Search Engine Optimization Implementation
Search engine optimization is important because getting high ranking will make it easier for your customers to find you.
Search Marketing Process
We can't give away our full methodology on this site, because it is a very competitive field and our competitors and do it yourselfers have full access to this page.
SEO can be split into three areas:
1. RESEARCH
It vital to find out exactly what people type into the search engines, not just come up with some words we would think make sense. Market research is everything. Our experience has been that guessing is only accurate 50% of the time. Small variations on searches makes a significant difference in your results.
So, before we begin designing your site, or working with SEO on your existing site, we figure out a roadmap.
2. ON PAGE FACTORS
This deals with how you format and present information within your source code and on the customer interface.
We work within content of the sites Meta Tags for title, description, and keywords. Search engines like things done a certain way... most website developers don't do it that way!
File names and alt tags on graphics makes a difference. Most developers take shortcuts to save money on their bids, leaving you with a sub-performing site. Looks good, but nothing under the hood.
Writing good, useable, searchable content is also critical. Your average website has content borrowed from a brochure or slapped together with no thought toward keywording or friendliness to internet marketing. We know optimal word counts, positioning, tagging, linking and other techniques that search engines rank high. Copy writing is important.
Often a site navigation system will get it nowhere... excuse the pun. Getting the customer where they need to go is only one use for navigation. The other will help you with your ranking! Some nav systems look pretty but actually hurt the site.
3. OFF PAGE FACTORS
The off page factors fall more into Internet Marketing than Search Optimization (at least that is how we view it) and is the part that could actually take the most funding, depending on your business and cooperative related businesses. This is where people are charging the $500 per month fees. It takes a lot of research and virtual world 'pavement pounding' to get it done.
It starts with site submission, and ends with url linking (aka link exchanges). Submittals need to be made to some regional search outlets such as superpages, in addition to the national ones such as Google and Yahoo.
Off page SEO is primarily about links to your web site pages from other website pages. The perfect link, assuming there is such a thing, would come from a high Pagerank* web page of similar content. Adding informational content such as writing a blog (short for web log), press releases, news articles, etc. online, that will make webmasters want to link to your site is one way to get links.
*Pagerank is a system Google uses to rank pages based on mysterious factors that they don't publish, so that collusion between companies cannot undermine the rankings process.
Ready to Start?
We start with the research/analysis and maximizing the on-page SEO, then when that is complete we visit the idea of Internet Marketing.
Remember, once the search engines pick up your site there is no cost for customers to view it. This can really bolster your budget... it can save you thousands of dollars a year in advertising costs.
Camrud Design is located in Denver, Colorado, however we do work for businesses in any location.