Writing for People and for Search Engines
So you've decided to get a website that's optimized
for search engines. You're no dummy. You want your
website to show up any time a search is conducted
in your area of expertise. Who can blame you? But
wait. Be prepared for twists and turns ahead.
The Bible says, "My people perish from lack
of knowledge." This is also true in the technical
world of search engine marketing. Your lack of understanding
of how search engines find websites can be detrimental
to your success. In effect, you could lose your
website investment, and lose again by not being
at the top of the engines later. If your website
is built and written correctly, you will experience
a positive return on your website investment that
pays dividends for years to come.
Before you start correcting the website content
created for you by The Marketing Shop, or any webmaster
experienced in SEO, make sure you have a firm grasp
of search engine optimization. If you have a question
about something that looks peculiar, ask your designer
before you spend too much time fretting. Chances
are--if it's on your website--it's there for a purpose.
Writing a website is a delicate balance between
pleasing people and computers. Strike the right
balance and you'll find your website at the top
of the search engines, converting your website traffic
into loyal clients. Miss the mark and your site
will be in no man's land without a word to say.
Here's a few things to know about search engine
optimization before reading your website content
for the first time:
Keywords are Paramount. If your website does not
have the keyword content that people are using for
search, it will not show up in search results, period.
This is not quantum physics. Computers are machines.
They can only pick up text. It's crucial that we
analyze what people are typing into the search engines
and build your website content accordingly.
Keyword Research is Necessary. The Marketing Shop
performs extensive keyword research for all our
web marketing clients. We want to know exactly what
people are typing in what into the search engines
to find products and services like yours. Based
upon our expertise in search engine optimization,
we determine the best keywords and phrases to optimize
on your site. We have many different calculations
that we use to determine which keywords to optimize
for and rest assured we've done our homework on
the best keywords for the current development phase
of your website.
Headings Must Be Search Engine Optimized. The headings
of your website impact your website search engine
optimization. It is important that they read in
a precise way in order for you to "score points"
with the search engines and rank higher in search
results. There are at least three levels of headings
(h1, h2 and h3). If you're keywords aren't here,
your page won't be optimized.
We try to maintain a balance by writing headings
that are search engine optimized, and compelling
for the reader. A headline sets up the structure
of the page and entices people to read further.
We try to do both wherever possible.
Your Page Layout Must Be Search Engine Optimized.
Everything about your website must be optimized
for search or you may loose valuable opportunities
to gain new customers. Our websites have generally
the same layout because our research has shown the
layout to be most effective for SEO. While there
are probably many better ways to layout your website,
we prefer the way that the search engines prefer
in effort to attract website traffic.
Your Navigation Will Make or Break Your Search
Rankings. The navigation on your website is integral
to your website for a variety of reasons. First,
it contains links that help the search engine spiders
get to where they need to go on your site. Second,
it contains keywords that help your website get
indexed for search queries.
We strive to create intuitive and easy to use navigation
systems that are search engine optimized. Much thought
goes into the creation of your navigation. Though
it may see strange, your navigation is built for
search engines and people. Whenever possible, we
will add keywords and key phrases to each and every
link of your navigation. Here's some bizarre things
you may encounter on your SEO navigation:
Repetition Keywords: It's important to put keywords
everywhere, including the navigation system. Not
only do the keywords score points for being there,
but the link itself scores double points for linking
to the page it's linking to.
Re-Phrasing of Terminology: Sometimes we will need
to breakdown the way you phrase something in order
to make it match with what people are searching
for in the search engines. If our research shows
that people are not searching for a given term,
we will change it to suit the search queries of
the customers you want to win.
Localization is A Sticky Situation. Many of The
Marketing Shop website clients are those seeking
web marketing in a local vicinity. We do our best
to bring you customers only from the area you request.
However, there are times when our keyword research
concludes that people are just not searching for
your local area and we have to optimize more broadly.
If this is the case, rest assured that targeting
the broader area will still render results in your
local area due to our expertise in local web marketing.
Each Page is Only Optimized for One or Two Phrases.
The most successful web pages for search engines
are optimized for only one or two keyword phrases.
That means the title is about one thing and the
page contains the same keywords sprinkled throughout
with plenty of links reflecting the same keywords
too.
Images are Invisible to Search Engines. If you
were expecting a website to be a lead-generator
that has more visual appeal and aesthetic stimulation,
please reconsider. Images are invisible to search
engines. Studies also show that people want information
when they come on the web as opposed to a colorful
"website brochure."
Content is King. Content is king for a variety
of reasons including for search engine optimization,
for website conversion enhancement and for inclusion
into Google.
Search Engines: Search engines can read only text.
It makes sense to keep fresh, relevant content on
your site for search engine crawlers.
Website Conversion Enhancement: People are on the
web to get information, not to read brochures. The
more information you provide for them, the "stickier"
your website becomes and the more people will bookmark
your site and rely on it for pertinent information.
(See article on web content.)
Also, people who get free and valuable information
from your website are more likely to rely and depend
upon you when they're ready to purchase goods and
services. It's a "give before you get"
mentality that really works. Offer information and
your website visitors will reward you with loyalty.
Another way good web content affects your website's
conversion capabilities is by showing your clients
how you operate. Your web content is very telling
as to the goods and services you provide. If you
skimp on your content and your competitor does not,
your competitor will win the business. Your prospects
may wonder why you're not offering adequate information.
Do you not know what you're doing? Do you have something
to hide? Will you skimp later? It's best to just
ante up the info immediately.
Google has strict requirements for it's top search
result contenders, including inclusion in the DMOZ.
The DMOZ is a human edited directory that requires
unique and informative content as a barrier to entry.
We're in the Information Age, time to step it up
and provide useful information.
The World is Changing and Your Customer is Well
Informed. Why bother creating websites that are
valuable to our website visitors? Because your customer
is different today than ever before. Information
is readily available to everyone. The person who
gives out information most efficiently is the one
people will rely on to do business with in the future.
Customers are well informed, savvy and able to get
information at the click of a mouse. We need to
step out of the box and cater to the new consumer.
SEO Sites Can be Tacky. There are websites out
there that try to capitalize on knowledge of search
engine optimization by adding keywords flagrantly
and abusing the system. The Marketing Shop will
never do that as we rely only on ethical search
engine optimization techniques. We care more about
people than we do about search engine rankings.
The only time we'll put machines over people is
when it's very important to the overall SEO success
of your website. Other times, we try to appeal human
visitors most of all.
Conclusion
Before you get started, make sure you understand
what it takes to get to the top of the search engines.
Good foundational knowledge in SEO will help your
site be more successful, and save your web designer
and SEO professional a ton of headaches in trying
to get you to understand what's what. Please understand
that The Marketing Shop will do nothing to your
website without having a good reason for doing so.
Please ask questions before you get frustrated.
About the author:
Jennifer Ryan of The Marketing Shop is a web promotions
and sales expert. Having earned numerous awards,
recognition and financial success in sales, Jennifer
now sells Dallas web design online for businesses
worldwide. Visit http://www.the-marketing-shop.com
today to sign up for her monthly newsletter (generous
with free tips and advice!).
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