This last week I came across a good example of a web site not well optimized or developed for search engines.  So, here I am writing and asking you this question. Is your web site search engine optimized?

I love searching for products and people in search engines. (Primarily in Google since it’s the “big kahuna!”) Last week, I was given a recommended name and wanted to see if they were listed in Google and if I could figure out what company they worked for. The only thing I knew was that the person lived locally, here in South Florida.

The person’s first name was very common but I found a page with information about the work team with this possible person on the team. But interestingly enough, from this landing page, I could not tell what the name of the company was!

Now you and I know that if you look at the URL, you can navigate around the website. But for the average user who doesn’t have much web knowledge, they would be lost and would walk away from that landing page. So, to sum it up,  what was the problem I encountered?

In the literal sense, the page didn’t have any navigation  so I couldn’t see the home page with the name of the company! It was a site built with frames! I am going to use this experience for your benefit. Does your site have pages that will give the user answers or knowledge to what they are seeking?

When someone lands on one of your web pages in search engine results, is the web page optimized to guide them to what they are looking for? Whether a navigation bar, a product, contact information or something else, will the user leave or stay and be satisfied?

If you are not sure, contact us now! You want customers and clients to be happy with a user friendly website. We will be glad to look at your website for a free consultation and see if you are optimized for search engine success!

What are some of the key factors of SEO?

1) On page optimization – Tags (title description, keyword, headings, body copy) along with a clear subject matter focus

2) Hyperlinks - Inbound links, outbound links, internal links. (gives page rank)

3) Content- Clear subject matter focus built with sentence structure and good keywords

4) Video/Audio – Added to site and to social sites; adding meta tags

5) Marketing – Adding blogs, news press, articles, etc. to other sites to market your own site with hyperlinks

6) Spidering – Crawlable html and xml sitemaps

Google has over 200 variables in the algorithm.  Take advantage of the opportunities and optimize as much as possible!

Note the story below about Kourtney Kardashian. This is why I have a passion for search engine optimization! After talking to her boyfriend and friends, where did she go looking for information? She went to the internet! (Which normally means a search engine such as Google.)   Search engine marketing is the key when millions of folks are looking for information on the internet. In this case, the outcome is a saved life! Here is the article:

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Kourtney Kardashian is expecting her first child with on-again, off-again boyfriend Scott Disick, and tells PEOPLE how she made the decision to keep the baby.

“I definitely thought about it long and hard, about if I wanted to keep the baby or not, and I wasn’t thinking about adoption,” she said.   “I do think every woman should have the right to do what they want, but I don’t think it’s talked through enough. I can’t even tell you how many people just say, ‘Oh, get an abortion.’ Like it’s not a big deal,” she added.

Disick, for his part, has been supportive. The couple split after two years of dating last November, but got back together shortly after Kourtney found out she was pregnant.

“He wanted me to talk about it more, but I just kept to myself. He said, ‘I really want you to keep it, but I will support you whatever you decide to do,’” she described of Scott’s input.

Then the reality star turned to her friends for advice.

“I called my best friend crying, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ She said, ‘Call your doctor, and at least find out the risks and stuff.’”

Then she took her search for answers to the Internet. “I looked online, and I was sitting on the bed hysterically crying, reading these stories of people who felt so guilty from having an abortion. I was reading these things of how many people are traumatized by it afterwards.”

By then, her decision was made. “I was just sitting there crying, thinking, ‘I can’t do that.’ And I felt in my body, this is meant to be. God does things for a reason, and I just felt like it was the right thing that was happening in my life.”

“For me, all the reasons why I wouldn’t keep the baby were so selfish: It wasn’t like I was raped, it’s not like I’m 16. I’m 30 years old, I make my own money, I support myself, I can afford to have a baby. And I am with someone who I love, and have been with for a long time.

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To conclude:
The internet is a powerful tool that influences people twenty-four hours a day! What they wear or buy, what they read, and in this case, if they live or die. Wow…as a Christian that makes me think long and hard about a new way to share the love of Jesus Christ. As a Consultant, it makes me add this story to my blog as proof of the power of web marketing!

Are you wondering how to get your website in Google’s listing? Google does not magically pick websites to appear in search results.   Here are some tips for improving your website Google listing:

• Title Tags – Each web page needs good, unique title tags. Google sees this meta tag as the title of your web page.
• Content - Content needs to be written for the web reader and also for Google’s spiders that “reads” your website.
• Keywords – Use good keywords in your title and content. Good keyword phrases are the words people search for in search engines but also consider the  competition from other websites.
• Links – Google looks at hyperlinks (backlinks) to determine how well others value your website. Check out our new site to help because links do matter!
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – Your website needs to be marketed on other web sites for a variety of reasons.
• Social Media Marketing (SMM) – Marketing your website in social networking sites builds trust, respect AND customers!

Google is looking for relevant websites that will give the user results they want. Google’s goal is to give the user authority websites,  related video, and valued websites based from the words entered in their search engine.

Websites lacking good search engine optimization fail to gain traffic and sales from the millions of people searching for relevant information you have. Optimizing your website will help Google rank your website listing!

Internet Marketing is vital if you want your website to be successful. If you are not experienced, it is best to leave this work to professionals who are qualified!

If you are interested in internet marketing consultation, please contact me, Melodie Savoca or Tom Savoca, for web development and search engine optimization. The difference between trying to do web marketing or search engine optimization yourself and hiring a professional, will be the difference in seeing your website rank well in a Google listing.

For those who are new to the web, you might be asking, “What is search engine marketing?” Well you’ve come to the right place if you want a simple answer to a complex question.

Marketing used to mean a lot of money for a newspaper ad or a TV commercial. The goal was to market a product and make you feel like you were missing something if you didn’t have it. This type of marketing is still used but less common.

Search Engine Marketing is an array of vehicles used to get your website in the results of a search someone is looking for. Note the difference! It’s goal is to give the consumer what THEY want! The outcome, if done correctly, is a happy customer who will come back for more!

So what are the different ways to market (also interrelated to Search Engine Optimization, SEO) for a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo? Here are ten examples (not is any specific order) someone can use:

1. Hyperlinks
2. Social Networking (Media)
3. Articles
4. Press Releases
5. Meta tags
6. Graphics
7. Videos
8. RSS
9. Content
10. Banners and Ads – Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

I could write a post for each of these! I hope this helps you understand the complexity of what happens when you type a phrase into a search engine and see the website results. It’s not hocus pocus magic, that’s for sure!

I hope this blog has helped you understand the need for search engine marketing, if YOU want your business to be successful!

Did you decide to dive into internet marketing and create a new website? If so, you’re not alone!  Most business people know there is a lot of potential on the internet. There are literally millions of websites being created which means competition is tough. But it’s not impossible!

Before you start, you need to know that search engine optimization (SEO) needs to be implemented from the very beginning. How so? Starting with the domain name! If you are thinking of building a website, you need to know these five essentials before you take another step!

There are many other variables you  should try to achieve, but these are a must for any business person who wants to be successful in the world wide web!

Is writing web content different then writing a book or magazine? YES, there is a huge difference! Lately, this has been one of my greatest challenges in web marketing.

When you get a book, you tuck yourself in the corner to read for an hour or so. Not so on the web! People use search engines, then have a list of possible sites to glance at. People will decide within three to five seconds if it is worth their time. In other words, people scan the web vs. reading every word and comprehending puns and clever sayings typically done in a book.

So what do you need in writing effective content for the web?

1. Short titles – (avoid puns and clever wording; use 3-8 words)
2. Use good keywords in title and content
3. Make it easy to read – (avoid larger vocabulary and make it easy to read with numbering, bullets,  italics and quotes to grab attention in the content.)
4. Write for the reader not from your perspective – (Instead of saying, “Our Nike athletic shoes are high quality and inexpensive”, write for the user.  “You will love these Nike athletic cross trainer shoes because they are inexpensive and very high quality.”)

Content is King! From an SEO perspective, more content is better then quality. This is very different then writing a book with many edits and reviews.  Competition with web sites are increasing by the second. Now is the time to get a better handle on what web content is needed to grab someones attention and see your site in search engine results.

Google has over 200 variables that determine the position of your web site and it’s results. What I want to stress here are the two key factors needed.

1. Good keywords – Adding good keywords to your web site. People are searching for information, Add keyword phrases that people are searching for.  Here is an example. Someone who is searching for gym shoes will look specifically for Nike or Reebok or the brand and possibly the type such as tennis or basketball shoes. It is important to use keywords phrases instead of basic one word terms.  These keywords are a must in the URL, title tags, and title. (in any of the writing content)

But does this make your site magically appear on the first page of Google? No, it sure doesn’t! Google wants to make sure that what you are searching for is relevant but also popular. So, the question is: How do you make your site popular?

2.  Backlinks to your website – Google primarily determines your popularity by the links going to your site and the web page importance )page rank) of those websites. There are many places and tactics to get backlinks.

• Write in article and link to your website
• Write a press release and link to your website
• Add a link in a blog
• Use social media (Facebook or MySpace or Twitter) and add a link.

There are many other aspects that Google looks at, but these two are the essentials.  Another thing I notice is that writing for the web is VERY different then writing for a book or print.  I’ll write on that in another blog post!

As you know, Google looks at 200 aspects of optimization when rankings sites in their results. Some of the more important are PageRank, inbound links and title tags. Addressing these issues first will help out a lot in improving your google search results.

1) Title tags – Should be focused and unique to each page of the site.

2) Broken links – Google webmaster tools shows broken links from other sites that link to you. If you changed a file name or now you use index.php and they linked to index.htm this error needs to be corrected. It is possible to use an .htaccess file to correct some of this.

3) Link text – All internal and external links should use keywords. Don’t use “click here”

4) Build relationships with other webmasters who will give us good links.