Some say SEO is the "Holy Grail" for their business because it makes their phones ring with new customers. While that is over the top, Search Engine Optimization is vital to the future of your business because gaining new customers now largely depends on your company's website being found for the right keyword searches.Simply put, SEO is the variety of ways to make your site most likeable by Google and Yahoo. Search Engine Optimization consists of website modifications to the various elements the searcn engines look for when ranking your website versus your competitor's web site.
Keywords research, backlinking, site freshness and many other components are key to any SEO strategy. The decision most clients have to make is how much time they want to devote to their ranking. Most industries these days have a heavy level of competition for keywords in most markets. To most companies, a steady stream of new, quality, customers is the key to staying in business, so all aspects of Search Engine Visibility (of which SEO, along with Web Video Marketing, Search Engine Positioning, and Social Media Marketing are all parts) are paramount.
The most important element to your website being a tool to gain new business is simply this – how good of a resource is your website to your client? Does it serve their needs? Put yourself in your clients' shoes and build the site from that perspective. If that is your main focus, as opposed to simply having high ranking, your site will stand the test of time.
CONTENT
This brings us to our first, and most overlooked, SEO element: web site content. The content or text on your website is compared to the content on your competition's site. More than just trying to beat the competition, we counsel our clients to make their site the best possible resource for their clients. Asking the actual users what they would like to find on your website will many times give you great ideas of what to and what not to include.
Content must also be written and presented in a friendly way to the search engines. It just contain the optimum percentage of keywords (not too many or too few).
KEYWORDS
Choosing the correct keywords to focus the marketing on is the foundation of the SEO strategy. Our marketing team uses keyword software, old fashioned competition research and testing to find the best keywords that attract your ideal clients. That means terms where there are lot of people searching that keyword with little competition for ranking. Finding great keywords takes considerable research in the short term, but provides long term rewards if completed correctly.
One of the main mistakes I see companies doing when they try to do their own SEO is assume they know the best keywords. They know how THEY think about their products and services, but are usually out of touch with how their ideal prospects are thinking about them. This is why we are more than an SEO or Web Development company; we are Strategic Marketing Communicators. One of our primary roles is helping you target your ideal customers and market to them in the way they and this distinction means more value for your business.
WEBSITE FRESHNESS
Keeping a website current is an important factor to your clients as well as any search engine. The reason for this is because people trust a website that has up-to-date information. This can explain why business blogs and CMSs (Content Management Systems) have become so popular and why most of our website packages include them. They make it easy for companys to update their website content.
BACKLINKS
This is also called Link Popularity. This is the number of other websites linking to your website, and the quality of the websites that link back to yours. For more information, see our article on Link Popularity.
LOAD SPEED
The time it takes to load your website is called its "load speed." There are several reasons this is important. The first is if it takes 15 seconds or more to load your website, visitors are going to leave. The second and little-known fact is that when a website is built under the current standards of load speed and compatibility, Google will reward that site with better ranking.
OUTSMARTING THE COMPETITION
Research on a client's competition is a vital part of the SEO strategy. We research keywords, content, load speed and content trends. New competition in the marketplace makes it necessary to constantly review the competition. Staying ahead of the competition on Google is paramount to most of our competition. Our team reviews what keywords the competition is focusing on and reports their findings to you to ensure you stay on top of the market.
BOUNCE RATE
Bounce rate is how long a client is on your website before leaving. If the bounce rate is below one minute on average, clients are not finding what they want on your site. It will require a major change on the website and reorganization of the content. Keeping the bounce rate above rate 1 minute will help your Google ranking -- but more importantly ensure you are meeting your clients needs. This is also called "stickiness" -- how long the prospect sticks to your web page.
URL, LINK & PAGE NAMES
The name of your website along with the name of the pages is important to Google as well as your clients. All these are opportunites for more keywords. Having the URL http://www.weddingphotographerdallas.com/ is better than www.FredJamesStudios.com .
Purchasing domain names for sale that have great keywords in the name is a service we offer. We also look at the age of a domain because the older the domain, the more credibility Google and the other search engines give it.
Naming internal and external links with keywords is an important aspect of website ranking. For example, a website selling flashlights could name the page dedicated to flashlights page003.html, but it would be better to name the page worlds-brightest-flashlights.html.
Naming backlinks is extremely important as well. The best example of this is "click here". If you Google the word phrase "click here" the first page is Adobe Reader. See the proof by clicking this link. Now if you click the #1 site on that page you will get this page: Adobe Reader . But that page has no words "click here" on the page. It is ranked #1 because millions of websites have a link on it that reads: "Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader".
Because millions of websites name their link "click here" it is ranked number one. Now imagine those same websites had the link: "New York Lawyer to download Adobe Acrobate Reader". The site that the words New York Lawyer links to would be #1 anytime someone Googled "New York Lawyer".
METATAGS
These are computer code tags embedded within your website that are invisible to the user, but give the search engines clues as to the subject matter and content on that web psge. These too need to be laced with the right keywords. Learn more on Metatags for smarter SEO here.
CONCLUSION
This overview of elements to SEO lets you know why many of the companies that spam you with hype and promises cannot deliver. You see, it takes considerable skill in multiple areas to make your company web site rank high in an intelligent and strategic way.
Properly done SEO is extremely valuable. We believe that your SEO strategy should be looked at within the context of savvy marketing – that is, your business growth goals, target audiences and market share. After all SEO is finally about being more profitable. Turn to Promise Productions Strategic Marketing Communications for a higher degree of success – call 972-822-3587.
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