focused on your keywords and the impact they can have on your search engine ranking, you might wonder, “Why not just make a title that is totally keyword focused?”
What is wrong with that?
Well first of all, this title is not very specific, nor does it draw a reader in. If you’re using a two word key phrase, most likely your phrase is extremely general and not specific enough to make a good title.
Your title should specifically indicate what your article is about, and if your article is about a specific aspect of “hiking boots”, then the title should reflect that. For example: “Hiking Boots: Top 5 Best Performers”
If you’re using long tail keyword phrases (3-5 words long), then the title almost writes itself sometimes. For example “How To Eat Healthy” may be your long tail key phrase, which also works well as a title.
But many long tail key phrases need extra words added to them in order to make sense. For example, the phrase “Used Car Values” is pretty general, and the article is likely about a more specific topic, such as “Used Car Values: How To Negotiate The Best Price For A Used Car”
3 – This almost goes without saying, but unfortunately I see this sometimes: Your title should not be a list of keywords.
What would you think if you saw a “title” that looked like this:
Used Car Pricing, Used Car Values, Used Car Deals
This type of title does not make sense, is not helpful to the reader, and was obviously an attempt to get as many keywords in the title as possible. Most publishers would immediately decline an article with a title like that.
The main idea is to write for your human readers first by creating a helpful and specific title that reflects what your article is about. You may use your keywords in the title if they sound natural and make sense.
If you would like a free no obligation quote for your websites copy writing, contact us today
23 June 2010
Links Backs - SEO tools
Quality Link Building is About the Long-Term
SEO changes all the time as search engines make adjustments to their algorithms and user interfaces, users adopt new technologies, etc. Still some things never change, like Google's view on spammy links.
The first piece of advice Google gives is to get involved with the community around your topic. If you were still not convinced that social media plays a very big role in search, consider this is coming straight from Google. Now the networks your community hangs out in may vary, but engaging with the community is simply a good way to get links and build credibility, which also will most likely lead to more links. Engaging is good for increasingly visibility outside of search anyway. Nothing new. Just reiterated by Google.
Another tip Google suggests is to create content that solves problems for your users - things like tutorials, videos, and tools, surveys, research results, etc. Users who find helpful content are likely to pass it on.
Google notes that humor and other link-bait tactics can work for the short term, but does not recommend counting such tactics. "It's important to clarify that any legitimate link building strategy is a long-term effort," says Google Search Quality Strategist Kaspar Szymanski. "There are those who advocate for short-lived, often spammy methods, but these are not advisable if you care for your site's reputation. Buying PageRank-passing links or randomly exchanging links are the worst ways of attempting to gather links and they're likely to have no positive impact on your site's performance over time. If your site's visibility in the Google index is important to you it's best to avoid them."
Don't kid yourself, quality link backs take time and effort to get, but are very worth it in the long run. If you don't know how or simply don't have the time, let Scream Media handle this for you as part of our SEO - Marketing service. Contact us today on 021 5590800
SEO changes all the time as search engines make adjustments to their algorithms and user interfaces, users adopt new technologies, etc. Still some things never change, like Google's view on spammy links.
The first piece of advice Google gives is to get involved with the community around your topic. If you were still not convinced that social media plays a very big role in search, consider this is coming straight from Google. Now the networks your community hangs out in may vary, but engaging with the community is simply a good way to get links and build credibility, which also will most likely lead to more links. Engaging is good for increasingly visibility outside of search anyway. Nothing new. Just reiterated by Google.
Another tip Google suggests is to create content that solves problems for your users - things like tutorials, videos, and tools, surveys, research results, etc. Users who find helpful content are likely to pass it on.
Google notes that humor and other link-bait tactics can work for the short term, but does not recommend counting such tactics. "It's important to clarify that any legitimate link building strategy is a long-term effort," says Google Search Quality Strategist Kaspar Szymanski. "There are those who advocate for short-lived, often spammy methods, but these are not advisable if you care for your site's reputation. Buying PageRank-passing links or randomly exchanging links are the worst ways of attempting to gather links and they're likely to have no positive impact on your site's performance over time. If your site's visibility in the Google index is important to you it's best to avoid them."
Don't kid yourself, quality link backs take time and effort to get, but are very worth it in the long run. If you don't know how or simply don't have the time, let Scream Media handle this for you as part of our SEO - Marketing service. Contact us today on 021 5590800
25 May 2010
Want more visitors to your website?
Many visitors to your website will arrive via a search engine. Making your website more visible on search engines will hook potential customers, so follow our simple steps to improve your ranking.
Things to do today…
• Make a list of keywords and phrases that best describe your products and services. Run keywords through a keyword tool to identify any additional possibilities and find out how frequently they are searched for
• Go online and find appropriate businesses that might be able to provide reciprocal links to your website
Short term actions
Use search engine optimisation There are certain things you can do to improve your website’s search engine ranking.
• Make your site accessible. Well- written, easy to navigate pages will attract repeat visitors and may
help push your website up the search engine rankings (see chapter one).
• Use keywords and phrases.
Decide which keywords and phrases are unique to your industry products and services. Be fairly specific, eg ‘organic local apples’ will generate more qualified search engine leads than ‘apples’. Run these through a keyword tool to identify additional possibilities. Target these key phrases in web content, page titles, headings, sub-headings and any metadata included in the page code.
• Include an HTML link to a basic site map on every page of your website. Search engines will then be able to index pages of your site, increasing the chance of your site appearing in searches.
• Include reciprocal links. Use search engines to find websites that have high rankings for appropriate key terms and phrases. Contact them and ask if they will include a link to your website in return for a reciprocal link.
• Make sure your website is useful. This will encourage others to link to your site of their own accord. These one way links are often more effective than reciprocal links.
Top tip
• Don’t compromise the quality of your web copy in an effort to fill it with keywords. Search engines could penalise you for this and your rating will drop.
Start a pay per click campaign
A pay per click (PPC) campaign will further improve your web presence.
A PPC campaign involves posting sponsored links or adverts on search engine websites. When users search for keywords related to your business,
2. Search engine marketing
your sponsored link appears in a column often to the right or above the natural or organic search results.
A PPC campaign is cost-effective as you only pay for click-through to your site. The results can be easily tracked allowing you to optimise your campaigns. Set a daily budget and your advert will be switched off once your allowance is spent.
Plan your pay per click campaign Careful planning will help you maximise the success of your
PPC campaign.
Consider the following:
• Which visitors you want to attract.
• Whether you want to target local or regional customers, a particular age-group or
particular-interest customers.
• How many unique adverts you want to create for each advert group. These will need to be tested against each other to find the most effective.
• When you want adverts to be activated and for how long.
• Which keyword searches will generate your sponsored link.
A broad match will trigger your advert more frequently than an exact match and could mean your advert is shown inappropriately.
• How much you are willing to bid initially for each click.
For more information about running a successful online advertising campaign contact Scream Media today for a FREE no obligation quote.
Things to do today…
• Make a list of keywords and phrases that best describe your products and services. Run keywords through a keyword tool to identify any additional possibilities and find out how frequently they are searched for
• Go online and find appropriate businesses that might be able to provide reciprocal links to your website
Short term actions
Use search engine optimisation There are certain things you can do to improve your website’s search engine ranking.
• Make your site accessible. Well- written, easy to navigate pages will attract repeat visitors and may
help push your website up the search engine rankings (see chapter one).
• Use keywords and phrases.
Decide which keywords and phrases are unique to your industry products and services. Be fairly specific, eg ‘organic local apples’ will generate more qualified search engine leads than ‘apples’. Run these through a keyword tool to identify additional possibilities. Target these key phrases in web content, page titles, headings, sub-headings and any metadata included in the page code.
• Include an HTML link to a basic site map on every page of your website. Search engines will then be able to index pages of your site, increasing the chance of your site appearing in searches.
• Include reciprocal links. Use search engines to find websites that have high rankings for appropriate key terms and phrases. Contact them and ask if they will include a link to your website in return for a reciprocal link.
• Make sure your website is useful. This will encourage others to link to your site of their own accord. These one way links are often more effective than reciprocal links.
Top tip
• Don’t compromise the quality of your web copy in an effort to fill it with keywords. Search engines could penalise you for this and your rating will drop.
Start a pay per click campaign
A pay per click (PPC) campaign will further improve your web presence.
A PPC campaign involves posting sponsored links or adverts on search engine websites. When users search for keywords related to your business,
2. Search engine marketing
your sponsored link appears in a column often to the right or above the natural or organic search results.
A PPC campaign is cost-effective as you only pay for click-through to your site. The results can be easily tracked allowing you to optimise your campaigns. Set a daily budget and your advert will be switched off once your allowance is spent.
Plan your pay per click campaign Careful planning will help you maximise the success of your
PPC campaign.
Consider the following:
• Which visitors you want to attract.
• Whether you want to target local or regional customers, a particular age-group or
particular-interest customers.
• How many unique adverts you want to create for each advert group. These will need to be tested against each other to find the most effective.
• When you want adverts to be activated and for how long.
• Which keyword searches will generate your sponsored link.
A broad match will trigger your advert more frequently than an exact match and could mean your advert is shown inappropriately.
• How much you are willing to bid initially for each click.
For more information about running a successful online advertising campaign contact Scream Media today for a FREE no obligation quote.
10 May 2010
The New Look Google
Now that the masses have access to Google's newly redesigned results pages, it's time to consider this in an SEO light if you have not already been considering it.
How do Google's New SERPs Affect SEO?
Google has had its search options available for about a year, but they have not been in the face of the user like the newly redesigned SERP is. With this new design, users don't have any choice but to notice the options that are available. It's not too different from Bing or Yahoo in that respect (Danny Sullivan notes that Ask pioneered this design). The difference is that way more people search with Google on a regular basis (in fact, last month Google reportedly dominated the search market by even more than usual).
SEO Strategies and Increased Engagement from Searchers
The new SERPs may shake up SEO efforts, simply because users will start going to the different options Google provides them, taking them to different sets of results. Now that the options are in the limelight, users are more likely to use them.
Yahoo tells us when they added features to their left-hand navigation bar, engagement increased. "We've been steadily adding more filtering options and relevant search suggestions to our left-hand navigation bar...and have seen engagement and click-throughs for those features double over the past seven months." I can't imagine why Google wouldn't also see an engagement increase for certain features that are now more visible.
It's going to come down to evaluating the different options for any given query that you wish to rank for, and focusing efforts upon those. Make sure your site is SEO compatible contact Scream Media today for a free no obligation SEO health check for your website.
05 May 2010
Website Mareketing Challenges for 2010
Following is the list of pointers to get your website on top, reach out to potential customers and ensure brand visibility in 2010. Need help with implementing any of these actions, contact Scream Media Today
- Decrease Webpage Load Time. Google’s Matt Cutts recently hinted that the load time of a website may affect its ranking in the search engines. That is, the faster a website loads, the better its chances to rank well for its niche keywords. Website load time is touted as the next big step towards improved rankings. The pre-requisites to a good webpage load time are; reputable web host and fast internet connection.
- Get Listed in Google Local Search. Getting listed in Google Local Search ensures brand visibility in front of visitors from the nearby places. It has been proven that the number of visitors to a website increase exponentially when listed in local search results. The reason being, a customer will always prefer to purchase a quality product which is easily available in his or her vicinity rather than order it from another unfamiliar city or state.
- Get Involved in Social Media. Social Media is the flavor of the season and in 2010 organizations are going to actively engage in conversation and social networking and reach out to their potential customers. Social Media Marketing is a must for every organization as it helps create brand awareness and build relationships with consumers in the highly competitive market. Micro targeting and Personalization will be the keywords in 2010.
- Optimize Your Website Mobile Users. With and ever increasing number of people tweeting and using Facebook from their mobile devices, a lot of organizations are now finally paying attention to how their websites appear on mobile phones. You can have your website appear on the mobile under the same URL or have a special domain for the same. The most common way is to have the domain name as mobile.websitename.com.
- Apply Web Analytics to its full potential. There are hundreds of web analytics tools in the market which provide a mountain of data pertaining to the visitor’s usage. Some of the most well known web analytics tools are Omniture, Google Analytics and Yahoo! Web Analytics etc. Web Analytics tools can answer the “how” but not the “why”. That is, you can find out how many visitors checked the product catalogue webpage, but not the answer to, why the visitors didn’t place an order for the product. Organizations need to dissect the data from web analytics tools and successfully apply its learning’s to enhance their visitors experience and in turn increase sales revenues.
17 March 2010
Social Media Marketing versus SEO
There are many different methods of marketing your business website, on-line shop or e-commerce website, but for many business owners there seems to be a bit of confusion between what is considered generic back link building and what is a true social marketing campaign, and more to the point what is the aim of each marketing strategy?
Different SEO and web marketing companies will of course employ different methodologies to promote a site and more often than not you get what you pay for so to speak. Equally there is bound to be a crossover in campaign strategies the debate of which could go on for months, but the purpose of this article is to highlight the key differences and aims of each type of campaign not what any single campaign should contain.
Generic Search Engine Marketing
Typically the aim of a generic search engine marketing campaign (SEM) is to develop relevant and targeted anchor text back links to specific pages on your website to increase your site’s link profile and authority in the eyes
of the search engines.
This of course is all aimed at improving your website ranking and to ensure your website becomes “known” in the search engines for the particular key phrases you are most interested in ranking for.
Low level or cheap link building services often include article marketing, content distribution and directory submissions, although most professional SEO practioners will probably dismiss directory submissions as the quality of these links is generally very poor at best and sometimes dubious also.
Low level or cheap link building services can also take advantage of what have become known as social websites; typically these are in the form of blogs and other Web 2.0 properties and even low level social bookmarking sites. Forum posting just for the sake of links would also fall under this category.
The quality of budget link building services can vary wildly but they are not to be sneezed at though, as in many cases especially in less competitive or tight niches, they can prove to be very effective indeed and are often all that is needed to rank a site well.
Social Marketing Campaigns
Social marketing campaigns are quite different to generic search engine marketing campaigns although there can be a degree of crossover in many cases. A true social marketing campaign is much more focussed to generating leads and brand awareness as well as meeting the targeted marketplace in its own backyard.
A social marketing campaign however is also generally considered to be much further up the evolutionary tree of link building so to speak and while it will still develop and reward you with good quality back links to your site, social marketing campaigns are generally of much higher quality in both their make up and also can require a significant amount of planning and preparation.
Typically social marketing campaigns will take advantage of prime and highly focussed Web 2.0 properties and business networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ecademy and so on, as well as other complementary web sites and social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us to name but a few.
The aim of a good social marketing campaign is not to specifically develop back links per se (although this is bound to happen) but to develop either brand or business awareness in a defined market place where the products or services you or your company supply will or could be in demand.
It is also to establish you or your company as an industry authority, go to person or trusted advisor, or even a business that can help other people solve their own problems or critical business issues by the provision of quality goods and services.
The Downside of Social Marketing Campaigns
While the advantages of a social marketing campaign are undeniable, there are a number of downsides which it pays to be acutely aware of.
The main downside of social marketing campaigns is the sheer amount of time and work that needs to be maintained to develop a business’s authority or profile across many sites.
These types of campaigns are very hands-on and involve ongoing social networking and subtle promotion of a business or brand as well as the generation of useful/helpful relevant content either for general publication or for posting on your own site as quality information pages or blog posts, or as donated content for other complementary sites that are not in direct competition to your own.
It may be for example that you want to develop a profile on forums relevant to the markets you are trying to penetrate by posting quality useful help and advice (not just a link post), but if not kept up-to-date or live these profiles can quickly lose ground and your on-line identity will fade.
Most businesses pursuing social marketing campaigns as an ongoing strategy will be spending at least 10-20 hours plus a week in one form or another and although this can be outsourced (often at considerable cost), typically this is done in-house by either the business owner or the marketing person, primarily because the business has the internal product or service expertise to maintain a long term focus and generate quality content.
What Is Right For Your Business?
The correct or most successful strategy required for each business will vary tremendously which is why most SEO professionals will not even conduct a web marketing campaign
without some form of initial consultancy or competitive market assessment.
If time is not one of your assets or your budget is tight, then a generic link building campaign may be all that is affordable to you, but if you are in a competitive market and serious about your on-line business then it simply does not make good business sense to second guess your requirements.
Bite the bullet and employ the services of an SEO consultant even if only for initial consultancy as the advice you receive more often than not will be highly beneficial to the success of your on-line venture.
Different SEO and web marketing companies will of course employ different methodologies to promote a site and more often than not you get what you pay for so to speak. Equally there is bound to be a crossover in campaign strategies the debate of which could go on for months, but the purpose of this article is to highlight the key differences and aims of each type of campaign not what any single campaign should contain.
Generic Search Engine Marketing
Typically the aim of a generic search engine marketing campaign (SEM) is to develop relevant and targeted anchor text back links to specific pages on your website to increase your site’s link profile and authority in the eyes
of the search engines.
This of course is all aimed at improving your website ranking and to ensure your website becomes “known” in the search engines for the particular key phrases you are most interested in ranking for.
Low level or cheap link building services often include article marketing, content distribution and directory submissions, although most professional SEO practioners will probably dismiss directory submissions as the quality of these links is generally very poor at best and sometimes dubious also.
Low level or cheap link building services can also take advantage of what have become known as social websites; typically these are in the form of blogs and other Web 2.0 properties and even low level social bookmarking sites. Forum posting just for the sake of links would also fall under this category.
The quality of budget link building services can vary wildly but they are not to be sneezed at though, as in many cases especially in less competitive or tight niches, they can prove to be very effective indeed and are often all that is needed to rank a site well.
Social Marketing Campaigns
Social marketing campaigns are quite different to generic search engine marketing campaigns although there can be a degree of crossover in many cases. A true social marketing campaign is much more focussed to generating leads and brand awareness as well as meeting the targeted marketplace in its own backyard.
A social marketing campaign however is also generally considered to be much further up the evolutionary tree of link building so to speak and while it will still develop and reward you with good quality back links to your site, social marketing campaigns are generally of much higher quality in both their make up and also can require a significant amount of planning and preparation.
Typically social marketing campaigns will take advantage of prime and highly focussed Web 2.0 properties and business networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ecademy and so on, as well as other complementary web sites and social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us to name but a few.
The aim of a good social marketing campaign is not to specifically develop back links per se (although this is bound to happen) but to develop either brand or business awareness in a defined market place where the products or services you or your company supply will or could be in demand.
It is also to establish you or your company as an industry authority, go to person or trusted advisor, or even a business that can help other people solve their own problems or critical business issues by the provision of quality goods and services.
The Downside of Social Marketing Campaigns
While the advantages of a social marketing campaign are undeniable, there are a number of downsides which it pays to be acutely aware of.
The main downside of social marketing campaigns is the sheer amount of time and work that needs to be maintained to develop a business’s authority or profile across many sites.
These types of campaigns are very hands-on and involve ongoing social networking and subtle promotion of a business or brand as well as the generation of useful/helpful relevant content either for general publication or for posting on your own site as quality information pages or blog posts, or as donated content for other complementary sites that are not in direct competition to your own.
It may be for example that you want to develop a profile on forums relevant to the markets you are trying to penetrate by posting quality useful help and advice (not just a link post), but if not kept up-to-date or live these profiles can quickly lose ground and your on-line identity will fade.
Most businesses pursuing social marketing campaigns as an ongoing strategy will be spending at least 10-20 hours plus a week in one form or another and although this can be outsourced (often at considerable cost), typically this is done in-house by either the business owner or the marketing person, primarily because the business has the internal product or service expertise to maintain a long term focus and generate quality content.
What Is Right For Your Business?
The correct or most successful strategy required for each business will vary tremendously which is why most SEO professionals will not even conduct a web marketing campaign
without some form of initial consultancy or competitive market assessment.
If time is not one of your assets or your budget is tight, then a generic link building campaign may be all that is affordable to you, but if you are in a competitive market and serious about your on-line business then it simply does not make good business sense to second guess your requirements.
Bite the bullet and employ the services of an SEO consultant even if only for initial consultancy as the advice you receive more often than not will be highly beneficial to the success of your on-line venture.
05 March 2010
SEO Tips
Frankly, the biggest search engine optimization mistake you can make is not doing any SEO at all. It's amazíng how many people believe "if you build it, they will come." Marketing coaching makes one thing clear. Just putting a site up on the Internet won't get you the traffic you want or need. By the same token, building a site and then thinking about SEO after the fact is a bad plan too. SEO needs to be at the heart of your Web plans from day one, and it's a job that isn't ever "finished."
Learn What's Bad For SEO And Don't Do It
If you take a drawing class, one of the first things you'll learn is that it's easier to look at the negative space than at the object itself. That means that as a beginner, you have a better shot at recreating the funky-looking space between the apple and the pear than drawing the fruit the first time you pick up a pencil. And you don't get so discouraged when your results aren't perfect. That's a good concept to carry into online marketing.
Learn What's Bad For SEO And Don't Do It
If you take a drawing class, one of the first things you'll learn is that it's easier to look at the negative space than at the object itself. That means that as a beginner, you have a better shot at recreating the funky-looking space between the apple and the pear than drawing the fruit the first time you pick up a pencil. And you don't get so discouraged when your results aren't perfect. That's a good concept to carry into online marketing.
Sometimes learning everything that can go wrong is a better place to start than trying to do everything right. Do-it-yourself, affordable SEO is too expensive at any cost if you're constantly shooting yourself in the foot. Some of the biggest mistakes novices make are really the easiest ones to avoid!
Bad Navigation And No Sitemap
It doesn't take a marketing coach to know that the entire point of "search engine optimization" on a site is to get that site crawled by the search engines. If you use images -- or worse -- Flash or javascript to design your navigation, the search engines will ignore you. (Also, any page that doesn't have an incoming link won't be crawled.)
Not having a sitemap is just as bad. Many website owners don't think they need a sitemap because people don't use them. It's not about people! Search engines love sitemaps. They literally crawl all over sitemaps. Even if you have to maintain the sitemap manually, have one and link to it on every page of your site.
Poorly Constructed Title Tags And URLs
There's nothing wrong with building your website, but pay attention to what your software is doing. Many site building packages and content management systems repeat the same title tag on every single page. Good programs of marketing coaching teach you that the title tag is probably the single most-important SEO element of any page. The title tag must fit the content of the page itself.
But, don't pay attention to the title tag and ignore the URL. This is especially a problem in content management systems and shopping carts. The URLs are full of numbers and letters. You need to be including your keywords in your URLs so the search engines pick up on them. Don't waste the invaluable potential in either the title tag or the URL.
Bad Navigation And No Sitemap
It doesn't take a marketing coach to know that the entire point of "search engine optimization" on a site is to get that site crawled by the search engines. If you use images -- or worse -- Flash or javascript to design your navigation, the search engines will ignore you. (Also, any page that doesn't have an incoming link won't be crawled.)
Not having a sitemap is just as bad. Many website owners don't think they need a sitemap because people don't use them. It's not about people! Search engines love sitemaps. They literally crawl all over sitemaps. Even if you have to maintain the sitemap manually, have one and link to it on every page of your site.
Poorly Constructed Title Tags And URLs
There's nothing wrong with building your website, but pay attention to what your software is doing. Many site building packages and content management systems repeat the same title tag on every single page. Good programs of marketing coaching teach you that the title tag is probably the single most-important SEO element of any page. The title tag must fit the content of the page itself.
But, don't pay attention to the title tag and ignore the URL. This is especially a problem in content management systems and shopping carts. The URLs are full of numbers and letters. You need to be including your keywords in your URLs so the search engines pick up on them. Don't waste the invaluable potential in either the title tag or the URL.
Banning A Search Engine By Accident
It's not unusual for a novice site owner to mess up their robots.txt file. The file exists in your site's root directory to talk to search engine spiders. You can tell them not to crawl pages or sections or send other individual instructions. Since the file is just plain text and is so easy to create, site owners wade in without really understanding what they're doing. If you're not careful, you can ban the search engines from your site altogether. Use Yahoo SiteExplorer or Google SiteMaps to make sure that your site can indeed be crawled.
It's not unusual for a novice site owner to mess up their robots.txt file. The file exists in your site's root directory to talk to search engine spiders. You can tell them not to crawl pages or sections or send other individual instructions. Since the file is just plain text and is so easy to create, site owners wade in without really understanding what they're doing. If you're not careful, you can ban the search engines from your site altogether. Use Yahoo SiteExplorer or Google SiteMaps to make sure that your site can indeed be crawled.
Using anchor text like "click here" or "next" is a waste. When you are cultivating incoming links or creating links inside your site, use useful, descriptive anchor text. You don't want to repeat the same phrase over and over again. Get two or three relevant, keyword-rich pieces of anchor text and also use your company name. Empty phrases are just that -- empty.
Doing accurate keyword research is fundamental to successful marketing. It's a huge topic in its own right, but you basically want to concentrate on phrases that are not overly general or that have too much competition. Good marketing coaches will spend a lot of time on keyword selection and you should too. Put that chore right up at the top of your SEO "to do" list.
In reading all the tips available on marketing coaching, you'll find that most articles and courses focus on the things website owners should do. It's also important to look at what you shouldn't do. A poorly constructed site that fails to make good use of readable navigation, workable behind-the-scenes code, solid naming structures, and relevant anchor text will have a tough time online. Consider the fundamentals of basic SEO from the planning stage of your site to maximize your results and get the traffic you want.
Still confused? contact Scream Media today for free no obligation SEO quote
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