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Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to your website, via unpaid or natural search results (organic). In theory, the higher your web site appears in search results the more likely people will click your link for more information. Unlike paid or “sponsored” search engine marketing (SEM) results such as Google AdWords, search engine optimization (SEO) affects only organic search results. Why Should You Consider SEO? • SEO generates traffic According to a 2008 study, a full 92% of search engine users click a result within the first three pages of search results. With this being an upward trend since 2002, it’s more important than ever to have your website search engine optimized. If done properly, search engine optimization can help drive visitors, who are actively searching for your products or services, to your web site. What Your Search Engine Optimization Should Include Optimized Title Tags: A title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. If your document appears in a search results page, the contents of the title tag will usually appear in the first line of the results Optimized Descriptive Meta Tags: A page’s description Meta tag gives Google and other search engines a summary of what the page is about. Whereas a page’s title may be a few words or a phrase, a page’s description Meta tag might be a sentence or two, or a short paragraph. Description Meta tags is important because Google, for instance, might use them as snippets (a brief abstract) for your pages. (Note that we say “might” because Google may choose to use a relevant section of your page’s visible text if it does a good job of matching up with a user’s query). Optimized URL Structure: Creating descriptive categories and filenames for the documents on your website cannot only help you keep your site better organized, but it could also lead to better crawling of your documents by search engines.* Also, it can create easier, “friendlier” URLs for those that want to link to your content. Visitors may be intimidated by extremely long and cryptic URLs that contain few recognizable words. Some users might link to your page using the URL of that page as the anchor text (the text that appears highlighted that can be clicked to open the target). If your URL contains relevant words, this provides users and search engines with more information about the page than an ID or oddly named parameter would. Optimized Navigation & Site Hierarchy: The navigation of a website is important in helping visitors quickly find the content they want. It can also help search engines understand what content the webmaster thinks is important. For example, Google’s search results are provided at a page level, however Google also likes to have a sense of what role a page plays in the bigger picture of the site. Optimized Content Check: Creating compelling and useful content will likely influence your website more than any of the other factors discussed here. The is why following The Marketing Formula is so essential. Users know good content when they see it and will likely want to direct other users to it. This could be through blog posts, social media services, e-mail, forums, or other means. Organic, or word-of-mouth buzz, is what helps build your site’s reputation with both users and search engines, and it rarely comes without quality content. Optimized Anchor Text: Anchor text is the clickable text that users will see as a result of a link. For instance, this text tells users and Google something about the page you’re linking to. Links on your page may be internal—pointing to other pages on your site—or external—leading to content on other sites. In either of these cases, the better your anchor text is, the easier it is for users to navigate and for Google to understand what the page you’re linking to is about. Optimized Heading Tags: Heading tags are used to present structure on the page to users. There are six sizes of heading tags. Since heading tags typically make text contained in them larger than normal text on the page, this is a visual cue to users that this text is important and could help them understand something about the type of content underneath the heading text. Multiple heading sizes used in order create a hierarchical structure for your content, makes it easier for users to navigate through your document. Optimized Images: Images may seem like a straightforward component of your site, but you can optimize your use of them. All images can have a distinct filename and “alt” attribute, both of which you should take advantage of. The “alt” attribute allows you to specify alternative text for the image if it cannot be displayed for some reason. Why use this attribute? If a user is viewing your site on a browser that doesn’t support images, or is using alternative technologies, such as a screen reader, the contents of the alt attribute provide information about the picture. Another reason is that if you’re using an image as a link, the alt text for that image will be treated similarly to the anchor text of a text link. However, we don’t recommend using too many images for links in your site’s navigation when text links could serve the same purpose. Lastly, optimizing your image filenames and alt text makes it easier for image search projects, like Google Image Search, to better understand your images. Optimized Robot.txt File: A “robots.txt” file tells search engines whether they can access and, therefore, crawl parts of your site. You may not want certain pages of your site crawled because they might not be useful to users if found in a search engine’s search results. * Crawling if the action of a computer program that browses the Web in a methodical, automated manner to identify hyperlinks and add them to the list of URLs to visit. Explaining the Right Ways to Promote Your Website While most links to your site will steadily increase over time; as people realize your content through search or other internet marketing methods and link to it, Business Builders understands that you’d like to let others know about the hard work you’ve put into your content. Successfully promoting your content will lead to quicker discovery by those who are interested in the same subject. As with most points covered in this document, taking these recommendations to an extreme could actually harm the reputation of your site. Copyright © 2012, Zetta Technology Management and Business Builders. All rights reserved. No portion of this report may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means (including e-mail or fax), without written permission from Zetta Technology Management and Business Builders. |
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