BUILDING AN SEO FRIENDLY WEBSITE
July 12, 2009 by · Comments
SEO starts from the very beginning of a website’s conception. Although SEO can later be implemented, at times it can be difficult, requiring so much reconstruction one would virtually need to rebuild an entire new website to make it SEO friendly. With that in mind, having an SEO specialist working with the programmer and web designer to make sure all of the necessary SEO components are built into the design and the text is optimal. Although due to cost this approach isn’t always possible, it ensures an SEO driven site with the necessary SEO components built in.
The general design of the site can be a critical feature on the readability of your site by the major search engines. Though sites programmed with flash animation tend to be eye catching they originally were unable to be indexed by Google. So they were eye catching if you could actually find them. A recent article put out by Google states of an improvement in their search engines ability to read flash animation but not something I would even risk if your goal is to be found in the search results. Despite the good idea to leave flash animation out of the body of the site having your header with such programming adds a similar appeal yet remains SEO friendly. This is just one of the many things to keep in mind while building an optimized site.
Another factor of SEO that can be incorporated into web design is the ALT image Tag feature. Here the web designer would enter a keyword within the programming of each graphic that appears on the page. This lends additional opportunity for keyword instances that attract search engines for user search. Because this is not easily done by an SEO Consultant after the site has been completed and most often requires the assistance of a web designer it helps to instill these features during the initial construction.
Keyworded urls are also an important feature for SEO. Sometimes this offers an excellent opportunity to drop keywords/phrases in for added optimization assuming your domain name has the keyword in it and if it doesn’t this feature is especially important. Let’s look at an example of a keyworded URL and how we can maximize keyword usage. Remember any link that has our keyword in it is worth twice its weight a keyword. So let’s say the keyword is “Button Jewelry” the domain name is www.uniquebuttonjewelry.com/ and one of the pages on her site found by clicking on the navigation button that says “browse our shop” has a url that looks like this www.uniquebuttonjewelry.com/buybuttonjewelry.html The keyword “button jewelry” has now appeared twice within the url and although by itself may not lend much weight in terms of optimization, when used in conjunction with the many other urls for your website this can have a strong affect on a sites performance in the search results.
While there are many more SEO tactics that one can incorporate into the initial design of their website these are some of the basics and ones that will lend assistance with a site’s performance in the search results. Remember to talk with your web designer about building these features and more into your website. This could save you a lot of work later. http://www.contentwriterseo.com
TIPS TO IMPROVE RANKING
June 21, 2009 by · Comments
Often times ranking can be a difficult task especially if our keyword is a competitive one. Here are some ideas to lower the competition and still get your desired result.
Now assuming all of the other page elements of SEO are present including keyword within in the content writing, links and other basic SEO factors already exist, it is time to start writing city pages. City pages are designed to focus on a smaller market share and compete within a particular city instead of your current national market you have been struggling in. Often times a business such as a doctor’s office will likely already compete locally because his clientele has to be within a certain number of miles to make them a relevant market, however for someone who either sells something on line or sells something which does not require face to face with its consumer then the market is endless. For example someone selling seo services sells nationally because most of the time all communication can be done over the phone or email. Someone selling babysitting services would only be competing locally within their city of residence for similar obvious reasons. They physically could not babysit for someone outside of certain range of distance. When we compete on a local level versus a national one, our competition is greatly reduced and for obvious reasons, much easier to achieve the desired ranking within organic search.
If you are currently competing nationally and are struggling, my advice to you is: break your market up and begin competing in smaller sections. How is this done? It is rather simple actually. Here again is where content writing proves to be king. Start writing content using your keyword with the city of designation so for example my keyword may look like this: SEO Services Phoenix or Phoenix SEO Service. Then proceed to write content using this keyword as you would normally for optimization. Your metas for the pages would be something like this: SEO Services Phoenix | Get Seo Services Phoenix…… Now so as not to also disturb you current content where you would like to still compete nationally, place these pages in the footer of your site as links. Don’t forget the opportunity here to keyword your link!!! 
Keep writing them for each city or state that you would like or until you are satisfied with the results and amount of traffic to your site. You can never do too much!!
THE SEASONS OF WEB CONTENT
June 15, 2009 by · Comments
When searching for information, via written content on the web, one must learn to create their own ideas from what they absorb and give their best effort at remaining objective to the content being read. Unlike encyclopedias or dictionaries, web content is not regulated nor weeded through for accuracy. On the internet, anyone can post anything, any time of the day. The answer to your question on the internet’s great world wide web, is, most conveniently, whatever you want it to be. You might say the internet is starving for accurate information; fact based statements on subjects that can be supported by either scientific evidence, experimental trials or some other means of credible measurement. Something we can rely on to tell us not just a viewpoint, but something concrete, sparing the “I thinks, or most likely’s or In my opinion’s.” While this type of written content becomes more scarce it naturally becomes more important in the eyes of the only “regulators’ of content currently existing - search engines, namely google. As google strives to be revered as a legitimate deliverer of quality content, it will favor those sites whose data is more of the objective nature. Content Writing that is opinionated or subjective in nature will likely fall in a category below that, regardless of SEO, keywords and other tactics once used to gain popularity in organic search. Ranking will have more to do with quality and reliability of information than it will amount of backlinks from high page rank sites.
Isn’t this what the internet needs? Maybe so, but what does this mean for SEO professionals and many others, who have clearly, or rather unclearly created what I like to call Gray Hat SEO, a hybrid nickname I coined from the popular Black Hat vs White Hat oppossing technique types. Referring to anything that is SEO related as black and white seems out of character, even humorous considering the amount of unknown associated with its very practice. I am not sure what color you get from your web investigations. I most often get grey, which appears to be the area of vast majority!
What affect will this demand for straight forward provable content have on the internet as a whole? Will it stifle the many brilliant minds that although offer mainly subjective content, have a gift of initiating action or provoking thought and ideas in groups of people? The limited intelligence of the sub human search engine will most certainly lack the ability to spare such a crop. Will they be lumped in with the other conversationlists found on every corner? Probably not, when considering their daily flow of worthwhile ideas that change to the tune of algorithims, we will most likely find them gracefully chaired when the music stops.
If you’ve done any research on the internet, you’ve likely heard oppossing data on your topic of choice no matter what the topic might be, especially if you were thorough in your research. Did you come to a conclusion about your topic? Were your questions answered most definetely? The reality is, probably not! For every yes there is almost always a no. You get the idea! And that’s really all you’ll get. It’s up to you to form your own answer. How do you see the future of web content?
PAY PER CLICK-BENEFITS TO SEO
May 20, 2009 by · Comments
PPC – PAY PER CLICK: THE MANY BENEFITS TO SEARCH ENGINE RANKING
When most of us think Pay per Click we think ad campaigns that got out of hand, dollars wasted and not too much of anything to show for it. It can be a scary option for the more conservative business owner whose budget is tight and whose ideas therefore are much the same. Truthfully, however, Pay per Click is no more a risk than a fierce battle in the search results and will only become fiercer as more websites flood the internet. While search result ranking is important for longevity and continued business success, Pay per Click is an excellent short term option in the interim, to bring revenue during the lull.
What small business owners should know is that most of the time a pay per click campaign will cost you less money up front and bring about the most immediate revenue/results than would fighting your way up in the search results. Assuming you are able to secure a worthwhile spot the time to get there can vary depending how competitive your keywords are. One thing is almost always a guarantee; it will take you no less than a month and up to a year to earn a favorable spot in the search results. On average a safe estimation is 4-6 months to earn a decent ranking within the top 5. Now consider the amount of money spent on seo efforts within that time frame to get a worthwhile spot in the search results.
THE MANY BENEFITS OF PAY PER CLICK ADVERTISING
The biggest benefit found in Pay Per Click advertising is the ability to get immediate sales or conversions without too much effort, in essence the campaign most often pays for itself as in the case of product sales. Most often one sale thru a pay per click campaign could pay for a weeks worth of marketing for itself. In addition, and to clear up anyone’s preconceived notions, limits on amounts spent can and most often are set on each campaign, each ad, or each ad group. The chance of wasted dollars getting out of hand is slim. Most pay per click services have safety features built in to prevent such occurrences. If optimized most efficiently your campaign dollars would also generate enough profit that could potentially be spent on the ranking efforts. So why wouldn’t you have both?
Carefully consider both options as a means of growing your business. Search results are a long term option for growing your business and once achieved its results are long lasting as long as the website is kept current and fresh. However, Pay per Click is a great short term or long term approach at driving immediate traffic that can and often does convert into sales or dollars earned, very quickly. www.contentwriterseo.com
THE PREFERRED RANKING #1 OR 2?
April 9, 2009 by · Comments
When people think SEO most of them immediately think about search engine placement, and keywords. Ranking number 1 in Google’s search results whether implied as a campaign strategy or not is most always a goal in an SEO campaign and typically search engine placement as the number one spot is weighted most heavily because from that superior ranking we assume sales for the customers, or exposure, or popularity. Whatever goals the customer may have for their website can and will be achieved in googles first spot!
If even 40% of individuals habitually pick the 2nd or 3rd result in Google or Yahoo, or MSN, this will bring up a very interesting question about search engine placement. Is the first spot in Google the best one? I actually pick that result last after not finding what I am looking for with the other results on that page.
A close friend was also quick to retort of her same habits and in fact was also fully aware of why she did it. She stated that usually the first result is not what she is looking for. I think she probably has the same affliction as I, obtained as a shortcut from inferior search engines and possibly inexperienced web marketing efforts. The first result today listed in Google I am confident would fit your search term most accurately most of the time as would the second or third. So what search engine placement, gets the most clicks? We need a program that collects those results in case anyone is looking for a project?
VIDEOS – THE BENEFITS ONSITE AND OFFSITE FOR SEO
April 2, 2009 by · Comments
Videos offer many advantages in terms of onsite and offsite SEO. Even a simple 30 second video can bring many different types of optimization to your site and to your businesses popularity as a whole. Think carefully before deciding to forgo a video idea even if you think your business is not video worthy due to its bland existence of numbers or financial data. Even accountants can find something to talk about for 30 seconds. You might introduce the members of your organization by having each one record a 10 second blurb or interesting detail about themselves as part of their bio, or gather video testimonials from satisfied customers. Get creative with it and keep in mind it doesn’t always have to be about your product or service, only related to it in some way.
What are the many benefits of video for onsite SEO? There are many. First it is attention grabbing. Let’s face it, most of us would much rather watch than read. By grabbing the attention of the internet user they now have spent increased time on your site instead of just bouncing to another, in search of something better that WILL grab their attention. In addition, as statistics continually prove, the longer they remain on your site the liklier it is that they will buy or request your services. Keeping surfers in your waters for longer periods of time also creates familiarity with your brand and increases the likliehood of an eventual conversion.
How do videos help you offsite? You’d be amazed at how many times even the most ridiculous videos are viewed. A friend of mine did an experiment and posted a video on youtube of her blowing up a balloon and that’s it. Not more than 30 seconds long. She had over 1,000 views within the first week. So believe me when I tell you anything you post on youtube will get viewed. Now imagine if you post a video about your business with a link to your site? The amount of traffic generated from one short simple video is outstanding. Here’s food for thought: imagine having more than one video or a whole page on youtube with your own url. Did you know this is free by the way?
SMALL BUSINESS SEO PROPOSALS
March 22, 2009 by · Comments
Presenting proposals to clients for SEO projects can be a hectic and stressful process especially for the small business client whose expenditures are almost always on a tight budget. Some feel like they might be throwing money at a losing battle…their business, and at this point are unsure it being worthy of success at all. After having done an initial analysis on their competition and current web presence you conclude that with a strong back linking campaign and onsite seo/copywriting they could turn their business around and take a strong position in the search results for their keyword. Naturally you have already shared this exciting news with them but somehow at the moment when you present the proposal, it seems forgotten; the excitement lost in dollar signs. What can be done to make this proposal process less stressful for both the client and the SEO professional? Here are a few things I have come up with for a win win proposal:
Upon introduction discuss:
A) What is their budget? Or, how much do they want to spend on a marketing campaign and SEO for their website
B) Ask them questions that quantify the value they place on ranking well in search results or driving traffic to their website. Let’s face it. Getting noticed online can bring endless value to the customer in hard revenue. It is important however to help them make that connection when you are selling something intangible like services.
C) Ask them if they have ever paid for SEO services/copywriting before, and if they haven’t, get them familiar with cost immediately. That way they can do their own math along the way and thus no surprises. Many people are unfamiliar with the process, therefore unfamiliar with its cost.
D) When presenting the proposal, include the estimated final result of the services being recommended i.e, what this will do for the customer, is it better ranking in search results, driving traffic through a pay per click campaign, increase conversions, etc. That way the cost and value can offset each other yet again for the customer.
E) Make sure your pricing is clear cut and if you offer an hourly rate only, try to estimate how long each process will take or give maximums (not to exceed x amount of hours). Small business owners are much more comfortable knowing in advance how much they are spending.
F) And as always deliver what you promise in the time frames outlined. It is always better to under promise and over deliver and because SEO and online marketing are not exact sciences, don’t promise the number one spot in google’s search results, instead promise the top 3 but only if your totally confident it can be done!
A CONTENT WRITER FOR SEO
March 2, 2009 by · Comments
A Content Writer For SEO
Website content though often overlooked with the many details of building a website, is actually one of the fundamentals to ranking well in the search results. A good content writer will devise text that is carefully planned so it is informative and well organized with the necessary SEO components like keywords, links, and meta tags. Search engine optimization and a good content writer is crucial to not only your rankings but also your traffic.
A Content Writer’s First Step to SEO
If yours is a small business it may also be wise to pick keywords/phrases that are less competitive and generally easier to move quickly to the top of the search results with. When possible picking the fewest well targeted keywords is optimal. Though often not realistic, it is ideal for SEO purposes by promoting smoother, well written, and keyword saturated content. Trust me on this, you can’t go wrong here! A good content writer will consider, before choosing the keywords, exactly how they will be used within the text. This ensures the keywords make sense with the direction of the intended message. Be careful not to choose keywords/phrases that are too general, though they may describe your business somewhat and they may provide “search engine optimization” by driving traffic, you will have optimized for the wrong kind of traffic producing nothing but a chunk out of your bandwidth for the month and a step backward from your objectives. This type of negative SEO is characterized by high traffic, bounce rates over 50% and low conversion rates i.e. while visiting your site they did not complete a purchase or didn’t fill out a contact form. A good content writer will choose well targeted, closely matched keywords with a fair amount of searches each month. Whenever possible, choosing keywords/phrases with realistic ranking opportunities, keeping in mind budget, and overall objectives, will produce the fastest and easiest route to the top of the search engine rankings and a successful SEO campaign.
A Content Writer’s Ongoing Job
SEO (search engine optimization) will only become more important as information becomes more readily available and rapidly delivered to the public via many different social mediums. As such, a content writer must keep updating text as new information becomes available. This is crucial to any SEO campaign. Content writing must be re evaluated regularly with up to date, innovative and informative text to keep the interest of visiting traffic and a quality ranking. In theory, it is safe to assume that as information delivery becomes more sophisticated and rapidly attained through various channels like twitter, facebook, linkedin, myspace…etc. websites will also become more accurate and update to date, leaving the many less attended websites out of the game. This will undoubtedly create fierce competition amongst the warriors in the search results. Luckily, for those whose budgets cannot withstand the battle, there are other alternatives to search result ranking as a means of driving traffic. Hopefully this has provided some insight on making realistic decisions about which method is right for you or possibly which method isn’t right for you. Though search result ranking and SEO can be a great way to drive traffic to your site, there are other ways to effectively market your business online.
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