Introduction to SEO

The-eMerchant.com Introduction to SEO Shakir Ali SEO / SEM Consultant Websites – A Marketing Tool • Can be a powerful communication tool along with traditional print & broadcast media • Used to promote or sell products & services, or to inform target audiences • Sites are only beneficial if the audience is aware of it or can easily find it – About 50% of browsers use search engines, the other half type in the URL directly Marketing Approach • “Organic” search engine listings • Free listings provided by Google, Yahoo!, MSN • Utilize “spider” or “crawler” to index page content • Search directory listings • Doesn’t use crawlers. Humans categorize and index your site URL and a short description • Yahoo! is fee-based, Open Directory Project is free • Paid listings - $$$ • Called “pay-per-click” campaigns • Buy your way to the top of the search results page • Unlike organic, results are guaranteed Marketing Approach • Recommendation is to follow a diversified approach by using a combination of all three areas for the best results. • This is known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Search Engine Introduction • No guarantees with search engines • Best practices and guidelines will help • There are no specific details since they could be exploited • The process of analyzing and making changes to a website to improve search rankings is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. Search Engine Introduction • Consider search engines design BEFORE building site. • But remember, a website is intended for HUMAN audiences, not search engines. Organic Best Practices • Research & select keywords/phrases – What people type into engines – One study shows 56% of searchers use 2-3 word keyword phrases • Keyword research tools: • • • • Log analyzer software (e.g. WebTrends) WordTracker.com ($) Overture.com (free) Google AdWords (free with account) • Place keywords prominently in page copy, titles, description tags. Organic Best Practices • Design a user-friendly site that is searchable • Use with caution: Javascript, flash, DHTML, frames, cookies, session IDs, more than 3 URL parameters • Always have 2 forms of navigation: user and search engine • Avoid excessive URL depth: more than 3 to 4 levels • Tailor search terms and web pages for your audience • Site should have: Home, FAQ/Help, About Us, Contact Us, Site Map, Links/Resources, Products/Services (when appropriate) • Each page needs a unique, focused title relevant to the content and incorporates keywords. Don’t use company name. • Get links to your site on other RELEVANT sites. Organic Best Practices • Do NOT spam the search engines or you could be banned! • Keyword stacking or stuffing, unrelated keywords • Hidden text and links, tiny text (under 10pt) • Duplicating pages and sites (same content, different URLs) • Doorway/Gateway/Ghost pages – overly optimized, wellranked pages that redirect to “real” site. • Page redirects (with Refresh Meta tag) • “Link farms” used to increase link popularity scores Directory Listings Intro • Before search engines, Yahoo! search directory was the only game in town • A “directory” differs from an “engine” in that it doesn’t index web pages or content. • Human editors review submitted site & put it in a category/subcategory structure • Only the URL and short description is recorded • Yahoo! is $300/year, Open Directory Project is free (ODP feeds Google). Directory Best Practices • Choose a very specific category and subcategory in the directory • Locate your competitors in the directory • Register with “second tier” directories. They offer specialty or niche listings. Paid Advertising Intro • With pay-per-click (PPC), you pay each time someone clicks on your ads • Two major (& most expensive) players are Overture (owned by Yahoo!) and Google AdWords • Smaller players are FindWhat, Espotting • Start an account w/credit card, create word ad, bid on ad keywords in auction • Lots of ads? Mgmt tools available PPC Best Practices • Calculate what a “click” is worth to your company before PPC campaign • Be aware: about 20% of browsers don’t trust ads and won’t click on them • Review & follow PPC guidelines – Do not use superlatives (such as greatest, largest, best, etc.), all capital letters, or exclamation points. – Do not put contact information such as phone numbers or e-mail addresses in the ad. – Make sure the ad matches the site content. Sample Site Analysis Sample Site Analysis Sample Site Analysis Page Area Description / Recommendation All page titles are “Aegis Metal Framing.” Each page should have a unique, focused title relevant to the content and should incorporate specific keywords. Make the title read like a newspaper headline. Don’t target your company name. These navigation buttons are graphics and will not be read by the crawlers. Include a second, text navigation system at the bottom of the page for the crawlers. This is the only text on the home page that the crawler can read. Unfortunately it is a 9 point font. Some search engines consider very small fonts (below 10 point) to be spam and will ignore it. The font should be increased to 10 or 11 point. This is the site navigation menu. All items are graphics (rather than text) and are ignored by the crawlers. Include a second, text navigation system at the bottom of the page for the crawlers. This company contact information is important, but it isn’t indexed since it is a graphic. This should be changed to plain text. Page Title Section A Section B Section C Section D Should I outsource SEO? • First-hand knowledge and successful experience is required – Person who’s done it before for others (insider?) – Successful SEO expert with a certain level of authority working with various teams (insider?) – Designated person with a fulltime commitment to an SEO project (insider?) Should I outsource SEO? (Cont’d.) • Yes, you should! Unless: • You are the boss, and • You have successfully done it before, and • You are prepared to do it yourself (hire) and closely monitor the process and results • But in both cases, you should know what’s involved! Do it Yourself: SEO in 10 steps 1. Define your business category and outline potential keywords 2. Conduct rigorous competitive analysis 3. Define your keywords and key phrases 4. Create clever navigation structure: modular and scalable 5. Optimize each individual page on your website 6. Create a large website 7. Synchronize your design and formatting style across entire site 8. Create as many links as you can 9. Add content to your website regularly 10. Follow industry news and monitor changes Do it Yourself: SEO in 10 Steps DO IT RIGHT! EXCELLENT VISIBILITY! GREAT WEBSITE! INCOMING WARM LEADS! Misc Activities… • Actively participate in technical forums • Write Articles and circulate in Article distribution network • Create a group or join related group • Press Releases • Monthly Newsletter • Promotion of uniqueness in industry news websites • Keep visualizing the latest trends and competitors….. Q&A • Your Turn Now ! » Compare each steps mentioned in the presentation from own website » Make Review Chart with check list » Mention proposed activities » Regular Activities » Monthly Review Sheet » Web analytics every week » & more & more & …. » Non Stop process to be followed for desired results and leads Resources • Search engine guidelines – Google: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html – Yahoo!: http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/basics/basics-18.html – MSN: http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx?t=SEARCH_WEBMASTER_REF_G uidelinesforOptimizingSite.htm • Open Directory Project – http://www.dmoz.org/ • Search Engine Watch – tips, articles, news – http://www.searchenginewatch.com/