Can Your Customers Find You? .. 5 Tips To Help Your SEO
According to a recent study, “more than 60% of websites lack the proper web programming to be ranked properly by Internet search engines.” The conversations I have with my prospective clients as The National Sales and Marketing Manager of the Web Design, Development and Consulting Company Infinity Technologies would seem to strongly suggest (anecodotally) that this would be quite accurate. So how can you optimize your site so your clients can find you. This is a combination of good web design plus additional proactive effort to create and promote good unique content.
Essentially SEO can be divided into two categories
1. Organic SEO ( Such as good web design and the posting of unique and new content on your website or Blog as a start)
2. Paying For SEO (like Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns on Google)
If the budget doesn’t allow PPC then roll up y0ur sleeves and do a bit of organic SEO hard yards, this will take time, but with persistence and focus will produce results.
So what are 5 Tips to Get Found by Search Optimizing your Site… Organically
1. Content is King…(and by the way did I mention Blogs)
A post at Sitemost’s Blog says the following ”The most important part of any website is it’s content. Without interesting, compelling and relevant content you won’t be able to gain inbound links and more importantly you won’t be able to make many (if any) sales. The more content you have the more authoritive you’ll appear to your clients and the more information the search engines will have to index. This is especially important for attracting long-tail searches.
It may seem daunting trying to come-up with new things to write about and add to your site on a regular basis, but it can be easier than you think. Try starting a blog or a regular newsletter. If you’re really struggling, you can always delegate the task to a staff member or hire a professional copy writer. It will be well worth it in the end.”
Blogs can be a major part of adding great content. The task of doing this doesn’t have to be left to one person. You can get staff to contribute. Also if you start looking through your archives you might be surprised at what you can repurpose for your blog. On this blog I am constantly adding new content and promoting it on Twitter and in the last week I have added over 200 links, not through anything but having new content and then .. promoting it.
2. Promote The Content
This can be done for free such as using Twitter, get friends to mention your new article on their Blogs, Facebook. Get them to mention your site on their Twitter account. Include it in your email newsletter. Join Technorati and register your Blog, Submit your articles to Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon and Delicious. These are only the tip of the iceberg in what you can do.
3. Meta Description Tag (The brief description of your website or blog that appears in the search engine results,that is taken by from your website by Google to describe your content at your website or Blog).
Research has shown that it is not essential to be number 1 on Google, but to be on the visible section of the page after you have hit the search button when the results appear on the screen. Get found before the break (that’s the bottom of the screen before you scroll down) is a very important.
If you write a good Meta Description you can get people to click on your link. Strictly speaking, this tag has no SEO benefit – but it is still important. Why? Because a good description can be the difference between someone clicking on your site instead of your competitors that may appear above or below you in the SERP’s ( Search Engine Results Page). For more resources go to a Video on” Optimize Meta Descriptions. ” Also another video – Anatomy of a search snippet.
4. Selecting The Right Keywords
Text Link Brokers mentions in their blog that “this may be the most difficult part of your journey, especially if you don’t fit the target profile. That is, picking the keywords they will use to find your site. You can start by using free tools like Yahoo!s keyword suggestion tool. It gives you a good place to start picking keywords. Start with a phrase you know your site is about (i.e. if you sell widgets, then simply put “widgets” in the search box). The tool will then not only spit out other related words, but also the search volumes associated with each for the previous month. Don’t be afraid to get a few hundred words to start. Remember, right now you are just gathering ideas – phrases that could drive traffic to your site. They aren’t all necessarily being used by your target customer. You can also go to Google’s Adwords site and perform the above steps. Start with a phrase or two which describe your site or product and use Google’s suggestion tool to help expand your list. At this point you want as many phrases on your list as possible. Don’t worry, you will cull the list pretty quickly. Once you have a huge list of words, the next place to go is a site like Wordtracker , which has a keyword analysis tool. This tool can be used for a one time fee, or if it’s something you might want to return to you can purchase a subscription. It is a fairly simple tool to use and will give you a good idea of just how likely your site will be able to compete for a phrase. Also remember as you are culling your words, don’t just focus on the competitive factors. These won’t account for your target audience. Therefore you need to have that picture in your mind of the target as you are selecting phrases that they might use. If you are unsure, you could always as for help from friends and family that fit the target profile.”
5. Write A Compelling Title Tag (This should be written so as to get people to read it, it’s like a good headline)
This is because the title tag is the tag which is displayed in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). It is the link that people click on, and also the tag which is generally read by the visitor before they decide to visit. This your headline… make it great, compelling and inviting. Therefore, if your title tag isn’t compelling, it doesn’t matter how well optimized your page is, it may not get that click. I would recommend you do some reading on writing good headlines it may help your SEO a bit more than you think
Lastly, an emerging SEO haven that could be producing surprising Search Engine Optimization results is Twitter, but that is whole new topic. What do you think the implications are for SEO and Twitter?
31 Responses to “Can Your Customers Find You? .. 5 Tips To Help Your SEO”
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Nice article….I guess the million dollar question is the one you ask at the end! Bringing in page rank boosting traffic is mainly what Twitter does along with providing another level of interaction with your customers. Other than that I’m not sure what implications Twitter has for SEO. I have yet to see Twiter pages come up in serps for highly competitive keywords. but I could be wrong….let me know if I am!
Happy marketing!
Some very good basic points that one must not miss. You’ve summed them up nicely.
However, you may want to fix the broken link of Infinity Technologies.
Cheers!
Hi Jeff,
great article and nicely written
I wouldn’t really class Adwords (PPC) as SEO although it can dove tail perfectly with an SEO program – i.e. by taking a good look at the actual phrases which PPC people are searching on and then optimising your site for organic growth for those PPC phrases.
I’d also mention the page name as well e.g. “boat-insurance-for-north-sea-fisherman.html” is better than “index.php?page_id=97″ etc.
As far as Twitter/Facebook Fan Pages are concerned – you end with a great one there! Google and Bing take Twitter etc VERY seriously (and are paying top dollar to get access to tweets for their search results). I would say therefore that tweets are a very lucrative field to build up those back links to your site (but only when done in a non spammy way).
Finally I’d say take a look at what Google say themselves re what’s good for SEO:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769
Joel
I didn’t use to think that the title tag served any more purpose than to just get some more keywords out there until I read an SEO newsletter that asked how I shopped online. When I put myself in the place of an online consumer (which I am!) I realized how likely I WASN’T going to click a title tag that was nonsense, boring, or didn’t offer me something.
As for your last question, I came here from a Twitter link. Nuff said?
Great article Jeff. An abundance of useful information I can implement right away.
As always good stuff Jeff. A couple of inaccuracies there, definitely don’t want to lump Paid Search with SEO. Plus, and probably a little more nit-picky, I wouldn’t rule out the value of meta descriptions for SEO rankings. Our tests definitely show it does contribute as a ranking factor in addition to the element that you suggest which is users eyeballs.
There is most certainly great value in creating good, solid content as you’ve demonstrated on your blog.
To add to the great points you make in this article I would suggest the following:
Title: This should articulate exactly what your page/blog/content is about – as succinctly as possible using the two most important 2 or 3 word phrases you want to search in for.
Description: In my experience this should be the compelling bit. You can also try reverse engineering this, keep to key phrases, as with the title BUT make sure that your description sets you apart from the other results around you, sell your USP or explain why a visitor should choose YOU and not the other results. As you say it’s all about conversion.
Remember the core behaviour in search is for users to click on the result that is the closest match to what you searched for that doesn’t switch you off.
Finally, a great point on long tail searches as selecting the right keywords is REALLY important. Use phrases that balance volume of searches with accuracy of targeting. Sometimes it’s better in business to get 9 of 10 perfect enquiries rather than dealing with a thousand enquiries of which 10 are ideal.
Jeff, Very nicely done formula for an irresistible kool-aid blend to power any web-centric business model. And to your last, I enjoy the luxury of reflecting upon your question a few months down the road and the signs keep pointing that way with increasing frequency.
Skol !
> Paying For SEO (like Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns on Google)
I think PPC is a different beast from SEO.
Jeff, great post. You’ve got an amazing way of explaining complex information in a simple, understandable way. A mistake some businesses make is asking the designer to optimize the site for keywords that aren’t being searched for. Wordtracker or similar keyword tools can help make sure that at least a few higher volume keywords are part of the approved list.
Since most websites are “redos” these days, another thing I suggest is to study past PPC campaigns, web analytics and ranking reports of the previous generation site to see what keywords the site has historically done well for.
Also, as Joel mentioned, the page URL is important, probably as important as the page title.
Thanks for the great info (as usual).
I think this should be a guidebook for everyone who wants to run their business with website. Very useful info.
Petra
Great Article Jeff!!!
This is something I try to explain to people in Business and also on Twitter… There is also a difference between a Blog and a Website, thus one of the reasons Google spent the time, money and effort to create a search just for Blogs… I believe also one should consider security too, when referring to the two different kinds of web sites, thinking to the WordPress Trojan that hit so many blogs…
I also like how you have highlighted promoting sites using social media like FaceBook and Twitter- just because you created it, doesn’t mean people will find it… I would also add in just because you have a computer, does not mean you are a great web designer or Blog writer… There are something’s that are just best to hire a professional to do…
Again GREAT ARTICLE!!!
@CharlesTaggart
http://charlestaggart.wordpress.com
Hi Jeff,
All great info. I would like to add that I have heard it is important to make sure your companies info is correct on all the websites that come up in a search on your company. Places like Yelp, Yellowpages.com etc. that have reviews and basic company information. Also, take the time to cross link from these pages back to your website.
Making all of these profiles match exactly and sending them back to your homepage helps the cohesion of the companies online profile and a search will bring up these matches as apposed to contradicting addresses, hours of operation that an aggregation program might not lump together. One Embarcadero is not the same as 1 Embarcadero or 1 Embarcadero W. etc.
Jeff -
Yet another super article by the Guru!
I’ll try not to re-hash what other commenters have mentioned. What strikes me in this whole issue of ‘can your customers find you’ are two thoughts: first – separation from the competition in this world of ‘information overload’; second – what are you doing to separate yourself from the competition. I don’t have the expertise to give a meaningful comment on the second issue. I leave that to your SEO, branding specialists, who offer great ideas on that topic.
On the issue of ‘information overload’ and separation from the competition, which is, of course, intertwined with the second, this strikes me as something you have written about a number of times – niche identification and relevancy through great content within your ‘niche.’
No one is going to go to our blog on matters such as ‘how to build a better widget.’ That’s not our gig. Best vacation spots – hmmm – not there either. Legal, safety, health issues in the context of the law – that’s our ‘thing.’ So – what have I discovered has driven traffic to our site? Consistently trying to write thoughtful, meaningful content. As you often say – paraphrasing, of course – Content, Baby, Content.
Sure keywords, broadcasting through SM sites like Facebook and Twitter – all part of the game plan. But – isn’t it also true? – if you post junk, you may get them to come once, but they ain’t coming back again! Seems it’s the old story of the tortoise and the hare – slow, steady (and meaningful content) and they will follow. Seems that’s what gets you ranked on page one together with all the other important ‘tips and tricks.’
Keep these posts coming – as I know you will. I’ll work on the content; you and your readers who comment can fill me in on the other ways to max that content.
Hello, Thank you so much for the valuable information. I always wondered if the meta description had an SEO impact. That alone was a lot I took from this blog article, because I know I know to tailor it more to the Human as opposed to The Spider!
I would also like to note something I don’t believe you mentioned and that is that wordtracker (if its the same thing I’m thinking of) has a firefox plugin in which opens up side by side while you’re writing your blog post to let you know information about keywords as well as how many times you’ve used those keywords in your blog post.
Thanks Again and God Bless,
Curt Bizelli
Very down to earth points. the main problem I find is consistent follow up of these policies. It’s hard and time consuming to create content of value