Search Engine Optimization

SEO, again, is the implementation of keywords, content and links to clearly define your products and services to search engines and users alike, in order to achieve top ranking positions in the SERPS. Keep in mind that you are dealing with an algorithm, a computer with set limitations and parameters of evaluation. There is nothing intuitive about it, with little to no comparative capabilities. In essence this means that targeting “shoes” will not help your rankings for “sandals”.

There are numerous strategies to achieve top organic rankings, both ‘good’ and ‘bad’. The bad SEO is referred to as ‘Black Hat’ and should be avoided at all costs; punishment is a one way ticket to the void – your site will be removed from the search index entirely. We do not advocate, teach or use black hat practices. ‘White Hat SEO’ is, for the most part accepted by the search engines, utilizing a simple logic – what is good for the user is good for the search. Done correctly, SEO can provide the highest marketing ROI available today. However, putting keywords onto your site is just the beginning, and is often not enough to drive a successful rank building campaign. There are dozens of alterations to be made for every page of a site, which often require ongoing refinement to improve results.

There are two primary aspects to SEO: Onsite and Offsite.

Onsite SEO, as the name implies, is specifically concerned with the proper presentation of information on a website. Keyword content considerations necessarily include:

• Headers
• Page Titles and Meta Data
• Site Platform and Coding concerns and requirements
• Content Visibility – just because you see it, does not mean the SE can
• Site Navigation/Menu naming conventions
• Internal linking opportunities from every page
• Graphics and layout considerations
• Image naming conventions
• The inclusion of a sitemap

Offsite SEO is alternately concerned with obtaining keyword optimized links to appropriate pages on the website. These links act as highly effective flags that attract the SE’s attention. They are used to both confirm and establish the relevance of your webpage content. Industry experts agree that offsite optimization is critical for SEM. Offsite optimization equates to what are commonly referred to as “Backlinks” or Textlinks”. These are links obtainable from a variety of online sources, such as directory listings, press releases, blog posts, etc. Google revolutionized the search marketplace by including a website’s interconnectedness to the rest of the web as a primary factor for determining rank. Therefore, your website’s ranking is determined by the effective implementation of keywords both on your site and as dispersed across the internet as possible. The object is to appear as a credible source of information, product and/or service, in relation to your keywords. The SE’s determine this by the quantity and quality of links to your site.

Quantity is simply the number of links – in most cases the more the better. Quality is a bit harder to define as it is primarily a factor of relevance and importance. Links from a site that is relevant to your industry will have a greater impact than one that is not. Furthermore, a link from an important website (as identified by Page Rank) will also maximize the impact.