Optimizing for Rankings – Things to Do and Avoid

Search engine optimization is a much-debated topic and there is a lot of different on the net. Let’s cut through the muck and discuss things you should and shouldn’t pursue to get high rankings. Optimizing for Rankings – Things to Do and Avoid Before blasting into the subject, we need to define optimization. It simply refers to the manipulation of a site to gain top rankings on the three search engines that dominate the search traffic on the net – Yahoo, Google and MSN. If you do a search on Google, the optimized listings are found in the large section on the left hand side of the page. These are often referred to as organic rankings since you don’t pay for placement. Of course, you manipulated the page for optimization, but we will stick with organic as a name. The first optimization tip is the most basic and the one many people screw up. Pick the correct keywords for your site! The correct keywords are not what you personally think based on your knowledge of your service or product. They are not the phrases returned in the Overture inventory tool. The only place you will find the exact keyword phrases you should use are in Wordtracker. The site gives you an analytical tool that provides the exact keyword phrases being used by your prospects, how often they are being used and which are easiest to get high rankings on. It costs a whopping $8 for a single session, but you will want to get a year subscription so you can pick up different cycles of keywords. Your prospects will search for different things in summer compared to winter. The second thing to consider is the isolation keyword strategy. Many people will try to cram as many keywords into a page as possible. The accepted standard is 10 to 15 words. This is an old approach that works, but it will take much longer to get high rankings. Instead, you should develop a list of as many keyword phrases as possible. A single page should be made for each keyword phrase. You should never have to pick one keyword phrase instead of another for your site. Instead, you should make individual pages for each phrase. A major third optimization tip is interlinking. The links from one page of your site to another matter a lot. When you create a link, make sure the link is the anchor text for the page the prospect will be going to. Anchor text is simply the keyword phrase on that page. Turning to things you should avoid in optimization, well, there are a lot. Do not put your site name in your meta title, the search engines will list you high without it. Do not skimp on text, you need at least 250 words per page. Do not put database parameters in your urls because spiders have problems reading them. Stay away from flash as much as possible for the same reason. Stick to a single subject per page, to wit, do not wonder around like a drunken web designer! For the love of God, do not use frames. Finally, keep your html code streamlined so search engines can read it with ease. The list of things to do and avoid is nearly endless. Follow these simple steps, however, and you will see marked improvement in your rankings.

Get The Most Out Of Your SEO Professional

Many businesses go through all kinds of steps before hiring a search engine optimization professional. Unfortunately, they often then sabotage that person from the outset.

Get The Most Out Of Your SEO Professional

As a person providing seo services, I can tell you there is one area that is almost always a point of conflict with clients. This area has to do with communication, particularly from the client to the person or business handling the seo campaign.

Many businesses sabotage their seo professional right from the start of the game. It all has to do with knowledge. A seo professional is very knowledgeable about the search engine ranking process. He or she can tell you oodles of information about algorithms, back links, inbound links, keyword density and other issues you probably are not particularly interested in. On the other hand, it is a mistake to assume your seo wizard is knowledgeable about your product or service area.

Any business has a secret bit of crucial knowledge locked away in the minds of a few individuals high up in the company. This knowledge is protected with great effort since it is deemed to be the key to success for the business. Although each business is different, this nugget usually has to do with why prospects purchase the product or service being offered by the business. If you do not provide this information to your seo professional, problems will arise.

Consider the following situation. A seo firm is retained by a client selling products. The seo rep asks all kinds of questions about the typical customer for the business, product lines and so on. From this, a keyword list is developed and the client is asked to review it and make any comments about any additions they can think of. The business reports no changes. A year down the line, the client has top rankings on dozens of high traffic keywords on Google, Yahoo and MSN, but sales are less than expected.

At this point, there is usually a serious meeting with the players to try to figure out what is going on. During the meeting, some little tidbit is mentioned that makes the seo professional groan. The tidbit is inevitably internal business information regarding why prospects purchase from the business.

In our example above, the business sold products in the active lifestyle industry. Top rankings were obtained on all the relevant subjects. Sales were crap. During the serious, serious meeting, it was leaked that 8 out of 10 purchasers asked for the product to be gift wrapped! ARRRRRGGGG! The seo campaign was tailored to people interested in active lifestyles, not people that were looking to buy gifts for such people. Our sales were terrible because the listings were appearing in front of the wrong audience!

Yes, this really happened. Fortunately, keyword modifications were made and the site rebounded in the rankings after a few months. Whereas the site previously converted at 1 in 1,000, it now converts at 1 in 30. The next meeting was much more informal. In fact, there were plenty of beverages and I took the next day off.

If you are going to retain someone to handle your seo efforts, or any marketing for you, do not hold back information. Understanding who and why people buy is a pivotal part of developing a keyword list for a seo campaign.

Driving Your SEO Professional Insane

Checking the rankings of your site in the search engines can become addictive. This is fine so long as you do not drive the person handling your seo work insane.

Driving Your SEO Professional Insane

What are the first words out of a search engine optimization professional’s mouth when talking to a potential client? This is going to take some time. Not only do we say this, but we tend to overestimate how long it is going to take. In addition to covering our butts, we say this to keep you from driving us insane.

As a client, you must show some faith in your search engine optimization professional. If you are told it is going to take a certain amount of time before rankings will appear, do not start checking them every morning. Okay, you can check them, but do not call me everyday! The more time I spend on the phone with you, the less time I have to work on your campaign. Patience is the word you have to focus on here.

A second method for driving your seo professional insane is the area of unwanted advice. This typically occurs when you read an article, book or see something on the television about search engine optimization. You may have the urge to tell us about it or ask for clarification. Why? Are you suddenly going to implement it in your site? If it is important, there is an excellent chance we already know about it. The optimization game changes all the time and we stay on top of it. Please resist the urge to call with little tidbits of information. If you want to learn how the process works, make sure to mention that at the outset of the relationship.

A third method for putting your seo person in a mental health clinic is daily ranking addiction. This occurs after rankings have been obtained for all or most of the desired keywords. You are so pleased with the situation, you review the rankings each morning. Inevitably, a ranking moves down. Your first step is to call us. This is maddening. In fact, we may not call you back because we know the rankings are just fluctuating a bit because of an update. A few days later, we call back and tell you the ranking is fine. Yes, this is done on purpose. Please do not call to inform us of changes in the rankings each day! Don’t worry, we will keep an eye on everything.

Your search engine optimization professional should be a valued part of your business family. Driving them insane is not a good way to treat a family member!

What You Should Expect From A SEO Professional

For many businesses, search engine optimization is a confusing subject. To get the most out of it, you need to define the role of the person or business handling the seo.

What You Should Expect From A SEO Professional

Speaking as someone who provides search engine optimization services, I can tell you there is a lot of confusion regarding the role of a seo professional. Much of this results from the acronyms and phrases used in the field. Businesses will pick them up and throw them around without really knowing what they mean. Even worse, many businesses do not know what the really want or even that they should be asking the question.

A seo professional can fill a number of roles for a business. The simplest situation is one in which the business simply wants the seo wizard to crank up the rankings. This sounds obvious, but rarely is the case. Instead, the business is really looking for improved rankings and a little more.

It never fails to occur. A client just wants you to move them up in the rankings. You come to an agreement on price, suggest some changes to the site and then head off to build links, etc. A week later, the client is calling with questions on conversions, purchasing banner ads and so on. Next week, they call with questions about pay-per-click and so on. This is all fine, but the hand holding can be very distracting and frustrating.

When retaining a person or business to handle your search engine optimization efforts, it is important to step back and think about what you really need. Are you looking just for top rankings or do you want insight into your site? Are you, in fact, willing to take some advice, particularly if it is critical? Clarifying this with the seo person from the outset makes things run much smoother and keeps feelings from being ruffled.

Some companies believe they are retaining a person to simply get them high in the rankings. Others believe they are retaining a person to get them high in the rankings and advise them on their products, site, etc. The only correct answer is what you agree to when the pen is put to paper at the outset of the agreement. As a person on the seo side, I only ask that you be clear in indicating what you want from the outset.