![top_right_ball.gif (853 bytes)](images/border/top_right_ball.gif) ![top_middle.gif (834 bytes)](images/border/top_middle.gif) DOING
IT
YOURSELF
SEO is not a very complicated
process. As mentioned many times before, it is critical for the
success of the business that the SEO and the online marketing
activities are derived from the overall marketing plan. That said,
the SEO in itself has 4 main components. I call it the "ROI
$$$" model for short. The three $$$
are used to remind you that this process needs to be repeated
regularly.
Research
- Who is your customer? What is
he looking for? What need do you fill? Who else offers your
products and services? Why should people buy from you? Once
you have those answers at your fingertips… and you should
have them already if you have a marketing plan, then you move
on to the next step.
- What do customers type in the
search box of the SEs when they are looking for your
offerings? This is not an easy task, and it is always
changing. You cannot expect to rank well in all possible
keywords. You also want to make sure that you identify the
words that reflect your customers' thinking and not your
product name or function. For example, if you offer a new line
of chilled fruit drink mixes and call it "Frappe
Freeze" then it is unreasonable to feel good that your
site is the first when searching for this phrase. Your
customer is more likely to search for chilled fruit drink
or iced drinks or instant juice or frozen
juice…etc. Some SEs will offer suggestions for common
searches if you type in your own search. For example, if you
searched for iced drinks you may see suggestions like iced
fruit drinks as one of the more common searches that is
similar to what you put in.
Keep a regularly updated list of the possible keywords and
phrases that you believe are relevant. Be objective and do not
list the ones you think are best but the ones you believe in
all honesty to be the ones your customer is using.
Observe
Run searches in various search
engines. See what comes up. Note the difference in search results
from one SE to another. Visit the top sites and check the page
out. Then check the source and see what else they have that is not
apparent on the page. Try to learn something from each site you
visit. It is not easy at first because you do not know what you
are looking for but if you have the time to look hard you will
find something that will grab your attention. Slowly you will find
out what works.
Implement
Gather what you learned from your
research and observation and get to work on your pages.
$$$ubmit
Once your page is ready submit it
to search engines. Each SE has a way to submit your page. While
some charge money, others offer it for free.
You will need to repeat this
process regularly. You will be amazed at how many new things you
learn each time you repeat the process. If you are doing it right,
you will find yourself popping up in search results pretty soon.
What you should not do
Keep in mind the example above
regarding the similarity between what SE spiders see and a
magazine article. Anything that you would not normally do in a
print article you should not do on your website. Sometimes little
tricks like white text on a white background may give you a
short-lived placement boost, but in the end search engines factor
such tricks into their algorithm and penalize you for trying to
trick them and their users. If this text is useful and relevant
why are you hiding it? And if it isn't then you're not only
tricking the search engine but the people it sends to you as well.
Your short-lived moments of glory may serve only to consume your
server's bandwidth while wasting the prospective customers' time
in the process.
Being too verbose is not
something that you would normally do when writing an article.
Repeating some words and placing emphasis is expected and should
be also expected in your page copy, but extreme repetition of what
you deem as keywords is boring to the reader and is penalized by
search engines.
There are more tricks than can be
enumerated. While creativity in marketing is welcomed and
encouraged such tricks are considered devious by search engines
since their main purpose to get a larger share than your
"content" deserves. The best way to keep yourself out of
trouble is to structure your pages as if the customer were reading
and seeing everything on the page. If the average reasonable
person would find your "creative" SE ideas annoying,
bothering, or deceptive then you shouldn't do them.
![top_right_ball.gif (853 bytes)](images/border/top_right_ball.gif) ![top_middle.gif (834 bytes)](images/border/top_middle.gif) A
FINAL WORD
As mentioned before, SEO is just
one element of your marketing strategy. It is useless to put a lot
of effort and money into it while the other components of your
marketing strategy are lacking or non-existent. SEO must be
performed in the context of an overall marketing plan where each
component is derived from and supports all other components.
Hopefully, this overview has
given you enough information so that if you have the time and
inclination, you now have the basic tools you need to improve your
site's SE placement. While technically the process is not hard, it
takes time to implement and even more time to master. If you feel
you do not have time to do it then at least you have an idea of
what to ask and should expect intelligent answers in response.
Our approach is to plan, execute,
and implement a comprehensive marketing strategy that covers all
aspects of marketing and branding. No matter how small you are
this is a process that should be done, whether in house or by
soliciting external help. In the long run it is the most
economical path to success since it avoids needless expense, in
both dollars and time, and prevents you from engaging in opposing
or redundant activities.
Remember that you are the site
owner and if your SEO professional is not involved in your overall
marketing planning you should expect him (or her) to ask you about
it and you should have some meaningful information to share. Also
remember that good SE placement only generates traffic while your
goal should be to generate sales.
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Technology Matrix Group Ltd. 2004
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