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So you've decided to get a website that's optimized
for search engines. You're no dummy. You want
your website to show up any time a search is conducted
in your area of expertise. Who can blame you?
But wait. Be prepared for twists and turns ahead.
The Bible says, "My people perish from lack
of knowledge." This is also true in the technical
world of search engine marketing. Your lack of
understanding of how search engines find websites
can be detrimental to your success. In effect,
you could lose your website investment, and lose
again by not being at the top of the engines later.
If your website is built and written correctly,
you will experience a positive return on your
website investment that pays dividends for years
to come.
Before you start correcting the website content
created for you by The Marketing Shop, or any
webmaster experienced in SEO, make sure you have
a firm grasp of search engine optimization. If
you have a question about something that looks
peculiar, ask your designer before you spend too
much time fretting. Chances are--if it's on your
website--it's there for a purpose.
Writing a website is a delicate balance between
pleasing people and computers. Strike the right
balance and you'll find your website at the top
of the search engines, converting your website
traffic into loyal clients. Miss the mark and
your site will be in no man's land without a word
to say.
Here's a few things to know about search engine
optimization before reading your website content
for the first time:
Keywords are Paramount. If your website does
not have the keyword content that people are using
for search, it will not show up in search results,
period. This is not quantum physics. Computers
are machines. They can only pick up text. It's
crucial that we analyze what people are typing
into the search engines and build your website
content accordingly.
Keyword Research is Necessary. The Marketing
Shop performs extensive keyword research for all
our web marketing clients. We want to know exactly
what people are typing in what into the search
engines to find products and services like yours.
Based upon our expertise in search engine optimization,
we determine the best keywords and phrases to
optimize on your site. We have many different
calculations that we use to determine which keywords
to optimize for and rest assured we've done our
homework on the best keywords for the current
development phase of your website.
Headings Must Be Search Engine Optimized. The
headings of your website impact your website search
engine optimization. It is important that they
read in a precise way in order for you to "score
points" with the search engines and rank
higher in search results. There are at least three
levels of headings (h1, h2 and h3). If you're
keywords aren't here, your page won't be optimized.
We try to maintain a balance by writing headings
that are search engine optimized, and compelling
for the reader. A headline sets up the structure
of the page and entices people to read further.
We try to do both wherever possible.
Your Page Layout Must Be Search Engine Optimized.
Everything about your website must be optimized
for search or you may loose valuable opportunities
to gain new customers. Our websites have generally
the same layout because our research has shown
the layout to be most effective for SEO. While
there are probably many better ways to layout
your website, we prefer the way that the search
engines prefer in effort to attract website traffic.
Your Navigation Will Make or Break Your Search
Rankings. The navigation on your website is integral
to your website for a variety of reasons. First,
it contains links that help the search engine
spiders get to where they need to go on your site.
Second, it contains keywords that help your website
get indexed for search queries.
We strive to create intuitive and easy to use
navigation systems that are search engine optimized.
Much thought goes into the creation of your navigation.
Though it may see strange, your navigation is
built for search engines and people. Whenever
possible, we will add keywords and key phrases
to each and every link of your navigation. Here's
some bizarre things you may encounter on your
SEO navigation:
Repetition Keywords: It's important to put keywords
everywhere, including the navigation system. Not
only do the keywords score points for being there,
but the link itself scores double points for linking
to the page it's linking to.
Re-Phrasing of Terminology: Sometimes we will
need to breakdown the way you phrase something
in order to make it match with what people are
searching for in the search engines. If our research
shows that people are not searching for a given
term, we will change it to suit the search queries
of the customers you want to win.
Localization is A Sticky Situation. Many of The
Marketing Shop website clients are those seeking
web marketing in a local vicinity. We do our best
to bring you customers only from the area you
request. However, there are times when our keyword
research concludes that people are just not searching
for your local area and we have to optimize more
broadly. If this is the case, rest assured that
targeting the broader area will still render results
in your local area due to our expertise in local
web marketing.
Each Page is Only Optimized for One or Two Phrases.
The most successful web pages for search engines
are optimized for only one or two keyword phrases.
That means the title is about one thing and the
page contains the same keywords sprinkled throughout
with plenty of links reflecting the same keywords
too.
Images are Invisible to Search Engines. If you
were expecting a website to be a lead-generator
that has more visual appeal and aesthetic stimulation,
please reconsider. Images are invisible to search
engines. Studies also show that people want information
when they come on the web as opposed to a colorful
"website brochure."
Content is King. Content is king for a variety
of reasons including for search engine optimization,
for website conversion enhancement and for inclusion
into Google.
Search Engines: Search engines can read only
text. It makes sense to keep fresh, relevant content
on your site for search engine crawlers.
Website Conversion Enhancement: People are on
the web to get information, not to read brochures.
The more information you provide for them, the
"stickier" your website becomes and
the more people will bookmark your site and rely
on it for pertinent information. (See article
on web content.)
Also, people who get free and valuable information
from your website are more likely to rely and
depend upon you when they're ready to purchase
goods and services. It's a "give before you
get" mentality that really works. Offer information
and your website visitors will reward you with
loyalty.
Another way good web content affects your website's
conversion capabilities is by showing your clients
how you operate. Your web content is very telling
as to the goods and services you provide. If you
skimp on your content and your competitor does
not, your competitor will win the business. Your
prospects may wonder why you're not offering adequate
information. Do you not know what you're doing?
Do you have something to hide? Will you skimp
later? It's best to just ante up the info immediately.
Google has strict requirements for it's top search
result contenders, including inclusion in the
DMOZ. The DMOZ is a human edited directory that
requires unique and informative content as a barrier
to entry. We're in the Information Age, time to
step it up and provide useful information.
The World is Changing and Your Customer is Well
Informed. Why bother creating websites that are
valuable to our website visitors? Because your
customer is different today than ever before.
Information is readily available to everyone.
The person who gives out information most efficiently
is the one people will rely on to do business
with in the future. Customers are well informed,
savvy and able to get information at the click
of a mouse. We need to step out of the box and
cater to the new consumer.
SEO Sites Can be Tacky. There are websites out
there that try to capitalize on knowledge of search
engine optimization by adding keywords flagrantly
and abusing the system. The Marketing Shop will
never do that as we rely only on ethical search
engine optimization techniques. We care more about
people than we do about search engine rankings.
The only time we'll put machines over people is
when it's very important to the overall SEO success
of your website. Other times, we try to appeal
human visitors most of all.
Conclusion
Before you get started, make sure you understand
what it takes to get to the top of the search
engines. Good foundational knowledge in SEO will
help your site be more successful, and save your
web designer and SEO professional a ton of headaches
in trying to get you to understand what's what.
Please understand that The Marketing Shop will
do nothing to your website without having a good
reason for doing so. Please ask questions before
you get frustrated.
About the author:
Jennifer Ryan of The Marketing Shop is a web promotions
and sales expert. Having earned numerous awards,
recognition and financial success in sales, Jennifer
now sells Dallas web design online for businesses
worldwide. Visit http://www.the-marketing-shop.com
today to sign up for her monthly newsletter (generous
with free tips and advice!).
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