A Fresh Look at Search Marketing 101: Getting it Right

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Search engine optimization is not an exact science. Sure there are terms bandied about such as Google Algorithm or Contextual Link Inventory, that sound somewhat scientific, but SEO, by and large, requires constant attention, development, learning and relearning in many cases.

Recently, we attended Search Engine Strategies in New York and several tips and ideas were presented. Some of these we currently employ, others we need to improve on and the remainder we have to implement soon after doing some careful planning.

Here are the items we’re looking to build on. See if these ideas will work for your website.

Research Your Keywords
It’s a simple notion that we shouldn’t concentrate too heavily on a few keywords. So we have to revert to constant research, which can mean looking at your competitors’ sites or all relevant publications that keep up to the trends in your industry and finding the most appropriate and “hottest” keywords.

If you have a search box on your site, try looking at what your users are searching for and see if you can optimize those keywords more effectively. Remember keywords work best when they relate directly to your content on your website and when they are specific as possible.

Also avoid keyword saturation in your web copy and keep your keyword density in check. Seven to 11 keywords per page is a good benchmark in most cases or maintaining a keyword density of six percent is recommended.

These tools/sites will come in handy for keyword optimization:

Wordtracker
http://www.wordtracker.com

NicheBot
http://nichebot.com/

Hitwise
http://www.hitwise.com/

KeywordDiscovery
http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/

Keep Building Your Links
Representatives from Google at the SES Conference admitted that the Google Toolbar PR is often inaccurate and sometimes out of date. Hence do not “over” rely on it. PR does not contribute significantly to ranking and is more of a quality indicator. Note that higher PR sites are crawled on more often, which can be beneficial to ranking but relevancy is still the key.

For sites you want to partner or exchange links with, always consider if the site presents value to your audience and the content is of genuine interest. It’s always a good idea to see if potential partners have a good link building strategy in place. Beware of those with unethical practices.

The amount of inbound links to your website found by the search engines definitely helps with your ranking so it’s always important to seek out Webmasters of the leading websites in hopes of getting links back to your site. Seek quality and relevance always and don’t overlook reciprocal links or paid placement if necessary. It’s always a good idea to share your content with reputable sites and insist on a link back. Make sure you include links to related (previously written) content within your new articles.

Here are a few tools that panelists recommended to establish link popularity:
http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/
http://www.quirk.biz/searchstatus/
http://www.linkhounds.com
http://www.linkhounds.com/link-harvester/

Design Your Website with Usability in Mind
The rule of thumb that keeps coming up over and over: don’t force your users to think. There’s an 8-second usability test that seems to work. Show your main page to someone completely unfamiliar with it and see if they can figure out what the site is about in 8 seconds. If they can’t… back to the drawing board and design the site with users in mind first and the web crawlers second. Test and retest. Organize your content logically. Don’t clutter your website with too many advertising spots; they can be confusing and may lead to a loss of credibility. Plan your ad placements carefully. Keep the navigation consistent throughout your pages. Be aware that graphical buttons tend to receive more clicks and text links along the bottom of the page help the crawlers.

Each website page should have an introductory paragraph explaining the purpose of it. Also, it’s wise to include a descriptive paragraph for the most important sections of your site within the sitemap.

While you’ve heard many of these tips time and time again, they always seem to surface when readers and users are asked for their feedback.

Here’s some recommended reading: Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug. Read a chapter for free at sensible.com/chapter.html . You’ll find free tutorials on Web design at http://www.w3schools.com/ and of course Google has a Website Optimizer to help the cause.

Try Blogging On for Size
Blogs can add a friendly personal touch to a website and leave readers feeling warm and fuzzy and that’s always a good thing, right?

But we’re all aware by now that about 120,000 blogs are coming online daily and it requires patience to build up your audience with that kind of competition. Blogging takes serious time and commitment especially if your goal is to create compelling, useful, and worthwhile content. Make sure you have the time and resources available to make your blog a success.

That said, the interaction with your readers will make it a worthwhile venture and keep them coming back.
Blog launches must be accompanied by links on established blogs, and some good recommendations from established, influential bloggers. According to a recent report by Vizu Answers and Ad Age two-thirds of blog readers discover blogs by links on other blogs. To get started, free software is available from MovableType and WordPress.

It’s time to make it all happen. Bear this in mind: “We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails.”

Write to cliff@marketingfind.com