Search Engine Optimization ( SEO )

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines.

You might think of a search engine as a website you visit to type (or speak) a question into a box and Google, Yahoo!, Bing, or whatever search engine you’re using magically replies with a long list of links to webpages that could potentially answer your question.

That’s true. But have you ever stopped to consider what’s behind those magical lists of links?

Here’s how it works: Google (or any search engine you’re using) has a crawler that goes out and gathers information about all the content they can find on the Internet. The crawlers bring all those 1s and 0s back to the search engine to build an index. That index is then fed through an algorithm that tries to match all that data with your query.

To understand what SEO really means, let’s break that sentence down and look at the parts:

• Quality of traffic. You can attract all the visitors in the world, but if they’re coming to your site because Google tells them you’re a resource for Apple computers when really you’re a farmer selling apples, that is not quality traffic. Instead you want to attract visitors who are genuinely interested in products that you offer.
• Quantity of traffic. Once you have the right people clicking through from those search engine results pages (SERPs), more traffic is better.
• Organic results. Ads make up a significant portion of many SERPs. Organic traffic is any traffic that you don’t have to pay for.

Analyze your web site

We first analyze your web site, followed by a step-by-step plan to have the website communicate keywords more effectively to search engines. Our ultimate goal is to get our clients more visitors and higher conversion of sales and leads.

On-Page & Off-Page Optimization

On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. On–page refers to both the content and HTML source code of a page that can be optimized, as opposed to off–page SEO which refers to links and other external signals . The goal of on page and off page optimization is to generate a theme consistent with your targeted keywords. The search engine is a robot, not a human … and therefore, you must follow our proven process to educate the robot so that it brings your website up when your potential customers are searching for specific business related keywords.

Before beginning a search engine optimization ( SEO ) project, it is important to understand the process involved in an effective SEO campaign. mo caters to clients who require an intensive, full-service approach to search engine marketing.

There are a lot of different ways to improve the search rankings of a website. SEO is a unique business because, unlike being a lawyer or engineer, there is not just one, right way to go about getting results. There are specific elements that have been identified as key factors which are important to the SEO process. It is from constant research, testing, and experience that we have created our particular system for improving client rankings online

Our ON-PAGE SEO Checklist

• Content is high-quality, relevant, fresh and at least 500 words in length.
• Target search phrase is included in page headline.
• Target search phrase is included in at least one sub-headline.
• Target search phrase is repeated three to 10 times within body copy. Don’t over-do it, or the page may get downgraded as spam. Keep the reader in mind as you work with the target search phrase. Copy should always be reader-friendly.
• Page includes relevant images and/or graphics that help illustrate the target search phrase.
• Captions for images and/or graphics include the target search phrase.
• Content and/or tools and resources on the page are so good that visitors will want to share your link with others and post your link elsewhere.
• Location: If you are optimizing for specific country, state, city or regional names, be sure they are in your copy and perhaps in a page footer.
• No misspellings or poor grammar. Yes, the search engines downgrade for either.
• Inclusion of social media links and / or user discussion or reviews. Pages with active visitor interaction are scored higher than static pages.

CODING AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTORS

• Include the target keyword/search phrase in the page URL if possible.
• Title tag: Every page should have an HTML title (enclosed in <title> </title> tags). The title copy should be unique, include the target keyword or target phrase, and must be 70 characters or less (any longer, and Google will truncate it anyway).
• Meta description tag: Even if the search engines don’t weigh a meta description in ranking a page, it is very important, because it is the marketing copy for your page. The meta description in the page head-tag set (enclosed in <meta name = “description” content=””> usually appears with your organic search listing, and induces readers to click through. The meta description tag should be no longer than 160 characters, and should include your target phrase.
• Image alt text: Use the target phrase in image alt text (embedded in the image tag as alt=”your keyword”)
• Links from copy: Use links to other pages on your site, or other resources judiciously. Links should be relevant to your page topic. The latest research shows Google may penalize any page containing more than 100 links, and we recommend stopping well short of that number, unless there is a good reason. A few internal links (to other pages on your site) are a positive, especially if they tie together similar topics. Internal links also help search engine bots navigate and categorize your site.
• Mobile: Make sure sites and pages intended for mobile devices are coded so that the search engines recognize them as mobile. This goes beyond the scope of this article, but keep it in mind as you work with your developer on a mobile site.

Following this on-page SEO checklist will result in a page that’s optimized for ranking well in search. It provides a foundation for other organic search improvement efforts.

Additional major factors, such as the authority of your site’s domain, and the number and authority of links coming into your page and your site will also play a big role in search ranking, which I’ll address in future articles.

While you can tackle many elements of the perfectly optimized page on your own (they should become part of your team’s standard operating procedures), you will find that professional help with keyword research, competitive research, content creation, page design, setup, and coding will dramatically accelerate the process. Contact us for a free initial consultation on your SEO project.