When I get two calls on a web subject, I don’t wait for a third call to call it a trend. Recently I was asked about Search Engine Optimizing (SEO) by two very concerned clients.
Judging by the amount of concern, fear, and sometimes panic over SEO, companies who make SEO a specialty are doing a terrific marketing job to create uneasiness over the unknown. Have you heard Kentucky Fried Chicken’s marketing of “11 herbs and spices?” I remember reading somewhere that analysis showed that only salt and pepper were added to the coating. SEO is much the same… marketing complexity for “salt and pepper” basics.
So, let’s shine some light on SEO, demystify, and give you (the website owner) confidence in SEO.
The best place to start is with what led my first client to pick up the phone. The client had begun to do business with a professional marketer. The day the marketer showed up at the client’s place of business they commented: “I couldn’t find your website when I searched, you may need someone to look at your meta tags and do some search engine optimizing. It’s really important to have good SEO to get into Google.”
Here’s how to figure out if your website is optimized or MIA online.
1. Ask, “How did you look for the website?” This is a key question. You will learn which search engine they used, what search words were used, and possibly they didn’t search at all. It’s important to learn if they are using one of the top search engines or something obscure, or if they are using a short search term or your business name and location which should bring up your site in the search engines.
2. Test for yourself. Start with Google since it’s the leading search engine. Search using just your business name, then search with your business name & location/town name, and search by your profession or service & location/town name. This search should place your website on the first page of Google results. If not, your website may need some work. If you’re in the results you are not in desperate need of SEO.
3. Know your site structure. If you have a site that opens with a FLASH presentation or your entire site is constructed in FLASH, you may not have an optimized site. Recently I put up a new website for a client who had a one page website that was a JPG image. Google and the other search engines read text, so FLASH and images do not provide the text Google uses in their database!
4. What is the search result? When you search for your website, it’s important to read what is included in the result. Let’s look at the result for Design to Spec below. The first line is the link to your website and should include your business name. The next lines should be a description of your business, this gives the web user clarity that they have found what they are looking for. If your search result doesn’t state what you want others to know about you and your business, your website needs some SEO work.
Design to Spec LLC, Designer Vanessa Wood – Web Design and …
Design to Spec LLC the web design and graphic design studio of designer Vanessa Wood – My clients are working to be phenomenal.
www.designtospec.com/ – 16k – Cached – Similar pages –
5. Be cautious of submission promises. There are companies that promise to submit websites to multiple search engines. There are “tools” online that offer for a fee to automatically submit a website to multiple search engines. Even some hosting companies offer site submissions. The straight story on site submission is that most search engines allow for FREE site submission. Most search engines use a “robot” or a “spider” which are programs that cruise the internet gathering websites for their database, so submission happens by their “robots” visiting your site! Some sites, like Google, discourage so-called “automatic” or multiple submissions and thus reject sites submitted using these tools.
Vanessa Wood
Design to Spec LLC – Website Design in Darien, CT
All content copyright ©2005-2009, Vanessa Wood
