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A Search
Engine Optimizer's New Year's
Resolutions
January 2005
With the ringing in of the New
Year, I resolve to become a better
search engine optimizer (SEO). Below
is a list of resolutions that I
have made in order to make my clients'
websites the absolute best on the
web.
- I will not use flash as text.
- Even though many search
engines can now read some
of the text embedded in flash,
flash sites do not perform
as well in search engine results
as non-flash sites. Flash
should primarily be used to
enhance sites; in the same
way one would use pictures
to make the site look better.
- I will not use images as text.
- Although I personally believe
that text in images will be
read by search engines by
the end of 2006, we are not
there just yet. As it now
stands, image text is invisible
to search engines and therefore
should not be used in that
capacity.
- I will use good usability techniques.
- I will not use cloaking.
- Cloaking is frowned upon
by search engines. Once they
catch you, you will get penalized
(or in some instances, banned).
- I will not use frames unless
I have a REALLY good reason to.
- Frames complicate things
for the search engine. There
are very few good reasons
to use frames and thus they
should be avoided whenever
possible.
- I will use a catchy title with
the keyphrase in it.
- Marketing is what we are
all about. A catchy title
will bring in the customers.
A title containing the target
keyphrase will raise the result
in the search engines. Put
the two together and you have
a professional marketing title
that works hard to bring in
traffic.
- I will track the return on investment
(ROI).
- By tracking the ROI, I will
clearly see if the site is
making or losing money. To
track ROI one needs to co-relate
the marketing dollars spent
with the revenue earned. This
statistic is usually hindered
by the site's owner, who cannot
(or does not) provide the
financial information, nor
the conversional statistics
I need to track ROI.
- I will write an alt tag that
clearly depicts what the image
is, for every image.
- This will help people without
images on their screen know
what the image is about. Using
the keyphrase in the alt tag
is a bonus because it will
help the rankings slightly
in the search engine results,
but it is most important to
describe the image as clearly
as possible.
- I will use good informative
content.
- Ah yes, "Content is King".
All the above resolutions
are meaningless if I don't
have good content. This is
what will bring in the search
engines. This is what will
bring in the clients. And
this is what will bring in
the dough.
- I will not stuff the pages with
keyphrases.
- Stuffing the page with keyphrases
goes against the golden rule
of good content. If you stuff
the pages with keyphrases,
they will no longer read well,
and readers won't like to
read them. Consequently, people
won't enjoy your site, and
because the search engines
are designed to figure out
what people like and then
display it to them, the search
engines will eventually begin
to disregard your site. Therefore,
ALWAYS use keyphrases wisely.
- I will not use "spammy" techniques.
- I will use pay-per-click (PPC),
even if it is for a very small
amount.
- I have found that using
even a minuscule PPC campaign
will bring in more traffic.
It also propagates links to
your site throughout the Internet,
and thus makes your site more
prominent. If you are worried
about losing money, then use
the free conversion tracking
tool available at both Overture
and Google AdWords. USE IT.
Only then will you know how
effective your PPC campaign
really is.
- I will track unique hits to
the site.
- By keeping track of whether
the site's traffic goes up
or down, I get a big picture
of the health of the website.
If traffic goes up, then the
rankings probably went up.
If traffic goes down, then
rankings probably went down.
Of course there are also seasonal
variations (and marketing
pushes), but you should be
familiar enough with the market
to know when to expect such
cyclical fluctuations.
- I will get a good copywriter
to write the content.
- "Content is King", so get
a professional to write it.
You may think you are good,
but are you really? Would
you bet your Internet presence
on it? Use someone who knows
how to write specifically
for the Internet. Use someone
who knows how to balance writing
for people, writing for sales,
and writing for search engines.
- I will not send out "spammy"
emails asking for reciprocal links.
- Reciprocal links don't bring
in clients, and they tend
to only slightly boost your
PageRank. An SEO's time is
better served getting the
site listed in directories
and on sites where people
would be looking for it (such
as associations, suppliers,
clients, and more…). Personalized
emails to these sites requesting
a link to yours are fine.
Templates or mass emails requesting
reciprocal links are definitely
not.
- I will work hard getting valuable
links to my site.
- "Linking is Queen", thus
getting links is essential.
Find directories that relate
to your market and take your
time to submit to them (in
the best category). Contact
your suppliers and/or resellers
and see if they will link
to you. Figure out where your
potential clients hang out
on the Internet, and get those
sites to link to you. Do your
homework to choose where you
want your links to appear,
then roll up your sleeves,
get out the elbow grease and
get those links to show up!
With a little dedication and a
lot of work, I will get my clients
into the top search engine results.
If you want to do well with your
website, stick to these resolutions
and before you know it the traffic
(and the sales) will roll in smoothly,
just like the New Year.
Shawn Campbell
Shawn
Campbell is the co-founder and
Chief Search Engine Optimizer at
Red
Carpet Web Promotion, Inc.
www.redcarpetweb.com
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