Recognizing the Best Values in Search Engine Optimization

We have been helping site owners for all types and sizes of sites for years with their search engine optimization needs. For most it is a mysterious process that they don’t wish to understand and for others it is an at-all-costs necessity that they are involved in heavily. With all types of clients we feel it is important that they know what is being done, why we do it and how it works.

As with all advertising techniques – cost is always an issue for most every client. We don’t all have $10,000 to spend every month on web marketing, PPC, and SEO. Nor do we all have an in-house marketing guy that is up on all things web. So for most clients it’s a learning process. We hope this article will help you set you on good path.

SEO isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution and many aspects of it often have a very low return on investment (ROI). Generally speaking, Pay-Per-Click, banner advertising, and similar have much higher costs involved and lower ROI than focusing on organic listings. Organic listings are pages of your site that are indexed and ranked based on their strength of content. Once indexed the cost to keep them there is often little to nothing. (Think good ROI) Knowing which techniques help the most for the money is always the best place to start.

Below is a list to focus on to get the most from your dollar by focusing on the organic listings. (Please keep in mind these are generic and simplified in nature and may vary depending on the type of site involved)

Content is King. Search engines index content – the more relevant and detailed the better chance of being indexed well. Take the time to write as much as you can (within reason of course).
Strong title tags. I would recommend a maximum of 65 characters and be sure the what ever you use is relevant to that page. Use keywords and keyword phrases whenever possible. Avoid special characters and repeating the same word more than a couple of times.
Description tags. Google shows the first 150 characters but you can go longer. Be sure that you are using keywords and phrases that are relevant to that page.
Alt tags. Don’t forget to use the alt tags on your images. The search engines like them and it is another great opportunity to add relevant keywords and phrases to your content.
Internal page linking. This one is often overlooked and while time consuming, is fairly easy to apply. Use these opportunities throughout the site to link from a keyword or phrase to another page on your site that contains relevant content to it. You can also use this approach for external links but I would use it sparingly as you want to keep visitors on your site as much as possible.
Properly use h1, h2, p, etc tags. The search engines like consistent content that is formatted correctly. Make sure your site is using these tags where applicable.
No code or spelling errors. Just like in school - you don’t get points for sloppy work. Make sure you check everything over thoroughly for errors.
No dead links. Check your site for any missing or bad links. The search engines don’t like it when they come across these.
Robots.txt and favicon.ico. Make sure you have a robots.txt file and a favorite icon in place. The search engines look for them – why not make them happy?
Sitemap page. If your site is over 10 pages or so it is wise to build a sitemap page that contains links to all the pages on your site. It doesn’t have to be a major navigational feature on your site – just a text link will do. It helps with indexing and the occasional lost site visitor.
Setup Google sitemaps. This is similar to the sitemap page but it is an XML file of all of the pages of your site.
Setup Google Analytics. You’ll need to see what goes on once you have everything in place. You’ll learn a lot from the data collected that may influence what keywords you use and even how your site is laid out.

Things to remember:

Search engine rules continually change. Things that work today might not work or be as effective a year from now. Know this and be prepared to adjust.
Don’t flirt or bend the rules. The search engines update their rules to flush these types out. What good is the index if the results are all from people cheating the system and not based on strong content?
SEO is ongoing. SEO requires continual monitoring and adjustments. Your competition is playing the same game – you will need to keep an eye on your stats to see what adjustments need to be made to stay ahead of the pack.
Patience is a virtue. SEO can take time to realize the full fruits of your labor. Update your site as needed but don’t make too many changes over a short period for SEO reasons until your site has had time to be fully indexed.
Try not to get bogged down in all the details. There is a lot to take in and try in regards to SEO. You can lost in the advice and seminars – stick with what you know and you are comfortable with. If you don’t understand it it’s probably not something you will do well at.

If you have questions on this article or need help determining what is best for your business please contact us.

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