Search
Engine Optimization (SEO) & Search Marketing
Search Engines are the SINGLE most important
source of NEW
visitors (qualified customers) to
YOUR Web site!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ... Half
Science / Half Marketing
Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) never rests,
much like your competition, and requires in-depth knowledge of
marketing, technology, search engines and customer behavior. It takes a tremendous amount of
time and expertise to design, implement and monitor a successful SEO campaign.
Yes, you can do it
yourself (DIY) if you have the time to invest and your business can
wait years to see the results. In the long run it is much
better for your business if you concentrate on making it WOW your
customers and let the experts handle your Internet Marketing.
People are looking for the BEST business to fill their needs, solve
their problems, etc. there is no room for mediocre in today's fast
paced digital society. Your competition is only a click away
so make sure you shine.
If your website is
mediocre start with a redesign. Driving traffic to a website
that doesn't convey you are the BEST in your field does nothing for
your bottom line.
If your website was
an employee would your promote them or fire them? If you said
fire them contact KISS today.
Hiring an SEO Firm
-
Check their
Marketing Effectiveness Grade (http://website.grader.com).
If their website doesn't have a B+ or better do NOT hire them.
-
Obtain website
references and run the grader on those sites.
-
They can explain to
you what they are going to do in layman terms.
Internal (25%) vs. External SEO (75%)
Search Engine
Optimization must be done on your website (Internal) and throughout
the Internet (External) via directory links, blog links, social networking,
etc.
Internal SEO should
be done during the planning phase of website development and
includes a solid well planned and researched information
architecture (blueprint for success), keyword phrase internal links,
unique title tags, description tags, professionally written SEO copy
(content), alt image tags, etc.
External SEO is
planned after your website is in the development phase.
Research local website directories, blogs, create social networking
accounts, industry / vertical digital magazines, etc.
Authoritative linking is one of the key
factors in getting your website to the top of the search engines.
The Search
Marketing Puzzle
Internal SEO (aka,
on page seo)
1. Metadata (Page
Title, Meta Description, Meta Keywords)
2. Heading Analysis & Implementation
3. Images (Image Naming, Image Alt Tags)
4. Interior Page Analysis
5. Readability Level (Ease of Use)
External SEO (aka,
off page seo)
1. Domain
Information (Registration Date, Length of Registration)
2. Google: PageRank, Indexed Pages, Crawl Date
3. Bing: Indexed Pages, Crawl Date
4. Traffic Rank (Alexa)
5. Inbound Links
6. DMOZ Directory
7. Blog Analysis & Ranking
8. Social Media Analysis & Ranking
Visitors
1. Call to Action
2. Conversion Form
3. Overall Experience Analysis
Keyword
Research (Finding the top 10)
SEO starts with
research. What are YOUR customers looking for?
Keyword research is done for each and
every page (product / service) on your website. Keyword research is
used for both Internal and External SEO. Keywords are derived from a
base phrase and a brainstorming session.
Base words: search engine optimization,
seo, search marketing, top search placement
|
Search Phrase |
Local Searches |
Global Searches |
Competition |
| search
engine optimization |
823,000 |
823,000 |
77,500,000 |
| search
marketing |
550,000 |
550,000 |
137,000,000 |
| search
engine marketing |
368,000 |
368,000 |
41,300,000 |
| search
engine optimisation |
49,500 |
165,000 |
35,700,000 |
| seo
services |
90,500 |
165,000 |
35,400,000 |
| seo
company |
90,500 |
135,000 |
18,400,000 |
| seo
tools |
40,500 |
74,000 |
36,900,000 |
| google
seo |
33,100 |
60,500 |
33,600,000 |
| seo
marketing |
74,000 |
60,500 |
22,800,000 |
| seo
optimization |
110,000 |
60,500 |
10,800,000 |
SEO Copywriting
Once a set of keyword phrases are
established your current content and the keyword research is combined
into power copy. This text is then added to your website.
The majority of
Web sites online today don’t have a chance in the search engines.
Search engine algorithms are dynamic and keeping up on what is
happening behind the scenes is a full time, labor-intensive job that
requires a set of knowledge that doesn't come in a box. Even if you
won’t be the one implementing the SEO campaign understanding the
basics will allow you to Talk the Talk with your SEO firm.
I have heard
intelligent people speak on SEO that understood absolutely nothing
about the subject. Recently I heard a speaker take the stage, get up
to the microphone, and make the claim that no one needed SEO.
She did it for their company Web site and it is one on Google!
She was so proud of her accomplishment ... her company name was unique
so getting it to the top of the search engines was certainly not
rocket science! New customers will NEVER type in your company
name when searching for your product or service because they don't
know about you and that is why your SEO campaign is so important to
you business if your goal is to capture new customers.
Did you know?
Linking is one of the most important pieces of SEO.
It is THE popularity contest you want to win.
Creating a Web
site to be accessible to search engines and increasing the number of
pages indexed is a major benefit of search engine optimization. SEO
is a matter of understanding what search engines look for when they
visit your site and what
customers search for when looking for your site. It is not about
tricking the search engines!
That is where it
becomes a little marketing and a little science. The majority of Web
site developers DO NOT understand SEO they understand design and
development, which are both important to the overall success of your
Web site once people find it.
When someone is
researching a new product or looking for a service they head to the
Search Engines! Search Engines are part of a “pull” advertising
strategy similar to what the Yellow Pages were in the 1900’s and often
produce the highest Return on Investment (ROI) compared to other forms
of advertising and marketing.
Building a Web
site without search engine optimization is like building a house
with no front door!
Organic Search
Results = Free Natural Results
SEO is NOT simply
adding META tags and submitting a Web Site to a million search
engines to gain higher rankings.
The only three
search engines you need to worry about getting listed on are:
-
Google.com 46.2%
-
Yahoo.com 22.5%
-
MSN.com 12.6%
-
Ask.com 1.6%
The remaining
Search Engines are either fed by Google or are too small to worry
about. Google currently has the largest market share but there has
been a downward trend over the past few years and the Search Engine
wars are in full throttle between the ones mentioned above. It will
be interesting to watch what happens over the next couple of years …
will Google prevail?
Beware of the Snake Oil Salesman!
I am sure that
each and every one of you have received the famed email stating we can
get you to the top of the search engines in 24 hours guaranteed.
Logical thinking should immediately cause you to question such a
claim. The only company that could make such a guarantee would using
a Pay-Per-Click campaign and that is certainly not the same as getting
to the top of the free search engine results. The only way to get top
placement on the free search results is to have a good SEO strategy
and a Web site built to be read by the search engines. SEO is often
very labor intensive and can take months for results to show up.
Search Engine
Optimization Facts
-
SEO is a sub-set
of Search Engine Marketing.
-
Internal SEO
-
External SEO
-
SEO is an
important factor in the success of a Web site regardless of its
size.
-
SEO delivers
quality traffic for a maximum return on investment.
-
SEO is the way
to pull massive amounts of "organic" free traffic.
-
SEO produces a
higher rate of return (ROI) than almost any other form of
traditional (offline) and online advertising or marketing.
-
SEO without
targeting the right keywords & keyphrases is a waste of
keystrokes.
-
SEO and
submission used to be easy.
-
SEO is such a
technical and ever-changing field that it demands specialization.
-
SEO is the
process of improving a web site for higher search engine rankings.
-
85% of high
income and highly educated adults use search engines as their
major source to find new Web sites and search for information.
-
Search Engine
Optimization is the process of improving the quality and volume of
traffic to a Web site from search engines via "organic" search
results.
If your Web site
is selling great products or services, you need to be found in major
search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask ... SEO is what gets
you there.
The practice of
guiding the development or redevelopment of a website so that it
will naturally attract visitors by winning top "organic" ranking on
the major search engines for selected keyword phrases that your
target audience use are what SEO is all about.
Search Engine
Optimization and superior Search Engine Ranking, although great, are
not enough. You should implement a traditional marketing
campaign to advertise and promote your Web site to your target
market.
Highly reliable and trusted search solutions
that deliver superior
services to YOUR business.
Tags: seo, search engine optimization, search
engine marketing, top placement.
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