Search Engine Optimization:

You've heard it before, I'm sure. It goes something like this...

"We can get your website found higher on Google, Yahoo, AOL, and other major search engines."

Yeah, yeah... everyone can promise an immediate top listing on Google. And, you'll pay through your nose and get black listed by Google for inappropriate linking activity. I've built enough websites to know how you really get ranked in Google.

Actually, there are generally three ways to get ranked on the first page of Google...

1. Google Adwords (immediate results) - a simple pay-per-click advertising campaign you can do yourself. Hire someone like Yodle to do this for you and they'll likely collect 75 to 85 cents on every dollar. Do it yourself on Google Adwords and all your funds go to the campaign. Takes a couple hours to set up and understand. But, well worth it and the most recommended method for getting your site "ranked" (sponsored listings) on Page 1, top position.

2. Organic Search Engine Optimization - (long-term results) That's what we do. Takes some time, few months up to a year. But, it's honest methods and Google places high regard in that.

3. Link Farms (bad results) - People who promise you top position within a few days for a monthly fee (usually $200 - $1,000). Never use these. I get emails from these people all the time. Most come out of India but many derive in the U.S. and Canada. Think about it... if Google saw you with 500 links coming to your site from 500 other "bs" websites, what do you think they are going to do with that. If you guessed, "black list" you, then you are correct. It may take them a few weeks, but Google will discover what's going on.

So, if you don't want to invest the time or money in a Google pay-per-click campaign, or if you simply don't need a first-page listing by the end of the week...

Let's discuss organic search engine optimization.

Step 1 - It is very important that we target the right keywords before we start with your organic search engine optimization (SEO) work, not just those keywords you think will work!

Understanding Google's SEO guidelines is the first step in getting your website ranked higher. Click the link to check it out. We know it well. And, we live by it when optimizing websites.

Next, we use a very powerful software program to help us with SEO. We use it to perform search engine optimization and submission services for your site. Anyone can set your "META" keywords and files. But, it takes a true professional to "optimize" your web site for top placement in search engines.

We have a multi-award winning website promotion system that helps us to get the best SEO results for your site.

It is not enough to submit your web site to search engines and to wait for the results. Nothing will happen. Search engines use a variety of factors to rank web sites. You have to work on all factors if you want to achieve good results.

Find the right keywords for your web site

The right keywords are not always obvious. We find the right keywords that will work best for your web site. It is very important that we target the right keywords before we start with your search engine optimization work, not just those you think will work! What keywords are we looking for? Obviously, we want the keywords people are using when searching for information relating to your website.

If your site is about real estate in Dallas, Texas, we want to know the exact keywords that are being used to find Dallas real estate websites. We have a very powerful keyword research tool to uncover those keywords. As an example, here are the actual results as of March 24, 2008 of which our keyword research tool has found for "Dallas Real Estate" (Google, MSN, Yahoo combined):

1. dallas real estate, 102 daily searches
2. real estate dallas, 51 daily searches
3. dallas real estate agents, 34 daily searches
4. dallas texas real estate, 34 daily searches
5. real estate loans dallas, 21 daily searches
6. real estate dallas texas, 19 daily searches
7. real estate law dallas texas, 18 daily searches
8. real estate attorneys dallas, 18 daily searches

And, the list goes on for a total 100 top keyword/phrases. We can identify the top 100 keywords/phrases for any search term on the Net. And, knowing the resulting keywords/phrases is clearly the most important part of search engine optimization.

Optimize your web pages and images for these keywords

Optimizing your web pages - including the content text and images - for your important keywords is crucial if you want to have high search engine rankings. The most important part of this is the content on your home page. Does it have text links (for the keywords and keyword phrases) leading to other parts of your website? Are the Title tags created with an "H1" code? What is the keyword:content ratio? Do you have "Alt" tags on your images? Are important elements bolded?

The home page is important; however, optimizing one or two pages is not enough. Search engines analyze most of the pages of your web site and they put these pages in a context. It is important that the combination of your web pages shows search engines that your web site is relevant to a special topic. We'll optimize your page content and images as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Submit your web pages to all important search engines and directories

After optimizing your web site for several keywords, we'll submit your web site to search engines and Internet directories. Although search engine submission is not as important as it was (many search engines will find your web site through links on other sites), it can still help you to get your web site listed faster.

Get links from other web sites and make sure that these links contain your keywords

Links from other web sites are extremely important if you want to have high search engine rankings. Your web site must have good incoming links to get high search engine rankings. High search engine rankings are always the result of optimized web pages and good incoming links.

Add Content

We can do everything with the code to set you up for success with the major search engines. And, it's important that the more content, pages, and text that is added to your site frequently, the better your results will be. The top search engine, Google thrives on sites that are updated often, and with fresh (not found elsewhere on the Net) content. In short, Google loves blogs. This is why we highly recommend you request a free blog for your web site.

You can add thousands of pages for free to your blog, at any time. Just log in, give your article, news, press release, etc. a title, write (or cut and paste) and hit the "Publish" button. That's it! You can even add photographs, images, etc. Your new page will automatically archive within your blog. And, we can even set your blog's content so it will appear instantly on your web site!

Google Sitemap

We generate and submit a Google sitemap for your website. A Google sitemap is a file we put with your web site that informs Google's spiders and bots to recognize recent updates and changes to your web site. Simply put, it makes it easy for Google to crawl your web site and is a must for anyone serious about their web presence!

A sitemap is a way of organizing a website, identifying the URLs and the data under each section. Previously, the sitemaps were primarily geared for the users of the website. However, Google's XML format was designed for the search engines, allowing them to find the data faster and more efficiently.

Promote and publicize your website economically! One of the most common and worst mistakes you can make when setting up a new website is to build it and then tell no one about it. If you build it... they WON'T come. We've met people who've built websites that tell more folks about their new cars than the website they just spent several thousand dollars on. Make no mistake, you'll need to spend something, either time or money. If you'll read the tips below, you will be on the right path to promoting your website without spending any money.

Google Local Listing (Really Nice!)

Recently, a client asked me about those new listings that show up on Google near the top of the page. I have been seeing them recently in some of the searches I've done, and realized they were different that the regular search results. After some research, I learned they are known as "local listings", or links to businesses located near me. Here's what else I learned...

Google local listings are those nice links of businesses that pop up when people search with a keyword + location. Often, they pop up when people are just searching for a subject of interest. Take, for example, the keyword phrase "home builder atlanta". When people search using this or a similar combination (which they do more and more often), here's what they get...

As you may see, a variety of Atlanta "home builder" businesses are listed. Some are larger companies than the others. Some have been in business longer than others. So, how and why are the "little guys" listed within these results?

To cut a long story short, to see your listing in these, the "Google Local Search" results, you need to do several things. Ask us how.
 

Banner advertising on local websites

Make a list of local websites that likely have a lot of traffic from local residents. Include websites for local television stations, radio stations and newspapers. Include local gazettes & periodicals; local successful businesses. Especially include popular local sports and weather websites. Every region has several of these.

Link exchanges with other popular local sites

You may wonder how this will help drive traffic to your website. It won't directly. Most people do not spend hours digging through the Links pages of other people's websites. But search engines do. They will typically index all the pages of a website. If a link to your website is on a popular website that has already been indexed by search engines, it won't be long until the search engine finds your site.

That WILL directly help drive traffic to your site. You must dedicate a page or area of your website to do this however. You will need to add links to websites you are trading links with. Someone MUST contact owners/operators of the sites you want to trade links with to initiate a link exchange. This is a mostly manual process and requires the dedication of some time.

Pay-per-click programs are powerful ways to receive traffic

Want to show up in major search engines and you want it now? This is for you. As mentioned earlier, major search engines like Google, MSN, Yahoo all have some form of "pay-per-click" advertising opportunities. Essentially with a program like this, you sign up, deposit a little money in your new account, bid on some search terms (e.g., 'dallas home builder') and every time someone CLICKS on your new sponsored ad they are directed to your site and your account is debited for the amount you bid.

Easy enough right? Yes, but there are a few things to watch out for. Don't get overly greedy for traffic at first. These programs are likely new to you, so you are obviously unfamiliar how they operate. Start with low bids and see what kind of traffic you receive and the general position your ad gets. Also - observe the rate that your deposited money diminishes as you receive clicks. The rate of account depletion can be logarithmic in relation to your bid amount.

Example: You bid 10 cents for the search phrase 'home builder'. Your account receives 23 new visitors in one day and is debited $2.30. You think, "This is great!", and up your bid to 20 cents. You get twice as many visitors right? Wrong. The next day, you are surprised to see your account was debited $16.80. What happened? You received 84 visitors that day! You are not only paying more per click, but because your ad is displayed higher up in search results, you are receiving more clicks! Generally, the higher your position, the more clicks you are likely to receive, and definitely the more you'll pay per click. In fact, a more realistic cost per click for the term "home builder" is about $2.00, if you want to see your ad on the first page. So go slow! Start small at first and get a feel for it.

Figure out what you can afford. Pay-per-click programs can be excellent tools to drive some traffic to your site. Don't get a sour taste for them by jumping in feet first.

Don't target generic terms. Think you're going to wrestle the top spots away from KB Homes, Tollbrothers, or Pulte for the search term "home builder"? Maybe for a few hours you will. Then your account will be empty and you'll need to make another deposit. Besides - do you really want traffic from people searching on such generic terms? They could be potential clients searching from California, while your business is located in Atlanta. Find some more specific search terms that really encompass the traffic you want... like "monterey builder" or "san jose builder". Today, it's about targeting. And, clearly you want to target only the local clientele you service.

Use Email Campaigns to bring people to your website

One of the best ways you can communicate with your customers en masse and invite them to visit your website is through email. In order to do that, you will need your customers email addresses, so start collecting them right now! You have to begin collecting your customers email addresses. With a list of email addresses, you can notify customers easily about all kinds of things: upcoming events or trunk shows; new designer lines; holidays greetings; special gift certificates or coupons; the launch of your new website!

Local radio and television advertising

If you don't do it already - look into it. Don't assume that something like this is prohibitively expensive. Thirty second radio spots can be had for $100. Television ads are more expensive, but once you've created the commercial, the only significant expense is air time. Start small - run your commercials on cable channels. You don't need primetime NBC or a spot during Desperate Housewives to be effective. You just need to be seen/heard.

Billboards are a great way to promote your site and business

Billboards can be extremely effective. With thousands of motorists passing by a full color billboard with a hot, new, full-color Tacori or Scott Kay ring on it, you will receive a return on your investment - web visitors and more walk-in traffic to your store. The billboards don't need to be enormous either. They don't need to be on I-95, I-40 or whatever your closest major highway is. Like pay-per-click... start small. See how it works for you. The new thing today is digital advertising. You may want to check into that.

Local newspaper and gazette ads

Check on the price of a quarter page or more in the local papers and free "style" gazettes. Put a stunning picture in there and put your company name and website (much less prominent) down below it. Catch people's eyes. Your logo isn't going to do that - but an amazing necklace, bracelet or ring from a new designer line sure might do the trick. Make sure your website address is clear, distinct and written in something bigger than 8pt font type. People can get to your website in thirty seconds. It usually takes a bit longer to get to your store.

Put your website address on everything

Don't wait until you run out of business cards or letterhead. Throw out the old and order new immediately. Make sure that wherever your company name is, your website address is just below. Let people know in everyway you can that you have a new website. The website is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You're not.

Our Promise

Although we work hard to get you the listing results you desire, we can in no way guarantee our success in search engine optimization for your website. In fact, no web developer can. Always be alarmed by SEO "experts" who promise to get your site listed within the top three results of Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc. in a few short days or weeks. It is possible . . . that is if the "expert" is cheating, or if the expert is simply setting you up a Google Adwords pay-per-click account (something you can do yourself without the extra cost).

By cheating, these companies typically use an automatic back-link generating tool to send you a couple thousand links from their useless web sites. This form of "link-farming" was one of the earliest attempts at side-tracking Google's algorithm. It is easily and quickly recognized by Google (and the other search engines) and your site will be "sandboxed" or "blacklisted" by Google in a couple of weeks or a month. If that happens, you can forget about getting your site even listed in the search engines . . . much less "ranked" on the first (or any) page!

By using the Google Adwords pay-per-click program, the expert simply sets up an account for you and charges you a hefty fee for each click, on top of what you would ordinarily pay to Google. Google Adwords is an excellent tool for getting you listed within the "sponsored" listings, those listings found on the right side of the page when you do a search for something on Google. It has nothing to do with Search Engine Optimization, but will serve to get you instant visitors to your website - at a cost, of course. I do recommend Google Adwords.

The program works very well in getting targeted traffic. But, again I would not consider it as something I would pay someone to do for me. If you choose to use the Adwords program, do it yourself. You will have more control and can take advantage of understanding how the program is affecting your sales.

The cost? Well, that depends on the keywords or phrases you want to use. If you business involves real estate, insurance, or health and you want to be listed within the top 3 positions on Google, then you can expect to pay as much as $1, $2, even $5 per click! That's right . . . per click. That's because those are very competitive keywords and are searched very frequently by users all over the world. The competition is such that many businesses are bidding against each other to get the highest listing.

Generally, builders and contractors can expect to pay somewhere between .50 and 1.50 per click for a top listing. It all depends on where you are displaying your ads and what the competition is (i.e. - how many others are advertising using the Google Adwords program).

If your business involves something less popular and competitive - such as fishing bait - then your costs may only be .25 cents per click. Some keywords can be had for as little as .05 cents (Googles minimum bid). It all depends on the keyword and the number of businesses and people that are competing. Adwords is an excellent way to get immediate, targeted visitors to your site, but it can be costly. Though those visitors will inherently help you with traffic, resulting in a more popular site for a short duration, it is not a primary tool for search engine optimization.

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