Search Engine Optimization

A Guide To Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization can have incredible results, but in order to achieve exactly what you require preparation is key.

To give your search engine optimization a chance of succeeding and providing your web site with the traffic you require, I or whoever takes on the task, will need to pay close attention to what may result from things that can be easily over looked…

Pre-Optimization

I’ll need to ask following questions relating to the search engine optimization project as a whole. The information at this stage is very important, as you need to weigh up time, expense and the methods of search engine optimization which are achievable and desired.

1. What does the site need optimization for? More hits in general, targeted users/traffic, more subscriptions/sales or members?
2. How long do you have to achieve these results?
3. Is their a budget for this search engine optimization project?
4. How can I best monitor the results other than by checking the search engine placement?

The answers to these questions will help us to build a framework for the project and establish limitations for the size and scope of the search engine optimization campaign.

Optimization Requirements

To tailor the search engine optimization campaign I need to know the following things:

1. What technology was used to build the site (Flash, PHP, Frames, Cold Fusion, JavaScript, Static HTML etc.) and how can it be adapted both in code and design?
2. Can I easily and readily change the content and update it in a timely manor as required?
3. Do I have plenty of textual content to tweak and re-word based on my targeted keywords and phrases?
4. How does the current navigation work? Is there anything that could stop search engines from crawling certain pages?
5. How many pages does the site consist of and how can I best optimize the site in the given time frame?
6. What is the current link popularity and Google Page Rank of the site? 
7. Do I have permission to alter the visible content of the site? 
8. What is the main purpose of the site and what does it promote?
9. What is the Web site’s geographical target market(s) and language?
10. What are the site’s demographic target markets?
11. What are the most suitable and achievable keywords and phrases that will get results and generate traffic?
12. Who are the competitors and what keywords do they target?
13. How can I best report the successes and achievements of the search engine optimization project? Do I have access to log files and report generating software?
14. How can I track my search engine ranking position once the web site optimization changes have been applied?
15. What are the expectation or outcomes of the search engine optimization campaign, are they realistic?

The answers to these questions will determine how I’m best tackling the search engine optimisation project and what methods of search engine optimization are best to use. It will also highlight essential changes; removing any framed content, generating a site map and providing alternative content for areas that search engines can not crawl.

The cost of doing the job properly will also be addressed, you will have a better idea of the time scales involved and the kind of search engine positioning/ranking results you can expect.

You’ll also establish if web site submission is required, and if page rank or link popularity needs to be achieved.

And finally, to beat your opposition you’ll need to optimize your site better than they have! I’ll highlight where they fail, and where your company can cash-in!

Search Engine Optimization Basics

Recent studies have found that many web sites have sabotaged their search engine optimization and therefore their ability to be found by search engines and their users.
 
These studies revealed that these ‘black-listed’ sites contain design elements that significantly reduce their compatibility with search engines and therefore suffered with bad positioning.

Most internet users put faith in search engines to find the products and services they require; locally and globally. Unless these users know the companies exact company name the keywords they search with are unlikely to retrieve any web site that has been sabotaged with bad search engine optimisation methods and incompatibilities.

By ignoring search engines (the most frequent used method for users to find new web sites) companies with ‘black-listed’ web sites are sacrificing an enormous, yet readily achievable opportunity to attract more business.

Websites in general are often a large expense for companies; anything from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of pounds. To invest this money and time into achieving an online presence and not ensuring it can be easily and readily found is, without doubt, a waste.

Analyse your web site quickly:

1. By comparing the Meta Tags (your sites targeted keywords and phrases) against search results we found that many sites fail to achieve decent rankings.
   Is your Web site optimised for your most appropriate search terms? 
   
2. Do the title tags on each of your Web pages reflect the chosen keywords and phrases for that particular page?
   Using just a company name or the same title on each of your pages is a big, bad downfall.
   
3. Some techniques are considered as ‘spam’. Four or five years ago these ‘spamming’ techniques worked wonders, but as search engines have become more sophisticated they have fully or partially ‘black-listed’ many of these sites. Does your Web site need an update?
   
4. It has long been a motto of search engine optimization specialists that ‘words make hits, hits make money’.
   The index page of your site is considered the most important by search engines; it’s the starting point for them to crawl and therefore gives a clear indication of what your site is about. However, many web sites (which are often built by pure designers with little technical knowledge) have very graphical home pages containing very little textual content.
   
5. Accessibility for the visually impaired is something search engines can analyse as they crawl your site.
   Image ALT tags are not only useful for visually impaired users, but also offer the opportunity to cram in additional textual content. Do the images on your web site contain this alternative text? 
   
6. Meta tags are not as highly regarded for search engine optimisation as they used to be; however, from our experience they still play an essential role.
   Your meta keywords and description need to be relevant to the textual content on the page, and must not include any ‘stop words’ or ‘spam’.
   
7. If your web site doesn’t appear on many search engines it is probably due to it never being crawled.
   To get you site listed on search engines it needs to be submitted to each individually (or crawled, by chance, over time – but this is not very pro-active!).

Addressing the above points will apply the basics of search engine optimization to your web site. However, don’t expect 1st page results! You may still struggle to attract organic (free) traffic from search engines but at least you stand a chance and achieving a steady flow of traffic to your web site.

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