Search Engine Optimization Guide - ToTheWeb
Search Engine Optimization Guide A Guide to Improving Website Rankings in the Search Engines Prepared by: Rosemary Brisco ToTheWeb LLC Sep 2007
Table of Contents WHY WORRY ABOUT SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING? . 3 S u c c e s s l i e s i n h a vi n g y o u r w e b s i t e f o u n d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 HOW SEARCH ENGINES RANK WEB PAGES . 3 How does a search engine find your w ebsite? . 4 KEY STEPS OF A SUCCESSFUL SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING PROGRAM . 5 CREATING SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY CONTENT. 6 - It’s In The Text. 6 LINK POPULARITY. 6 - I t ’ s N o t Al l I n T h e T e x t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 THE TRUE ROI OF SITE OPTIMIZATION. 7 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES . 8 KEYWORD RESEARCH AND ANAYLSIS. 11 PAY-PER-CLICK . 12 Sample placements in top engines . 12 T R AC K I N G AN D AN AL Y S I S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 2
WHY WORRY ABOUT SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING? It represents an opportunity to increase lead generation by 25%-50% in 6 months. Any leading company that does not hold top search positions has overlooked a key component of its website’s success. A company that wants to generate revenue from online leads needs to have their site "rank high” in the search engines: that is, when keywords relating to a business are typed in, that company wants their site to be listed at the top of the search results. A prospect goes online With careful page design and coding, keyword research and enrollment in pay-per-click (PPC) services, higher search engine rankings and more qualified sales leads are searching for your product. There are two possible scenarios – they either find you – or they don’t. virtually guaranteed! SUCCESS LIES IN HAVING YOUR WEBSITE FOUND There are hundreds of search engines and directories. These three are responsible for more than 79% of all web searches. Google Yahoo MSN 51% 24% 8% Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 3
HOW SEARCH ENGINES RANK WEB PAGES Search engines use proprietary and closely guarded algorithms to create their indexes in an attempt to produce good quality results for their users. Each search engine uses a different algorithm, which can change at any time. This is one reason why the same search on different engines produces quite different results. When you enter a word or phrase into a search engine, what you get back is a list of pages that may contain some or all of those words. Search engines give a higher ranking to pages that contain all the words searched for or that mention the words more than once. Pages that receive links from other websites that contain the same words are also ranked higher than those who lack links (this is called Link Popularity). This does not mean that the more times the words are present on the page the higher it will rank. Search engines are smarter than that, as they refine their software to reject pages that simply repeat words excessively. HOW DOES A SEARCH ENGINE FIND YOUR WEBSITE? Search engine software “robots” find your site by following links from one site to another. Once the robot arrives at your site, it follows the links on each page until it indexes as many pages as it can find. Every time it visits a page it loads the page’s HTML content (both visible and non-visible “meta” text) into the search engine’s database. It also analyzes the site content in an attempt to determine your site’s theme or principal subject(s). Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 4
KEY STEPS OF A SUCCESSFUL SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING PROGRAM 3 EASY STEPS 1 Drive prospects to your site. 2 Keep them there. 3 Generate sales leads. Program components include: Website Optimization – Starting with solid keyword research to determine what words prospective customers use to search the web for your products and services, then using those words on your web pages following specific techniques. Link Popularity – Ensuring that other sites link to your site, and that the links include search terms that are used on your site. Paid Advertising (Pay-Per-Click) – Establishing a monthly budget to pay for ad placement in the search engines. Tracking and Analysis – Measuring the effectiveness of the above tasks on an ongoing basis. You can’t manage what you don’t measure! Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 5
CREATING SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY CONTENT - IT’S IN THE TEXT The most effective way to boost your site’s ranking in the organic or natural listings is to determine the search phrases most likely to be used by prospective customers and then write your site content around those words. The more “information rich” your site is for those words, the higher it will rank in the search engines. In addition to reading the visible text on a web page, search engines use text from the Title tag to help them determine how to rank your site. Many engines use text from the Meta Description tag in their search results listings. These non-visible tags provide a useful way to control your website summary text in search results and they are what people look at to decide whether to click on a search result. Ensure that every page of your website contains search terms in the Title and Meta tags. Guidelines TITLE 6-9 words or 60-82 characters META Description 20-25 words or 200 characters LINK POPULARITY - IT’S NOT ALL IN THE TEXT All major search engines now consider the factor of “link popularity” when ranking your site. Every link from one website to another is treated as a “vote”, though search engines weight some sites as having more influence than others. Link popularity is a critical criteria for Google followed by “link relevance” – the analysis of the content of the links to your site. Companies need to do the best possible job of writing their content, using search terms and creating pages that others will want to link to. This is an essential element in achieving high rankings. Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 6
THE TRUE ROI OF SITE OPTIMIZATION ROI Increased competition in the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) market has resulted in online marketers refocusing their efforts to secure higher rankings in the natural listings. You can expect significant costs-savings compared to It’s all about paid advertising when your site is included in the natural or “organic” RESULTS results. Studies show that search engine users are far more likely to click on sites listed in the natural results area of a search results page than on the paid ads displayed at the top or in the right column. The following Search Engine Results Page (SERP) illustrates Click-Through-Rates (CTR) in the various areas of a SERP page. Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 7
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES Search Engine Optimization (SEO or site optimization) means The search creating a website with the goal of increasing traffic through engines consider over 100 factors in the natural or organic listings in the search engines. its ranking algorithms. Search engines consider over 100 factors when ranking a site. Each engine weights these factors differently, and the weightings change over time as the engines refine their algorithms and attempt to discourage scams and deception. Keyword Content Title Tag text Large H1-H2 headings 1st sentence of 1st paragraph Beginning of a sentence Bold or italic text Keyword frequency / density Proximity (multi-keywords) Bulleted lists Meta description Total word count Design Considerations Answer: Who, What, How? Include a Call to Action Don’t rely on navigation No Splash Page All Flash sites Technology Factors Path or filename Domain name Web Site Architecture Clean Code TOP TIPS Search engines love content-rich websites just like your human visitors do. Use keywords naturally in your content, and use variations and modifiers. Select two or three highly targeted phrases for each page of your site. Don’t use very broad or general keywords – there is too much competition. Use keywords in internal links between pages in your site. Every webpage should contain navigation links to all main pages. Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 8
CONTENT Depending on the size of your site, identify 50 to 100 relevant search terms and weave them throughout the site copy. On your homepage, focus on the critical keywords that reflect the theme of your site. Optimize other pages with up to three search terms each. Search engines look at words on the page and rank those terms contained in H1 or H2 tags higher than other text. Important content should be kept high in the site directory structure, as many engines don’t index beyond three levels. Include your search terms at the beginning of sentences and in the top paragraph for maximum impact. Do not repeat search terms excessively, but use them in a natural manner in the site content. HYPERLINKS Be sure that keywords are used in the text links to other pages within your site. Some search engines place greater emphasis on link text than on regular body text, so link text should include important keywords. Don’t do this: Lose weight fast with our Minute method. Click here. Do this: Lose weight fast with our Minute method. CUSTOM 404 ERROR PAGE Include your site map in your current errortrapping page to easily provide access to the rest of the site. Great example at Apple.com, to view, www.apple.com/123.html SITE STRUCTURE Locate your site map in the main level on your server and make it available as a link from the homepage. Include links to all important pages that you want the search engines to index in the site map. Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 9
ALT TAGS Some search engines include in their indexes the text content of ALT attribute tags (text associated with an image) and place greater emphasis on ALT tag text for images that are links. Use search terms in ALT tag text that are found on the page that the image links to. Be sure to use proper ALT tag text for any graphics that provide navigational links. For example, the alt text for a graphic that says “About Us” should only include the text “About Us”. The alt text for the company logo graphic could include a short company positioning statement as well as the company name. Don’t repetitively use keywords in ALT tags! SITE READINESS HOW HEALTHY IS YOUR SITE? What measurable goals do you have for your site and are you achieving them? If your company doesn’t make its numbers by the end of the year – what will be the reason? Do you have a clear “Call to Action” on your homepage? Does your website make it very easy to interact with your company? Is the phone number no more than one click away? There are multiple ways to evaluate effectiveness - Ask your sales staff: Are they satisfied with its lead generation capabilities? - How many leads have you received? How many have you closed? IMPORTANT: Be careful not to “stuff” your pages with the same words over and over again. Too much repetition, in ways that do not read naturally to your site visitors, can cause a page, or an entire site, to be banned from the search engines. Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 10
KEYWORD RESEARCH AND ANAYLSIS Receiving top positions for the wrong keywords doesn’t produce sales! Properly identifying your top keywords can make the difference between getting a big increase in traffic referrals Using the right keywords is the Holy or just a trickle. The phrases you think might be perfect for your site may not be what people are actually searching for. Grail of successful optimization. Many Think like your customers and select keywords they might use. Then refine your list to the top 50 - 100 phrases. Don’t companies target the wrong ones. forget modifiers. Select two or three highly targeted phrases for each page of your site. Don’t use general or overly broad keywords that many competing sites might use. What results are realistic to expect? Achieving a ranking in the top 30 for three-word search phrases is realistic. Achieving a high ranking for highly Marketing jargon and buzz words don’t work! competitive one or two-word phrases such as “web security” can be difficult. SEARCH TERM RESEARCH TOOLS Google’s keyword suggestion tool is free, but it only shows relative search volume on Google and search volume trends: nal?defaultView 3 Wordtracker is a popular keyword research tool, and the data is invaluable. It’s a paid service, but you can try it here: http://wordtracker.com/free-trial.html KeywordDiscovery is an excellent paid service, you can try it here: http://keyworddiscovery.com/register.html Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 11
PAY-PER-CLICK Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is advertising on search engines with the goal of increasing selfqualified traffic. Most search engines offer PPC, including Google, Overture, Looksmart, and Find What. Writing effective PPC ad copy requires an understanding of copy restrictions and submission rules, which are ever changing. Each search engine has their own guidelines and rules for ads, and you should study them carefully before launching a campaign. SAMPLE PLACEMENTS IN TOP ENGINES Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 12
TRACKING AND ANALYSIS Achieving and maintaining high search engine rankings is an ongoing process. Your competitors are making the same effort in their attempts to be number one. Regular monitoring will alert you to changes in your rankings, and corrective action can then be taken. At a minimum, monitor the following trends on your website on a monthly basis using a site stats package. The number of visitors who visit one page and then exit the site, also known as “abandonment rate” Number of unique site visitors Average length of time visitors spend on the site Top 25 visited pages and number of page views for each Referring URLs: sites that direct traffic to your site Top 50 search keywords and phrases that your visitors searched on to find your site Top search engines that referred people to your site Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 13
When a potential customer searches the web for your products or services, does your website appear in the top search results, or does your competition? Visit us online: http://www.ToTheWeb.com Page 14
Search Engine Optimization (SEO or site optimization) means creating a website with the goal of increasing traffic through the natural or organic listings in the search engines. Search engines consider over 100 factors when ranking a site. Each engine weights these factors differently, and the
vii. Image optimization . Image search optimization techniques can be viewed as a subset of search engine optimization techniques that focuses on gaining high ranks on image search engine results. 6.2 Off page Optimization[5] Off-Page optimization is the technique to improve th. e search engine rankings for keywords.
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Paid vs. Organic Search Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a term used to describe the various means of marketing a website via search engines, and entails both organic search engine optimization and paid search strategies. Organic search is based on unpaid, natural rankings determined by search engine algorithms, and can be optimized
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