By Robert Gluckson, M.A.
Search Engine Optimization drives free traffic to a website. SEO helps get the highest ranking on a search page like those offered by Google and Yahoo.
When someone enters keywords in a search tool like Google or Yahoo, the software programs (or "engines") go to work, scanning billions of web pages for those words.
For example, someone enters keywords on the Google search page. Google then lists thousands of sites, including their two line descriptions, in the order of their page "ranking."
How does Google choose between the thousands of sites with these words? Unfortunately, many web designers haven't a clue. For that we need SEO.
Stage One SEO – The Basics
The most important SEO strategy is to use the keywords that people are searching for in the website content. Some words with similar meanings are searched more often then others. These keywords should also appear in "meta-tags," a part of the website not seen by the reader but searchable by search engine "robots." These terms lead to higher Google rankings when used in headings, titles and alt-tags for images.
The Search Engine Optimization process offers direct benefits – attracting viewers with appropriate content. But it's only a starting point to get readers to act.
SEO WILL
Bring viewers who are looking for what you offer.
SEO WON'T
Convert readers to customers unless you offer what they want quickly and clearly.
SEO WILL
Attract "organic" (free) hits for the keywords and content.
SEO WON'T
Put you ahead of people who have more recognizable content for the same keywords.
SEO WILL
Point the way to a marketing strategy with the keywords that people are looking for. Researching popular keywords will help focus a content strategy to meet the needs of your audience.
SEO WON'T
Create strategy for you. For this you need a Marketing Plan.
SEO WILL
Get you as high on the search engine rankings as your content provides for. It will put you ahead of all the comparable sites that haven't been optimized!
SEO WON'T
Format the content so that readers will appreciate it before moving on. For this you need a Website Design strategy.
Conversion Rate = Content + Format
Great content provides high rankings and attracts viewers. A Marketing Plan is the start of the strategy to attract the right people and then present what they are looking for. It addresses Target Audiences and the Benefits they want or the Problems Solved. This is the basis of the website content. Web Design communicates the message before they leave. Without these two even thousands of hits will produce poor results.
Beat the Competition with New Content
Search engines base their ranking on content in addition to keywords.
Top rankings go to pages that are deemed most useful. This is decided in part by how many people already value the page, making it tougher for newcomers to break through to the top. Adding content to your site will boost rankings, based on:
- How many people go to the site
- How often people go to the site (encouraged by often-
changed free content, like articles and a newsletter)
- How many other sites are linked to yours
- Articles with your website address posted elsewhere on the web
- Blogs showing your URL
A Great Results Page Site Description
is Important, Too
Even if people see your site listed first, they still have to decide to click, and this decision is based on more than who shows up first. The make-or-break decision to click is based on the 20-word site description.
While writing the description is the job of a copywriter, the SEO service should see that a good description appears on the Results page.
Author and Good Cause Marketing Consultant Robert Gluckson offers free how-to articles to "Create a Marketing Plan" and "Format a Website." He provides SEO services and writes Marketing Plans. See www.goodcausemarketing.com to request copies and subscribe to a free newsletter. Robert Gluckson started in mail order rare book sales as a teen and now specializes in internet marketing. He has two Master's degrees, in Communications and Popular Culture. This article copyright 2008. This article may be reprinted free in entirety as long as no product sponsorship is implied.
