SEO Secrets Revealed

							SEO Secrets Revealed

Written by Neal Fondren
Friday, 30 May 2008 05:51




SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a hot topic these days. Although it is not often fully
understood, it seems that everyone is convinced that it is a life-giving force to businesses that
seek to operate any sort of enterprise in an online environment. That much is true- SEO is an
essential part of marketing on the Internet. My fundamental concern, however, is that many
people are led to believe myths about SEO that are half-true or just plain false.

    Debunking SEO myths   I have had many myths come up in discussions about optimizing
search engine results. I have two that battle for the top spot on my all-time hits list of SEO
miscommunication.                                        The first, Were SEO compliant is way out
there. What does being SEO compliant mean? What would one be complying with? Is there
some SEO International Code of Conduct to which we must all adhere? Layering in technical
and legalistic jargon is, in my opinion, a ploy to complicate something that can be easily
understood, in the hopes of frightening the less informed into thinking SEO is a legal
requirement, or something that only a highly-trained SEO ninja can help them with.

 

My other favorite is, "We have special relationships with Google and Yahoo! for our
SEO."Let me get this straight: Google and Yahoo!, two publicly held companies which, as
part of a public trust, provide carefully written search algorithms that screen, parse, and spider
content to provide their users with the most relevant, reliable, and trusted search results, have
now decided to carve out a special deal with someone to give them a pass to the front of the
line? Right.

 

Simplifying and understanding SEO

 

I find that many people believe SEO to be a mystic level of consciousness that has been
imparted only to a select few by Al Gore himself. SEO isnt a secret formula, a piece of code, or
a script known only to a few select programmers. It is true that SEO does require that the
correct key words be included, that meta-data be carefully placed, and that indexes and
architecture be of a type that will accurately reflect the subject matter and content of the site.
We should never forget, however, that the search engines carefully review a sites content. So, it
doesnt matter how many technical tweaks and tricks are applied to a site- SEO is about the
content of a site.

 

When a Web hosting company claims to provide search engine optimization, my first question is
always, Oh. Well how many writers do you have in your company? SEO is about providing
textual content that search engines spider and parse to connect a Web-user to the best match



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SEO Secrets Revealed

Written by Neal Fondren
Friday, 30 May 2008 05:51

for their query or search string. That means without a meaningful content strategy as a major
part of SEO, all other efforts will fail to yield long-term results.

 

I also find that many people doing SEO work focus on the quantity of search results rather than
the quality of search results. If youre a Chevrolet dealer, you want all the people who are
interested in obtaining information about the Cobalt model coming to your site. Having users
coming to your site to understand metallic elements that can be used for coloring ceramics does
nothing for you as a dealer or the user searching for information.

 

A truly optimized Website will do its best to provide meaningful text that connects with the
market it is trying to reach. Trying to trick or game the system may work in the short term, but
making absolutely sure that the content on the site is deep and relevant to the products or
services being offered is a long-term approach that should be the goal of SEO. The most
important job of any Website should be to make certain the content on the site is well defined
and targeted.

 

SEO is part science and part art, but more than anything else, it's work, and a lot of it. SEO is
some of the most important marketing a company can undertake to position its representative,
online enterprise in ways that are focused on the segment they are trying to reach. The first
SEO work a site should do is on content. Search engines will reward the work by bringing
potential customers who are researching the products and services provided by the enterprise.
If this approach sounds old fashioned, perhaps that is the point. Just because the medium is
new, doesnt mean the rules have changed: Position your product or service to a targeted
segment that will engage the market and influence consumer behavior and you will see results.

 

Neal Fondren is the director of new media for the Intermark Group. He spent 16 years working
in cable television before pioneering Internet media for 12 years for such as HGTV and The
Food Network. For more information, please call 205-747-3890.


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