Search Engine Optimization

Transcription

1 Search Engine Optimization Whitepaper by:

2 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION ESSENTIALS 2 Remember the line from Field of Dreams, build it and they will come? Well, it may work for a baseball field in Iowa, but it doesn t work for companies looking to drive business online. A great website won t do your business any good unless people know it exists. One of the best ways to drive traffic is to have your company website appear at or near the top of search engine results for searches related to your products or services. There are a number of ways of improving your rankings on search engines. One of the most effective ways is to have your site optimized for the search engines. What follows is a broad overview of search engine optimization (SEO).

3 Search engine optimization essentials 3 What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? The job of search engines is to provide users with the most relevant and helpful results when they search for specific terms. The job of search engines is to provide users with the most relevant and helpful results when they search for specific terms. To do this, each search engine has created its own algorithm that they believe will produce the most relevant results. SEO refers to the process of increasing the visibility of specific web pages in organic search engine results for chosen queries. Organic refers to the rankings assigned to web pages for each query by using a ranking algorithm. Methodology used in the SEO process is based on knowledge of those ranking algorithms and how to best influence them. Ad Ad free

4 how do search engines rank websites? 4 or even a better question, How does one improve a website s rankings? Search engine programmers strive to provide the most relevant and query-satisfying results they can supply to any given search phrase. That way, more users will want to use their search engine. The more users- the more advertising dollars. Millions of dollars are invested into making the ranking algorithms more helpful to users. The constant research and development results in continual changes to the weight given to factors that determine rankings. search results trillion websites

5 SEARCH ENGINe optimization essentials 5 A number of core ranking factors remain constant, however: 1. Content on a web page must be related to a search query. That means that the text on a page must appear to satisfy a given query. It is not enough that a web page simply repeats the same keyword. Not only does a phrase need to appear on a page, but it must re-appear consistently throughout an html document and be surrounded by related keywords. Today s search engines can detect unnatural uses of language thanks to the sheer amount of data they have access to. (Google has indexed over a trillion URLs.) 2. Other related websites must re-affirm that the content on a web page is related to a given query. Just like votes of confidence, each link from a related website to a web page tells search engines that whatever is on that page must be related and therefore should rank for a particular phrase. 3. To determine the value of each link to a page, in relation to what effect it will have on ranking, the two factors to keep in mind are relevance and authority of the website. It s more like a contest

6 search engine optimization essentials 6 4) Relevance is determined by how much the website linking to a web page is related to a topic, while authority is based on a variety of factors such as the number of links the linking website has to it, how old the domain is, and what type of domain name extension the url of the website has. Car Repair authority sites Car Repair Car Repair 5) Authority of the website is based on a number of factors. Obviously, the search engines don t weight all links equally. Google, for example, gives a significant amount of weight to governmental site (.gov), educational sites (.edu) and to major media sites (a link from The New York Times, e.g., carries significant weight). link back 6) Links to the web page must describe what is on that page. Search engines place a lot of value on what is called anchor text. That is the text that is hyperlinked to another web page. The words that are hyperlinked are judged as descriptive of the content on the web page being linked to. A clear example of this is the Adobe Reader web page. Although the words Click Here do not appear on the page, it does rank for that very search term on Google.com. That is because there are many websites which have a link to the page using the words, click here (to download Acrobat Reader).

7 THE SEO PROCESS 7 Keyword Research At the heart of SEO is selecting the keywords that your targeted audience is most likely to be using. The criteria for deciding what keywords to target are the following: 4Relevance: to what extent does the keyword relate to my website? 4Search Volume: how much is the phrase searched? 4ROI: Consider that any keyword phrase may take months or years to rank on page 1 of search results for. What is the potential revenue from the keywords to be targeted and how much will it cost to rank for those phrases? related keywords

8 WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION 8 The website in question must be optimized to rank better in search engines for the search phrases that are being targeted. The factors that contribute to website optimization are the following: Page elements like title tags and usage of HTML code such as H1 tags. H1 tags are a type of tag in HTML markup language, which define that largest heading on a page. Search engine algorithms give this type of tag slightly more weight than other types of HTML tags. Usage of exact matches of targeted keyword phrases in content on web pages. For example, if you want to optimize for car repair, don t just include the words car and repair throughout your copy, but make sure that the phrase, car repair is present. Include related keywords as well. Using the same example, it would be a good idea to use the keywords automobile, maintenance, car body, car parts, etc. Link juice is a combination of factors resulting in a certain amount of value being attributed to a given page on a website. Each page has a certain amount of link juice, which is divided up between all the pages that the page links to. This continues on every subsequent page, on every web page of a website. If a website has a lot of links to its homepage and none to its sub pages, as is the case with many websites, it is very important to channel link juice to key sub pages.

9 LINK BUILDING 9 One of the most important elements of SEO is link building. In simple terms, link building means your ability to convince websites with high credibility to link back to your site. Just like votes of confidence, links help search engines determine how important certain pages are and what they are about. Here are common practices that help in link building: 4The key to link building is creating original and quality content. This means providing information that is highly useful to your target audience and is presented in a clear and entertaining way. If you do not have the in-house expertise to create this kind of content, I strongly recommend that you find a copywriter with the ability to do so. 4Use social media to highlight your quality content for other relevant website owners likely to link to you. link back 4Submit to relevant business directories. Find local and national directories that are relevant to the topic of the website. related sites

10 AN SEO GLOSSARY 10 As you begin the process of optimizing your site, you will be hearing a lot of SEO jargon. I ve put together a few simple definitions of terms that will invariably come up during the process. 4SERP: The search results page, where results from a query inputted into a search engine appear. 4Ranking: For every search there is an order that websites are listed. Your ranking is you position in this list for a particular search phrase. 4Organic: Refers to search engine results that are produced by a ranking algorithm as opposed to paid advertising. 4Ranking Algorithm: A program which determines where to rank each website for a particular search query. 4Anchor Text: Words which are hyperlinked to another web page. Page Rank learn more at

11 HELPFUL SEO TOOLS 11 Fortunately, there are a number of helpful tools that will help you in the sometimes tedious process of optimizing your website for search engines. I hope these prove to be useful to you: 4Keyword Search: 4Website Optimization: 4Link Building: the right keywords are essential for good ranking

12 IN CONCLUSION 12 Your business website depends on a steady (and growing) flow of traffic. One of the best ways to increase traffic to your website is through SEO. One of the best ways to increase traffic to your website is through SEO. If you take the process seriously, you can find your rankings improve drastically. While some companies choose to handle their SEO in-house, it is often wise to enlist the services of a company that not only understands the principles of SEO, but also has a track record of producing dramatic results through the implementation of a SEO campaign.

13 13 If you have any questions about SEO or search engine marketing in genereal, Do not hesitate to give us a call at: or me at Alhan@bluefountainmedia.com Written by Alhan Keser Chief Marketing Officer at Blue Fountain Media