August 2007
Search Engine Optimization Tips
So you want to be number one on a Google search? Join the club.
Who doesn’t want their company splashed all over the web, where potential clients can get on the fast track to your products or services?
The bad news is that there’s no magic formula for landing on Google’s front page. The good news is that you can accelerate your journey to the top through search engine optimization (SEO), which means making your site more “friendly” to the major search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL.
The process takes some effort, but the results are well worth it. There are two key strategies for moving up in the rankings: keyword optimization and linking.
Finding relevant keywords. Begin by creating a list of 15 keywords or key phrases people might use to find your website, for example, “management consultants.” To see how often these keywords are searched for, go to a search tool such as the free keyword selector tool, http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion which indicates how many times specific keywords or phrases were looked for on Yahoo Search the past month.
Competitive analysis. The best keywords are words and phrases commonly searched by potential customers that appear sparingly on your competitors’ websites. So before peppering your site with hot keywords, study how often your competitors are using them. You may have better luck with slightly less popular words that aren’t on your competitors’ sites.
Keyword density and relevance. Choose six top keywords or phrases and sprinkle them liberally on headlines, sub-headlines and in the first paragraphs of various website pages. It’s important not to saturate your website with keywords, however. This dilutes your main selling message and makes your site difficult to read.
Your web developer should add your top keywords to the “description meta tag,” one or two sentences that outline your website content. You should also put the keywords on page titles programmed by your developer and hyperlinks (underlined links to other pages on your site), if possible.
Register your site. Have your webmaster submit your web address to the major search engines for indexing. Do not, under any circumstances, pay someone to submit your website to hundreds of search engines because you could be blacklisted as a potential spammer.
Get links to your site. The more incoming links to your site the better, particularly if they’re from more highly-ranked sites. Be sure to register on your trade association’s website because Google likes links from industry leaders. Also, become listed in directories such as Yahoo (dir.yahoo.com), the Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.com) and Google’s product search tool, www.froogle.com.
To find out which sites link to yours, go to Link Popularity Service (www.linkpopularity.com) or Marketleap (www.marketleap.com/publinkpop), both of which are free. (Caveat: Avoid “link farms,” which cross-link all sites from web design companies or search engine optimization firms. Google abhors these.)
Additional links. Other linking strategies include writing articles for free content databases (include your web address at the bottom) and listing helpful content on your website, such as a mortgage calculator, for example, if you’re a realtor or mortgage broker. The more useful the information, the more people will link to your site.
As for hiring an outside search engine optimization firm, a word to the wise: Beware of any company that guarantees you’ll be number one on Google. For Google’s advice on choosing an SEO company, click here (http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35291). Be sure to ask for references and get proposals in writing.
Jeff Barnhart is the president and CEO at Creative Marketing Alliance (CMA). For more information, call at 609.799.6000, ext. 18, email JBarnhart@cmasolutions.com , or visit www.cmasolutions.com.
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About Creative Marketing Alliance, Inc.
Based in Princeton Junction, NJ, Creative Marketing Alliance (CMA) is a synergy of marketing and management businesses providing proven strategic, creative and management resources to achieve client goals through its allied businesses: CMA Marketing and Communications, CMA Association Management and CMA Healthcare Marketing. CMA is currently celebrating 20 years of service and has received more than 160 industry awards. Please visit www.cmasolutions.com for more information.