Search Engine Optimization Guide - ToTheWeb · SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES Search Engine...

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Search Engine Optimization Guide A Guide to Improving Website Rankings in the Search Engines Prepared by: Rosemary Brisco ToTheWeb LLC Sep 2007

Transcript of Search Engine Optimization Guide - ToTheWeb · SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES Search Engine...

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Search Engine Optimization Guide

A Guide to Improving Website

Rankings in the Search Engines

Prepared by:

Rosemary Brisco ToTheWeb LLC

Sep 2007

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Table of Contents

WHY WORRY ABOUT SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING?...............................................................................3

Success l ies in having your website found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

HOW SEARCH ENGINES RANK WEB PAGES ...............................................................................................3

How does a search engine f ind your website? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

KEY STEPS OF A SUCCESSFUL SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING PROGRAM ...........................................5

CREATING SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY CONTENT.....................................................................................6

- I t ’s In The Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

LINK POPULARITY...........................................................................................................................................6

- I t ’s Not Al l In The Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

THE TRUE ROI OF SITE OPTIMIZATION.........................................................................................................7

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES ..........................................................................................8

KEYWORD RESEARCH AND ANAYLSIS......................................................................................................11

PAY-PER-CLICK .............................................................................................................................................12

Sample placements in top engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

TRACKING AND ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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WHY WORRY ABOUT SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING?

It represents an opportunity to increase

lead generation by 25%-50% in 6 months.

Any leading company that does not hold top search

positions has overlooked a key component of its

website’s success. A company that wants to generate

revenue from online leads needs to have their site "rank

high” in the search engines: that is, when keywords

relating to a business are typed in, that company wants

their site to be listed at the top of the search results.

With careful page design and coding, keyword research

and enrollment in pay-per-click (PPC) services, higher

search engine rankings and more qualified sales leads are

virtually guaranteed!

SUCCESS LIES IN HAVING YOUR WEBSITE FOUND

There are hundreds of search engines and directories. These three are responsible for

more than 79% of all web searches.

Google 51% Yahoo 24% MSN 8%

A prospect goes online

searching for your

product. There are two

possible scenarios –

they either find you – or

they don’t.

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HOW SEARCH ENGINES RANK WEB PAGES

Search engines use proprietary and closely guarded algorithms to create their indexes in an attempt to produce good quality results for their users. Each search engine uses a different algorithm, which can change at any time. This is one reason why the same search on different engines produces quite different results.

When you enter a word or phrase into a search engine, what you get back is a list of

pages that may contain some or all of those words. Search engines give a higher

ranking to pages that contain all the words searched for or that mention the words

more than once. Pages that receive links from other websites that contain the same

words are also ranked higher than those who lack links (this is called Link Popularity).

This does not mean that the more times the words are present on the page the

higher it will rank. Search engines are smarter than that, as they refine their software

to reject pages that simply repeat words excessively.

HOW DOES A SEARCH ENGINE FIND YOUR WEBSITE?

Search engine software “robots” find your site by following links from one site to

another. Once the robot arrives at your site, it follows the links on each page until it

indexes as many pages as it can find. Every time it visits a page it loads the page’s

HTML content (both visible and non-visible “meta” text) into the search engine’s

database. It also analyzes the site content in an attempt to determine your site’s

theme or principal subject(s).

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KEY STEPS OF A SUCCESSFUL SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING PROGRAM

Program components include:

Website Optimization – Starting with solid keyword research to determine what

words prospective customers use to search the web for your products and

services, then using those words on your web pages following specific

techniques.

Link Popularity – Ensuring that other sites link to your site, and that the links

include search terms that are used on your site.

Paid Advertising (Pay-Per-Click) – Establishing a monthly budget to pay for ad

placement in the search engines.

Tracking and Analysis – Measuring the effectiveness of the above tasks on an

ongoing basis. You can’t manage what you don’t measure!

3 EASY STEPS

Drive prospects to your site.

Keep them there.

Generate sales leads.

1 2 3

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CREATING SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY CONTENT

- IT’S IN THE TEXT

The most effective way to boost your site’s ranking in the organic or natural listings is

to determine the search phrases most likely to be used by prospective customers

and then write your site content around those words. The more “information rich”

your site is for those words, the higher it will rank in the search engines.

In addition to reading the visible text on a web page, search engines use text from

the Title tag to help them determine how to rank your site. Many engines use text

from the Meta Description tag in their search results listings. These non-visible tags

provide a useful way to control your website summary text in search results and they

are what people look at to decide whether to click on a search result.

Ensure that every page of your website contains search

terms in the Title and Meta tags.

LINK POPULARITY

- IT’S NOT ALL IN THE TEXT

All major search engines now consider the factor of “link popularity” when ranking

your site. Every link from one website to another is treated as a “vote”, though

search engines weight some sites as having more influence than others. Link

popularity is a critical criteria for Google followed by “link relevance” – the analysis

of the content of the links to your site. Companies need to do the best possible job

of writing their content, using search terms and creating pages that others will want

to link to. This is an essential element in achieving high rankings.

Guidelines

TITLE 6-9 words or 60-82 characters META Description 20-25 words or 200 characters

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THE TRUE ROI OF SITE OPTIMIZATION

Increased competition in the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) market has resulted in

online marketers refocusing their efforts to secure higher rankings in the

natural listings. You can expect significant costs-savings compared to

paid advertising when your site is included in the natural or “organic”

results. Studies show that search engine users are far more likely to click

on sites listed in the natural results area of a search results page than on the paid

ads displayed at the top or in the right column.

The following Search Engine Results Page (SERP) illustrates Click-Through-Rates

(CTR) in the various areas of a SERP page.

ROI It’s all about

RESULTS

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SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES

Search Engine Optimization (SEO or site optimization) means

creating a website with the goal of increasing traffic through

the natural or organic listings in the search engines.

Search engines consider over 100 factors when ranking a site.

Each engine weights these factors differently, and the

weightings change over time as the engines refine their

algorithms and attempt to discourage scams and deception.

TOP TIPS

Search engines love content-rich websites just like your human visitors do.

Use keywords naturally in your content, and use variations and modifiers.

Select two or three highly targeted phrases for each page of your site.

Don’t use very broad or general keywords – there is too much competition.

Use keywords in internal links between pages in your site.

Every webpage should contain navigation links to all main pages.

Keyword Content Design Considerations

Technology Factors

•Title Tag text •Large H1-H2 headings •1st sentence of 1st paragraph •Beginning of a sentence •Bold or italic text •Keyword frequency / density •Proximity (multi-keywords) •Bulleted lists •Meta description •Total word count

•Path or filename •Domain name •Web Site Architecture •Clean Code

•Answer: Who, What, How? •Include a Call to Action •Don’t rely on navigation •No Splash Page •All Flash sites

The search

engines consider

over 100 factors in

its ranking

algorithms.

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CONTENT Depending on the size of your site, identify 50 to 100 relevant search terms and

weave them throughout the site copy. On your homepage, focus on the critical keywords that reflect the theme of your site. Optimize other pages with up to three search terms each.

Search engines look at words on the page and rank those terms contained in <H1> or <H2> tags higher than other text.

Important content should be kept high in the site directory structure, as many engines don’t index beyond three levels.

Include your search terms at the beginning of sentences and in the top paragraph for maximum impact. Do not repeat search terms excessively, but use them in a natural manner in the site content.

HYPERLINKS

Be sure that keywords are used in the text links to other pages within your site. Some search engines place greater emphasis on link text than on regular body text, so link text should include important keywords.

Don’t do this: Lose weight fast with our Minute method. Click here. Do this:

Lose weight fast with our Minute method. CUSTOM 404 ERROR PAGE

Include your site map in your current error-trapping page to easily provide access to the rest of the site.

Great example at Apple.com, to view,

www.apple.com/123.html

SITE STRUCTURE

Locate your site map in the main level on your server and make it available as a link from the homepage.

Include links to all important pages that you want the search engines to index in the site map.

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ALT TAGS

Some search engines include in their indexes the text content of ALT attribute

tags (text associated with an image) and place greater emphasis on ALT tag

text for images that are links. Use search terms in ALT tag text that are found on

the page that the image links to. Be sure to use proper ALT tag text for any

graphics that provide navigational links. For example, the alt text for a graphic

that says “About Us” should only include the text “About Us”. The alt text for the

company logo graphic could include a short company positioning statement as

well as the company name. Don’t repetitively use keywords in ALT tags!

SITE READINESS

HOW HEALTHY IS YOUR SITE?

What measurable goals do you have for your site and

are you achieving them?

If your company doesn’t make its numbers by the end

of the year – what will be the reason?

Do you have a clear “Call to Action” on your

homepage?

Does your website make it very easy to interact with

your company? Is the phone number no more than one click away?

There are multiple ways to evaluate effectiveness

- Ask your sales staff: Are they satisfied with its lead generation capabilities?

- How many leads have you received? How many have you closed?

IMPORTANT: Be careful not to “stuff” your pages with the same words over and over again. Too much repetition, in ways that do not read naturally to your site visitors, can cause a page, or an entire site, to be banned from the search engines.

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KEYWORD RESEARCH AND ANAYLSIS

Receiving top positions for the wrong keywords doesn’t produce sales!

Properly identifying your top keywords can make the

difference between getting a big increase in traffic referrals

or just a trickle. The phrases you think might be perfect for

your site may not be what people are actually searching for.

Think like your customers and select keywords they might

use. Then refine your list to the top 50 - 100 phrases. Don’t

forget modifiers.

Select two or three highly targeted phrases for each page of your site. Don’t use

general or overly broad keywords that many competing sites might use.

What results are realistic to expect? Achieving a ranking in the top 30 for three-word search

phrases is realistic. Achieving a high ranking for highly

competitive one or two-word phrases such as “web security”

can be difficult.

SEARCH TERM RESEARCH TOOLS

Google’s keyword suggestion tool is free, but it only shows relative search volume on Google

and search volume trends:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?defaultView=3

Wordtracker is a popular keyword research tool, and the data is invaluable. It’s a paid

service, but you can try it here:

http://wordtracker.com/free-trial.html

KeywordDiscovery is an excellent paid service, you can try it here:

http://keyworddiscovery.com/register.html

Using the right

keywords is the Holy

Grail of successful

optimization. Many

companies target

the wrong ones.

Marketing jargon

and buzz words

don’t work!

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PAY-PER-CLICK

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is advertising on search engines with the goal of increasing self-

qualified traffic. Most search engines offer PPC, including Google, Overture,

Looksmart, and Find What. Writing effective PPC ad copy requires an

understanding of copy restrictions and submission rules, which are ever changing.

Each search engine has their own guidelines and rules for ads, and you should study

them carefully before launching a campaign.

SAMPLE PLACEMENTS IN TOP ENGINES

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TRACKING AND ANALYSIS

Achieving and maintaining high search engine rankings is an ongoing process. Your

competitors are making the same effort in their attempts to be number one. Regular

monitoring will alert you to changes in your rankings, and corrective action can then

be taken.

The number of visitors who visit one page and then exit the site, also known as

“abandonment rate”

Number of unique site visitors

Average length of time visitors spend on the site

Top 25 visited pages and number of page views for each

Referring URLs: sites that direct traffic to your site

Top 50 search keywords and phrases that your visitors searched on to find your site

Top search engines that referred people to your site

At a minimum, monitor the following trends on your website on a monthly basis using a site stats package.

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When a potential customer searches the

web for your products or services, does your

website appear in the top search results, or

does your competition?