SEO Specialist Blog

In the last post we talked about the habit of some web sites to use keywords as a part of their SEO efforts without choosing them carefully enough. Generalized keywords only help to allow users to find a web site; not increase targeted web site traffic.

Utilizing well chosen keywords that are likely to cut through the online clutter of more generalized searches and bring you targeted web site traffic has a host of benefits in its wake.

For one, targeted keywords and strategic linking will help your site rise in the search engine rankings organically. We have all seen the sponsored links on the search engines and we know they pay to be there. Does this make them an expert in their field or a leader in their industry? More importantly, does it inspire trust in you and propel you to click on their site? Or are you more inclined to choose a site that comes up number one on the search engines of their volition? Because they have something going on with their site that has inspired people to logon and other companies to link to them?

Natural search engine rankings, the kind achieved through committed and consistent SEO services, does more than grow your business through web traffic – although it does indeed do that as those in the market for your specific products and services will find you front and center when they are ready to make a purchase; good SEO brands a company through the power of position.

Those companies that rise to the top in the search engine rankings are not only chosen far and away more often than their competitors in lower spots, but they achieve a reputation as an expert in their respective industry. Their position of power on the search engines is, in effect, a billboard that cannot be ignored; a beacon of the company’s authority in their industry and a vote of credibility that is absolutely priceless.

A great number of web sites, thinking that they have the swing of what search engine optimization is and what it can do for their company, do everything that they can do within their power – and sometimes with the help of a SEO specialist – to optimize their site. Their goal? To utilize keywords within their site so that any potential customers who employ the use of those same keywords in a search engine search will ultimately find their web site. But what do they ultimately learn?

This is not enough.

Search engine optimization is far more than a game of hide and seek in which the purpose is to unite user and web site. If you sell hammers on your web site, and a potential user – in need of hammers for a home construction project – enters the word “hammers” into a search bar on Google, is it enough that your site comes up on page nine? That if the user scrolls through page after page they may eventually find you? This is not good SEO; it’s not a good use of time; and it certainly will not ultimately give your site what it needs to be successful – good quality traffic of serious potential customers.

Good SEO is the choosing of targeted keywords. Perhaps your hammers are meant for construction professionals who work with steel and in such a case perhaps “hammers for steel workers” is likely to garner you more targeted web site traffic by those potential customers that are in the market to buy your product.

But just as important is the fact that the choice of targeted keywords, combined with a solid linking strategy, will work to propel your site to the front of the line in search engine results, which has a host of tantalizing benefits.

In the last post we began to talk about how consistent search engine optimization is crucial to propelling a site to the top of the search engines’ ranking results. And how – as a part of this search engine optimization – web sites will (rightly) work with professionals SEO services in order to properly optimize their site; something that a startlingly low percentage of web sites can currently claim.

As a part of their search engine optimization efforts, web sites – with the assistance of their professional SEO specialist – will utilize keyword rich content in order to engage the interest of the search engines, raise their page rankings, and increase web site traffic. Such content – in order to be effective – should be relevant to the site itself and include keywords that have been specially chosen for this particular web site.

This is a critical step and something that far too few professional SEO services will give the attention that it deserves. Keywords should be chosen with great care and after detailed analysis. Only then can particular keywords and keyword phrases be chosen that will yield equally specific results. Effective keywords are those words and phrases that are targeted, will inspire consistent, quality web site traffic, and will not only bring in traffic but will create an environment for sales and subsequent growth of the business.

Those professional SEO services with which a web site works should demonstrate a proven commitment to performing detailed analysis of potential keywords and of working hand in hand with clients in order to choose those keywords that will ultimately be most effective.

People speak much of search engine optimization but do they really know what it means? The answer is a resounding no when you consider how very many web sites display poor optimization. The statistics are astounding. Well under ten percent of all web sites are properly optimized. Which means that while web site owners have put out so much money – and put so much effort into making their web site successful – they are completely missing the boat in ensuring that their site is even visited in the first place.

The fact is that in order for a site to increase web traffic and retain a comfortable spot on the higher pages of the search engines – a premium position that will continually help to increase web site traffic and earn their business – they must retain SEO services that will work the web site consistently and employ those methods that have been shown to work time and time again.

One of the most important components of effective search engine optimization is the utilization of particular keywords in relevant content that is meant to engage the attention of the search engines. Web sites that utilize keyword rich content realize benefits on a multitude of levels. Such content offers additional value for visitors to the site; but the keywords themselves work to propel the site upwards in the search engines’ rankings. The goal of the web site, of course, is to make it to the first page of search engine results in an effort to attract as many visitors as possible.

In the next post…more on why the choosing of keywords is so important in the overall process of SEO.

In the last post we talked about how some companies feel the need to go it alone when it comes to different specialties of business. There are some companies that may think that they can they can run their business and do their own advertising, marketing, public relations, and all the other things that go into making a business successful.

With web sites this is parallel to a web site owner tackling search engine optimization without professional guidance. There is a misconception that SEO is something that is a one and done kind of thing; you make your site search engine friendly and then you go on your merry way forever in a good position to increase web site traffic.

But the truth is something very different and much more time consuming than its given credit for; SEO efforts are a day to day thing –a web site must be constantly worked to stay engaged in SEO.

In order to give it the time that it is due, a SEO specialist can help a web site lay the groundwork for success by implementing the necessary elements for good SEO including:

* Good content that is also infused with carefully selected keywords. A SEO specialist will help a web site choose the keywords that are most likely to be used in a search for their particular products, services, and information. And they will help craft content that includes these keywords and continually update that content to renew interest.

* Good linking strategy. It’s important to have inbound and outbound links with highly ranked sites. These links count as “votes” for your site with the search engines. A SEO specialist can help cull these links.

It’s amazing in this day and age how many people think that no matter what the task on hand, they can handle it themselves. Especially now, as so many businesses are trying to save as much money as possible, they are tackling tasks and projects that are really above and beyond their particular set of skills; and in the end, this often only serves to make things worse.

Consider web sites – our modern day business. Web sites count on the traffic they receive to grow their business and so they work steadily (if they are smart) to increase web site traffic – knowing that the more visitors they draw, the higher their percentage of conversion into customers.

There are many, many web site owners, however, that have taken on search engine optimization in addition to the many other things for which they are responsible on a daily basis. Many web site owners believe that SEO is something they can do once and be done with; but the truth is that effective search engine optimization is an ongoing process.

Because search engine optimization must be attended to on a weekly basis, many web site owners very quickly find themselves overwhelmed by all that they have on their plate. In this scenario it becomes very clear what a SEO specialist can bring to the table.

A SEO specialist works a site’s search engine optimization each and every day – making sure it that it is as search engine friendly as possible and that all elements are put into place to help it raise its page rankings on the engines.

We’ll outline these elements in the next post.

In the last post, we talked about how smaller companies have historically known their place in relation to their larger scale counterparts. Small companies have always understood that they are going after a different market share than the big guys and that they can’t compete in terms of offerings and marketing dollars. But this certainly has never meant that small companies have not found success; they learn who their audience is and they compete within the confines of this market.

For web sites, however, there is no size differential – only the willingness to do what it takes to achieve in the search engine optimization process combined with a little bit of luck.

Those companies that want to expand their web sites and increase web site traffic may choose to work with a search engine optimization specialist who will quickly point out that the road to SEO is not paved with the number of employees you have or the amount of your yearly sales. By employing those methods of tried and true search engine optimization techniques, the ability to increase web traffic is within the grasp of any company – large or small.

Some of the more proven search engine optimization techniques include:

* Content, content, content. Web sites of all sizes have found that the inclusion of keyword rich content – updated on a regular basis – will catch the attention of the search engines and work to power the site to higher page rankings.

* Links. Including reciprocal links on a site – links to other highly ranked and relevant sites – will go a long way towards propelling your site to higher rankings.

* Added value. Give your potential customers what they came for – and then some. A virtual space levels the playing field between businesses large and small. Even small companies can provide a host of valuable offerings on their site – including forums, blogs, contests, video, giveaways, and the like.

Small companies often fear that they cannot compete with their larger counterparts – and with good reason; after all, larger corporations can outspend small competitors and therefore can be much more aggressive in their marketing. Really, in the world of everyday, traditional business, this is like comparing apples and oranges. Businesses – large and small – have something to bring to the table and in all likelihood they are going after a different target audience. Smaller companies need really only be concerned with their competition with companies of similar size and scope.

But the world of online business has really changed everything in that it has leveled the playing field in a lot of respects. Smaller companies are able to present a much larger image online and because there is no physical space per se they are able to offer much of the same bells and whistles as the bigger guys.

You would think the complex of the smaller company would be vastly improved. But it’s not. Insecurity still reigns supreme.

This is because many smaller businesses still that think that they are getting beat out by bigger companies in terms of their ability to increase web site traffic and gain a foothold on the search engines through search engine optimization.

But here’s the truth: small or large, companies are equally able to increase web site traffic through comprehensive search engine optimization efforts. There is no measure of a company (aka web site’s) size through the search engines; the search engines only care that the right elements are in place.

In the next post, we’ll continue to talk about how web sites large and small can get big results in SEO.

In the last post we talked about the importance of having a marketing plan in place for businesses; and how companies generally require such a plan in order to account for their spending and set forth their goals for growing the business.

Part of a modern day marketing plan includes plans for their web site, as very few companies do not, at this point, have an online presence. And the web site is in no way exempt from having a plan in place for it as well. After all, a web site markets a company and it must be “worked” consistently in order to increase web traffic, promote the company name and brand, and hopefully convert those visitors to their site into customers and clients.

In order to make the most of their marketing dollars, many web site owners will work with a search engine optimization specialist who will take the company step by step through their SEO process. By no means should this be a cookie-cutter marketing plan, as each business is different and has its own goals, but the core of the plan may look like something like this:

* Measuring where the site currently is on the search engine page rankings. Is the company coming up on page 3 or is it coming up on page 11 of the search engine rankings? There can be no plan for growth until you know where you’ve started.

* Putting a search engine optimization plan into place that may include the choosing of relevant keywords and keyword phrases, the creation and placement of content that includes those keywords, and the development of a strategic linking campaign to help generate buzz and propel a site to the higher pages of the search engine rankings.

* Measuring progress. Any reputable search engine optimization specialist will measure your results as your plan progresses, giving you’re a very clear idea of what your money is getting you in terms of marketing.

When any business sets out to do any sort of marketing plan, they generally do so within the confines of a very defined schedule. After all, such pursuits – while meant to grow the business and its profits – cost money and marketing professionals who are in charge of these plans must account for their spending. And so, there is often a marketing/advertising budget for a company and, subsequently, a well-laid plan put together by the marketing team responsible for achieving particular goals in terms of company growth.

Search engine optimization may very well be one of the marketing plans put into place for a company’s web site. Again, as SEO is a process rather than a magic button, there must be short term and long term objectives set forth to help the business measure its ongoing success and return on investment.

Very often, in order to achieve particular goals with regard to their web site, a company will work with a search engine optimization specialist that will help them define what it is they want to accomplish and the steps they are going to take to get there. Search engine optimization – while the goal is essentially the same for most web sites that engage in SEO – the manner by which they go about it may be very different indeed. It is essential, therefore, that a company work with a search engine optimization specialist that believes in creating customized SEO plans for each and every client.

In the next post, we’ll outline the steps of SEO that a company is likely to take when working with a search engine optimization specialist.