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A small business website can benefit from understanding the key concepts of Link Building, SEO Copywriting Content, Strategic Keyword Research, and Site Visibility in search engines.
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Website Analytics and Site Statistics
I use numerous web analytics tools to ensure sound development and continued improvement of website performance. Google webmaster tools is great for submitting XML site maps, discovering if you have any duplicate metatags, and for diagnosing if there are crawl problems experienced by the Googlebot in spidering your site.
Along the Colorado Front Range area we provide professional Denver SEO Consultant services to clients in all businesses and industries.
Site Server Statistics
Site server statistics or metrics should be offered by your hosting company as a free service for analytics such as referrers, keywords your site is being found for (eg. Hits and visitors), for traffic and error statistics, and for most popular pages. The website statistics tool I’m most familiar with is the Webalizer tool as a server log analysis service, and also the advanced AWStats file log analyzer tool. Again, these services are provided by web hosting companies.
SEO Tools
My favorite free SEO tool for keyword prominence and density is too valuable to reveal freely as my competitors read this blog (sorry). Site analytics and keyword research tools used include Compete.com, the Google Adwords keyword suggestion tool, Keyworddiscovery.com, Spyfu.com, the Seobook.com keyword suggestion tool, the Google Toolbar Page Rank checking tool. The SEO Tool Yahoo Search Explorer is no longer in service unfortunately. Don't Forget Domain-Level Metrics
Also, commonly used in competitor analysis projects are Domain Tools examinations for a closer look at domain-level factors. Alexa is great for domain traffic ranking metrics.
By the way I always renew my domains in five year increments to let the search engines know that I'm serious about the long term success and dedication to the domain and url registration. This simple but powerful practice could make a definite difference on your site’s rankings. Each major search engine has its own proprietary operators and commands to analyze your links and index inclusion. Make sure to have a Robots Text file file residing on your root domain in order to keep in line with good web design and enable spidering of web pages you want included in the indexes.
There are also high investment vendors and companies for Web Analytics such as Omniture.com and Webtrends.com offering a full suite of total business optimization services.
Along the Colorado Front Range area we provide professional Denver SEO Consultant services to clients in all businesses and industries.
Site Server Statistics
Site server statistics or metrics should be offered by your hosting company as a free service for analytics such as referrers, keywords your site is being found for (eg. Hits and visitors), for traffic and error statistics, and for most popular pages. The website statistics tool I’m most familiar with is the Webalizer tool as a server log analysis service, and also the advanced AWStats file log analyzer tool. Again, these services are provided by web hosting companies.
SEO Tools
My favorite free SEO tool for keyword prominence and density is too valuable to reveal freely as my competitors read this blog (sorry). Site analytics and keyword research tools used include Compete.com, the Google Adwords keyword suggestion tool, Keyworddiscovery.com, Spyfu.com, the Seobook.com keyword suggestion tool, the Google Toolbar Page Rank checking tool. The SEO Tool Yahoo Search Explorer is no longer in service unfortunately. Don't Forget Domain-Level Metrics
Also, commonly used in competitor analysis projects are Domain Tools examinations for a closer look at domain-level factors. Alexa is great for domain traffic ranking metrics.
By the way I always renew my domains in five year increments to let the search engines know that I'm serious about the long term success and dedication to the domain and url registration. This simple but powerful practice could make a definite difference on your site’s rankings. Each major search engine has its own proprietary operators and commands to analyze your links and index inclusion. Make sure to have a Robots Text file file residing on your root domain in order to keep in line with good web design and enable spidering of web pages you want included in the indexes.
There are also high investment vendors and companies for Web Analytics such as Omniture.com and Webtrends.com offering a full suite of total business optimization services.
Link Juice and White Hat SEO
Usually you will have one to three primary pages that attract the most search engine hits and site visitors, and you also have one or more web pages that lead to the most business transactions or conversions. The more important a particular web page is, the more link juice you want pointing to it –from both offsite sources and through internal linking (eg. on-site). An Advanced SEO knows the difference between insufficient links, and overdoing links in high volume which is spam.
Link Juice
Link juice is the terminology for passing value and emphasis from one web page to another through web linking. Webmasters need to ensure their content and links are published and designed in order to pass link juice to your most cherished web pages through link attributes such as keyword anchor text, varied anchor text, and a higher volume of hyperlinks as compared to links incoming to less important web pages. This process of designing internal link juice will educate the search engines on which web pages you want to be most important focus for your site. If both you’re unique content and incoming links are good enough, the search engines are likely to reward that web page.
One method to increase the link juice leading into your small business website is to undertake a link building campaign.
Web Page Spidering or Crawling and Algorithms
Web pages are spidered or crawled by bots and evaluated by computer software called algorithms. The objective of an Advanced SEO is to stay in compliance and within guidelines of all major search engines and also serve great web pages to visitors. Since algorithms are non-public documents you need to have a good intuition and feel for what is right.
White Hat SEO
Beyond the algorithms, in some cases your content could be evaluated by a search engine human editor. If your web pages are blatantly and obviously spam they can be manually penalized and knocked down in SERP results or worse. White Hat SEO practices, good copywriting, and good linking practices will avoid the problem of manual penalties. Be sure to keep within the Google webmaster guidelines.
Graphical Images, Alt-tags, & Good SEO Practice
For example with off-page elements using best practice for images, on your web pages make sure to label your image alt-tags accurately and appropriately, and not load your alt-tags with keyword spam. Describe the image or construct a short sentence for the alt tag. Larger images on the page will be seen as more relevant with a higher prominence, as compared to smaller images. For example a large sized header image with appropriate keyword alt tag will deliver prominence and can be good web site design. I try to have several images on a page to make the page more interesting to visitors and to incorporate alt tags and images that are very relevant to the page keyword focus.
Link Juice
Link juice is the terminology for passing value and emphasis from one web page to another through web linking. Webmasters need to ensure their content and links are published and designed in order to pass link juice to your most cherished web pages through link attributes such as keyword anchor text, varied anchor text, and a higher volume of hyperlinks as compared to links incoming to less important web pages. This process of designing internal link juice will educate the search engines on which web pages you want to be most important focus for your site. If both you’re unique content and incoming links are good enough, the search engines are likely to reward that web page.
One method to increase the link juice leading into your small business website is to undertake a link building campaign.
Web Page Spidering or Crawling and Algorithms
Web pages are spidered or crawled by bots and evaluated by computer software called algorithms. The objective of an Advanced SEO is to stay in compliance and within guidelines of all major search engines and also serve great web pages to visitors. Since algorithms are non-public documents you need to have a good intuition and feel for what is right.
White Hat SEO
Beyond the algorithms, in some cases your content could be evaluated by a search engine human editor. If your web pages are blatantly and obviously spam they can be manually penalized and knocked down in SERP results or worse. White Hat SEO practices, good copywriting, and good linking practices will avoid the problem of manual penalties. Be sure to keep within the Google webmaster guidelines.
Graphical Images, Alt-tags, & Good SEO Practice
For example with off-page elements using best practice for images, on your web pages make sure to label your image alt-tags accurately and appropriately, and not load your alt-tags with keyword spam. Describe the image or construct a short sentence for the alt tag. Larger images on the page will be seen as more relevant with a higher prominence, as compared to smaller images. For example a large sized header image with appropriate keyword alt tag will deliver prominence and can be good web site design. I try to have several images on a page to make the page more interesting to visitors and to incorporate alt tags and images that are very relevant to the page keyword focus.
Unique Content and SEO Copywriting
Unique Content is necessary in order to have a high-performing site and stand out. You should never have more than two to three words on a web page that are in the same consecutive order sequence as another competing web page –this is my personal rule. The more unique your content the better.
For more Denver SEO Expert tips on seo copywriting and the subject of SEO visit our main business website.
If you intend to create a site that performs and stands out on it's own, then author and publish unique web content that is keyword rich with high relevance to the main topic keywords. Use of industry-related buzz-terms and higher vocabulary terminologies will help with uniqueness.
SEO Copywriting means designing in all three types of content on a single page –for visitors, for keyword rankings in search engines, and for driving your desired call to action and conversions. You want searchers to find your site through SERP hits and web page visits, and then locate the solution to their problem without them having to waste time. If your site looks reputable, has a professional appearance, and gives the visitor what they seek they will absolutely do business with you.
Pull in hits and visitors with your keywords through search engine optimization (or a PPC program) and then drive them to the right pages with imbedded links or navigational links in your web copy. If your site is large enough, go ahead and install a site search feature.
SEO Copywriting Guidelines include your internal linking and link juice practices by attributing your your highest primary keyword pages additional attention and emphasis not only to attract search engines but more importantly site visits made possible by maintaining high SEO copy writing guidelines standards and principles.
For more Denver SEO Expert tips on seo copywriting and the subject of SEO visit our main business website.
If you intend to create a site that performs and stands out on it's own, then author and publish unique web content that is keyword rich with high relevance to the main topic keywords. Use of industry-related buzz-terms and higher vocabulary terminologies will help with uniqueness.
SEO Copywriting means designing in all three types of content on a single page –for visitors, for keyword rankings in search engines, and for driving your desired call to action and conversions. You want searchers to find your site through SERP hits and web page visits, and then locate the solution to their problem without them having to waste time. If your site looks reputable, has a professional appearance, and gives the visitor what they seek they will absolutely do business with you.
Pull in hits and visitors with your keywords through search engine optimization (or a PPC program) and then drive them to the right pages with imbedded links or navigational links in your web copy. If your site is large enough, go ahead and install a site search feature.
SEO Copywriting Guidelines include your internal linking and link juice practices by attributing your your highest primary keyword pages additional attention and emphasis not only to attract search engines but more importantly site visits made possible by maintaining high SEO copy writing guidelines standards and principles.
Keyword Density and Keyword Prominence
Keyword density on a particular web page should be between 2% to 5% as a rule of thumb. A somewhat higher Keyword Density percentage is acceptable but the higher keyword densities can eventually make reading the page awkward for human visitors, and the keyword density should not reach the level of 5%+ certainly.
Keyword density ratio percentage includes the calculation for both on-page and off-page factors such as image alt tags, title, and metatags, and readable content. After a web page is initially published you can easily spider the page with SEO tools to evaluate density and then make needed adjustments up or down.
Keyword Prominence
Keyword prominence is an attribute that measures the highly emphasized keywords or queries focused upon on that page due to special attributes assigned to the words by web designers. By focusing upon your keywords at the top of the page with multiple occurrences in the top paragraphs and H1 tag for instance, and with larger font and other emphasizing techniques such as underlining, bold, or italics, you can usually achieve a keyword prominence of 60% or higher which is desirable for top level keywords.
Spidering the page with a robot tool will help you identify shortfalls in content such as exceedingly high (or low) keyword density. Web spidering tools also identify useless words such as: you, the, or for, a, with etc which may be edited down in frequency. You want your primary search queries to be denser than useless filler words. Do not try to perfectly design cookie-cutter web pages with perfect keyword density existing on many web pages, or it can be seen as over-optimizing and draw a penalty entitled the OOP or Over Optimization Penalty from major search engines. Mix-up the content design and layout on various web pages so it is less-contrived, your visitors also will appreciate a variety of design elements along with the in-depth professional coverage of the page topic.
Keyword density ratio percentage includes the calculation for both on-page and off-page factors such as image alt tags, title, and metatags, and readable content. After a web page is initially published you can easily spider the page with SEO tools to evaluate density and then make needed adjustments up or down.
Keyword Prominence
Keyword prominence is an attribute that measures the highly emphasized keywords or queries focused upon on that page due to special attributes assigned to the words by web designers. By focusing upon your keywords at the top of the page with multiple occurrences in the top paragraphs and H1 tag for instance, and with larger font and other emphasizing techniques such as underlining, bold, or italics, you can usually achieve a keyword prominence of 60% or higher which is desirable for top level keywords.
Spidering the page with a robot tool will help you identify shortfalls in content such as exceedingly high (or low) keyword density. Web spidering tools also identify useless words such as: you, the, or for, a, with etc which may be edited down in frequency. You want your primary search queries to be denser than useless filler words. Do not try to perfectly design cookie-cutter web pages with perfect keyword density existing on many web pages, or it can be seen as over-optimizing and draw a penalty entitled the OOP or Over Optimization Penalty from major search engines. Mix-up the content design and layout on various web pages so it is less-contrived, your visitors also will appreciate a variety of design elements along with the in-depth professional coverage of the page topic.
Great Web Content
Question: What makes great web site content?
Answer: A lot of hard work!
You should start with the fundamentals of SEO off-page design in the html header information ( title, metatags, H-tags, etc). Keep your code as clean as possible to achieve a low ratio of code to content. Off-page factors also include external links.
All industries that compete online and need marketing advice should contact an advanced SEO consultant firm for immediate support an professional coaching.
It's more expensive but it might make sense to hire a web developer to create W3C Standards Compliant Code. W3C standards compliant code review and corrections services are expensive but would very likely provide you with a competitive advantage and would certainly contribute to a world-class site.
For on-page SEO each web page should have at least 200-300 words (a few hundred words more is good also as long as it's useful and relevant content) preferably in three or more well organized paragraphs with a clear topic of focus in each paragraph. Each block of content should support the top level keyword much the same way as the way an outline does.
Using your keyword plan you should integrate numerous long tail keywords on your web pages supporting your top level keywords, just make sure to not duplicate content on multiple web pages which will confuse the search engines as to which page they should render in results. Navigational links are a minor form of duplicate content.
Duplicate content should be avoided between web pages and can lead to your site's pages ending up in the Google supplemental index which means they’re tucked away and not available in the the main index and SERP results -which is bad. There can be a logical minimal overlap between web pages in your content and links, but, do not optimize for any keyword term(s) on more than one page and be sure to create unique metatags which is often overlooked. A well written paragraph with an H2 tag works perfectly for ranking on long tail keywords, even if the paragraph is far down on the page. I usually have no more than two H2 tag blocks of content on a page.
The most important aspect of your content is to keep it unique and original, next it should be relevant and useful for human visitors. Make sure to include images and professional graphics to make the page attractive and engaging. Online Marketing projects will succeed with keen attention to the details and SEO diligence. Highly relevant content that is well written can do the job nicely along with a professional and diversified link profile.
Answer: A lot of hard work!
You should start with the fundamentals of SEO off-page design in the html header information ( title, metatags, H-tags, etc). Keep your code as clean as possible to achieve a low ratio of code to content. Off-page factors also include external links.
All industries that compete online and need marketing advice should contact an advanced SEO consultant firm for immediate support an professional coaching.
It's more expensive but it might make sense to hire a web developer to create W3C Standards Compliant Code. W3C standards compliant code review and corrections services are expensive but would very likely provide you with a competitive advantage and would certainly contribute to a world-class site.
For on-page SEO each web page should have at least 200-300 words (a few hundred words more is good also as long as it's useful and relevant content) preferably in three or more well organized paragraphs with a clear topic of focus in each paragraph. Each block of content should support the top level keyword much the same way as the way an outline does.
Using your keyword plan you should integrate numerous long tail keywords on your web pages supporting your top level keywords, just make sure to not duplicate content on multiple web pages which will confuse the search engines as to which page they should render in results. Navigational links are a minor form of duplicate content.
Duplicate content should be avoided between web pages and can lead to your site's pages ending up in the Google supplemental index which means they’re tucked away and not available in the the main index and SERP results -which is bad. There can be a logical minimal overlap between web pages in your content and links, but, do not optimize for any keyword term(s) on more than one page and be sure to create unique metatags which is often overlooked. A well written paragraph with an H2 tag works perfectly for ranking on long tail keywords, even if the paragraph is far down on the page. I usually have no more than two H2 tag blocks of content on a page.
The most important aspect of your content is to keep it unique and original, next it should be relevant and useful for human visitors. Make sure to include images and professional graphics to make the page attractive and engaging. Online Marketing projects will succeed with keen attention to the details and SEO diligence. Highly relevant content that is well written can do the job nicely along with a professional and diversified link profile.
Internal Links & Imbedded Web Page Body Copy Links
One of the most underutilized linking practices that can help you move up in the SERPS is Internal Linking or links imbedded in copy which is also known as contextual links. The best link is one that serves multiple objectives thus leveraging the link value due to possessing as many desirable attributes as possible. Since we have complete control of our internal links it makes sense to fully take advantage of multiple feature or multi-purpose links to achieve synergy.
Linking relationships are a critical element needed for high performing websites. Both contextual links in the body of content and interconnecting internal pages can either make or break your web site success.
If your site has three main topics and you have numerous sub-pages associated with broad topic, then make sure to cross-link between all closely associated pages. One to three body of content links is enough -don't overdo internal linking or the human user experience will suffer and they'll abandon your site altogether.
A good site has a consistent design template layout along with a repetitive set of navigational links leading into primary internal pages. Search engines can distinguish between a navigational link (due to duplicate positioning residing on multiple pages of content) and other types of links that are more helpful to achieve your desired search engine marketing goals and objectives. Use your navigational links to get people to the right areas of your site so they can quickly locate content they’re looking for. Design-in links (ie. contextual links) in the body of content to direct visitors to other related-topic web pages or sub-pages.
There can be some overlap in link anchor text between the selected keywords for both the source and destination web pages which makes both pages more relevant. I always make sure that each web page has at least three body of content links, from other internal pages, pointing to them.
One good SEO practice is to always make your internal links absolute value links using the entire http://xxxxx format, versus using relative links having the shortened file extension only.
HTML Site Map and XML Site Maps
All web pages on a site should be listed on an HTML site map page. It is also SEO Best Practice to create an XML sitemap file which can be submitted to Google Webmaster Tools so your freshest content can be indexed immediately. Getting your web pages quickly indexed can help you be identified as the original content author in cases where others are copying or plagiarizing your content.
Linking relationships are a critical element needed for high performing websites. Both contextual links in the body of content and interconnecting internal pages can either make or break your web site success.
If your site has three main topics and you have numerous sub-pages associated with broad topic, then make sure to cross-link between all closely associated pages. One to three body of content links is enough -don't overdo internal linking or the human user experience will suffer and they'll abandon your site altogether.
A good site has a consistent design template layout along with a repetitive set of navigational links leading into primary internal pages. Search engines can distinguish between a navigational link (due to duplicate positioning residing on multiple pages of content) and other types of links that are more helpful to achieve your desired search engine marketing goals and objectives. Use your navigational links to get people to the right areas of your site so they can quickly locate content they’re looking for. Design-in links (ie. contextual links) in the body of content to direct visitors to other related-topic web pages or sub-pages.
There can be some overlap in link anchor text between the selected keywords for both the source and destination web pages which makes both pages more relevant. I always make sure that each web page has at least three body of content links, from other internal pages, pointing to them.
One good SEO practice is to always make your internal links absolute value links using the entire http://xxxxx format, versus using relative links having the shortened file extension only.
HTML Site Map and XML Site Maps
All web pages on a site should be listed on an HTML site map page. It is also SEO Best Practice to create an XML sitemap file which can be submitted to Google Webmaster Tools so your freshest content can be indexed immediately. Getting your web pages quickly indexed can help you be identified as the original content author in cases where others are copying or plagiarizing your content.
Web Directories & Web Linking Concepts
There are easily about thirty to forty great directories that pass page rank value and link juice, and are actually worth the money and time submitting to. I always choose quality directories over quantity of directories because any technique used in unusually high volume can be considered spam. The best web directories are human edited and have large quantities of inbound links that are already indexed in Google. Some free web directories are worth submitting to even with the associated downfalls and additional requirements such as requiring a reciprocal link back. Usually free web directories take longer -multiple weeks or months to approve your submission making them less desirable versus paid directories that review quickly. Try not to submit to more than one web directory hosted on the same Class C Block IP address. In short both paid and free directories can be of value, but paid directories accelerate indexed backlinks.
Deep Linking Directories
The first couple of months on a new site linking campaign I will consistently submit to valuable directories, then in the coming month(s) submit to the remaining list of great directories that have good deep linking features included. I keep an updated list of great deep linking directories that provide links to your site's internal pages.
Fundamental Web Linking Concepts
There are fundamental reasons for links that should be stated. You want your site spidered regularly and indexed in the search engines; you want sufficient link popularity meaning a high quantity multiple-keyword incoming links to compete with other sites that have already established their search visibility; and you want highly focused keyword anchor text links passing value and supporting the most difficult search queries you're trying to rank for.
The Right Links & Less Desirable Links
You want a higher quantity of links that are narrowly focused for your top level keywords, and you also want a lesser quantity of links supporting your long-tail keywords or secondary keywords identified in your H2 tags. Less desirable links are those that are positioned in the header, footer, or margin of a web page, or links that are surrounded by blank space, sponsored content, links going to other outside low Page Rank sites, or links originating on non-indexed low-value pages. You want links that have keyword anchor text supporting your keyword and page ranking objectives -links that originate on good web pages.
More desirable are contextual links that are surrounded by topical word content making them more beneficial to your site and more relevant. Natural Links imbedded into the natural flow of body and sentence content that don’t appear so blatant are best, whether originating on your site or an external web page. Don't forget to mix up your anchor text with different sequences of keyword(s) order.
In general I have found that directories, blogs, and your own content are the best sources to begin establishing the kind of links you need.
Deep Linking Directories
The first couple of months on a new site linking campaign I will consistently submit to valuable directories, then in the coming month(s) submit to the remaining list of great directories that have good deep linking features included. I keep an updated list of great deep linking directories that provide links to your site's internal pages.
Fundamental Web Linking Concepts
There are fundamental reasons for links that should be stated. You want your site spidered regularly and indexed in the search engines; you want sufficient link popularity meaning a high quantity multiple-keyword incoming links to compete with other sites that have already established their search visibility; and you want highly focused keyword anchor text links passing value and supporting the most difficult search queries you're trying to rank for.
The Right Links & Less Desirable Links
You want a higher quantity of links that are narrowly focused for your top level keywords, and you also want a lesser quantity of links supporting your long-tail keywords or secondary keywords identified in your H2 tags. Less desirable links are those that are positioned in the header, footer, or margin of a web page, or links that are surrounded by blank space, sponsored content, links going to other outside low Page Rank sites, or links originating on non-indexed low-value pages. You want links that have keyword anchor text supporting your keyword and page ranking objectives -links that originate on good web pages.
More desirable are contextual links that are surrounded by topical word content making them more beneficial to your site and more relevant. Natural Links imbedded into the natural flow of body and sentence content that don’t appear so blatant are best, whether originating on your site or an external web page. Don't forget to mix up your anchor text with different sequences of keyword(s) order.
In general I have found that directories, blogs, and your own content are the best sources to begin establishing the kind of links you need.
Inbound Links and a Diversified Link Profile
Linking is a wide-ranging topic because there are many types of links, reasons for links, and because of the special relationship that exists between links and content.
Good linking relationships and practices are necessary in order to achieve superior SERP (ie. search engine results pages) results and desired web search visibility. It’s important to have a working understanding of all the different link purposes. The objective of this blog section is not to convey every single aspect of linking (ie. How to Link), the objective is to point out how linking relationships fit in to the broad picture.
Inbound Links
Inbound links are live hyperlinks published on other domains that lead direcly to your site. Common sources of inbound links are hyperlinks from websites published by other webmasters, web directories both paid and unpaid, blogs in the blogosphere, online press releases, article distribution services, newswire services, social media sites, Wikis like Aboutus.org, links that you initiate and links that other webmasters initiate voluntarily in seeking a reciprocal link exchange, and unfortunately in rare cases there can be malicious links that need to be uncovered and identified originating from from Black Hat SEOs that seek to damage your online reputation.
The link hierarchy concept places value on the different types of link building techniques.
One great source of BOTH targeted traffic and inbound links is Article Distribution Services. Writing good topical articles and publishing them in Article Directories is a solid strategy for linking. Our favorite article directories include: Ezinearticles.com, Goarticles.com, and Articledashboard.com. There are a multitude of worthy free sites to publish your relevant articles for your industry niche.
All Links Are Not Created Equal
Inbound links are needed in order to get your website spidered. I believe good inbound links provide more value than the results from submitting to search engines. You want links: from web pages with high Google page rank (PR), from web pages gaining PR, from web pages with as few outgoing links as possible, from web pages with similar topic content. You want links: with relevant surrounding contextual content with keyword anchor text. You want links from a site’s home page if possible, next in priority is from a site's internal pages. You want links from sites having good incoming link popularity and link authority - which creates for you a high link equity backlink! Site-wide links (ie. ROS, run of site links) from each and every page of a particular site leading into your site could well be seen as spam so this practice should be avoided. You want links pointing to your single top-level keywords pages, but just as important to move your site up in relevance you want deep links leading to your internal pages with your long-tail keywords which establishes a more natural appearing link profile.
With the right kind of good inbound link reputation links you will likely not need ongoing submissions of your site to the major search engines. I usually submit the home page one time to the major search engines and then never submit again. With good search visibility your existing content and fresh content coming online will be discovered naturally and indexed.
Diversified Link Profile
Good linking relationships and practices are necessary in order to achieve superior SERP (ie. search engine results pages) results and desired web search visibility. It’s important to have a working understanding of all the different link purposes. The objective of this blog section is not to convey every single aspect of linking (ie. How to Link), the objective is to point out how linking relationships fit in to the broad picture.
Inbound Links
Inbound links are live hyperlinks published on other domains that lead direcly to your site. Common sources of inbound links are hyperlinks from websites published by other webmasters, web directories both paid and unpaid, blogs in the blogosphere, online press releases, article distribution services, newswire services, social media sites, Wikis like Aboutus.org, links that you initiate and links that other webmasters initiate voluntarily in seeking a reciprocal link exchange, and unfortunately in rare cases there can be malicious links that need to be uncovered and identified originating from from Black Hat SEOs that seek to damage your online reputation.
The link hierarchy concept places value on the different types of link building techniques.
One great source of BOTH targeted traffic and inbound links is Article Distribution Services. Writing good topical articles and publishing them in Article Directories is a solid strategy for linking. Our favorite article directories include: Ezinearticles.com, Goarticles.com, and Articledashboard.com. There are a multitude of worthy free sites to publish your relevant articles for your industry niche.
All Links Are Not Created Equal
Inbound links are needed in order to get your website spidered. I believe good inbound links provide more value than the results from submitting to search engines. You want links: from web pages with high Google page rank (PR), from web pages gaining PR, from web pages with as few outgoing links as possible, from web pages with similar topic content. You want links: with relevant surrounding contextual content with keyword anchor text. You want links from a site’s home page if possible, next in priority is from a site's internal pages. You want links from sites having good incoming link popularity and link authority - which creates for you a high link equity backlink! Site-wide links (ie. ROS, run of site links) from each and every page of a particular site leading into your site could well be seen as spam so this practice should be avoided. You want links pointing to your single top-level keywords pages, but just as important to move your site up in relevance you want deep links leading to your internal pages with your long-tail keywords which establishes a more natural appearing link profile.
With the right kind of good inbound link reputation links you will likely not need ongoing submissions of your site to the major search engines. I usually submit the home page one time to the major search engines and then never submit again. With good search visibility your existing content and fresh content coming online will be discovered naturally and indexed.
Diversified Link Profile
A diversified link profile is needed where your inbound links originate from five or more types of content (ieg. social networking sites, social bookmarking sites, blogs, other web sites, directories, articles, press releases, and RSS Feeds. By examining your competitors’ links in the your competitive analysis phase you can get a reasonable idea of your competitors' most valuable sources for links links as they're generally listed in order of priority in the search engine operators reporting results.
You can also set up your own Google Profiles page to add to your online visibility. We have set up a Google Denver SEO Consultants profiles page for example to help our link profile.
Examining Competitors' Links
Uncovering your competitors' web links is easily accomplished using the different SEO Tools and search engine operators that are free and easily accessible.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is the foundation from which to start the project of building a successful site.
Keyword research is not difficult, but must be comprehensive and ongoing in order to compete and win on the web, and especially to create a relevant site. I use numerous analytical tools and sites to perform keyword research such as Worktracker, Keyword Discovery, Google Adwords Keyword Tool, and Compete.
Google Adwords keyword tool is great to discover related topics and search terms for new web page ideas and to get ideas on keywords that are associated with your topic that you might have missed or overlooked.
The overall objective for keyword research is to identify keywords and keyword phrases: for top level keywords; for long-tail keywords; for supporting query space industry buzz words and terminology terms that can be integrated into your content; to identify higher KEI keyword opportunities; to identify keywords your competitors are ranking and optimizing for; and to get as many ideas as possible for fresh web page content that may be indexed and help reinforce your site's theme and overall relevance -creating high authority site.
Keyword Research is one area where the client should make some decisions depending upon what they want their site to be about and their overall budget for creating additional web pages of supporting and related content topics.
Keyword research is not difficult, but must be comprehensive and ongoing in order to compete and win on the web, and especially to create a relevant site. I use numerous analytical tools and sites to perform keyword research such as Worktracker, Keyword Discovery, Google Adwords Keyword Tool, and Compete.
Google Adwords keyword tool is great to discover related topics and search terms for new web page ideas and to get ideas on keywords that are associated with your topic that you might have missed or overlooked.
The overall objective for keyword research is to identify keywords and keyword phrases: for top level keywords; for long-tail keywords; for supporting query space industry buzz words and terminology terms that can be integrated into your content; to identify higher KEI keyword opportunities; to identify keywords your competitors are ranking and optimizing for; and to get as many ideas as possible for fresh web page content that may be indexed and help reinforce your site's theme and overall relevance -creating high authority site.
Keyword Research is one area where the client should make some decisions depending upon what they want their site to be about and their overall budget for creating additional web pages of supporting and related content topics.
Four Steps for Search Engine Optimization
The four main interrelated areas of knowledge for search engine optimization are keyword research, content organization, search visibility, and linking relationships.
If your small business is seeking a Littleton, CO SEO Consultant we offer professional SEO Services along the Colorado Front Range.
Keyword Research
Extensive keyword research using analytical tools is the first step, taking into consideration how people search, search engines algorithms, your own site keyword objectives, and your competitors’ keywords.
Content Organization
It’s not only quality content but well organized content showing focus and emphasis that is needed. Think of a web page as an outline: title, meta data, and well organized paragraphs with relevant content supporting H tag headings. Blocks of content in paragraphs using appropriate emphasis is powerful and effective. Sometimes SEOs ignore the most basic and fundamental concepts.
Search Visibility
Search visibility is the intersection of links and content. You need inbound links, excellent internal linking (often underutilized as a technique), good site architecture, and well-organized content so the website has a natural flow of both links and content internally from web page to web page. Optimizing pages with keywords should pull in targeted search engine traffic, then it’s up to the web design to direct visitors towards the call to action –whether it is to fill in a form, complete a transaction, or pick up the phone and call. The end result of search visibility is targeted traffic matching your keyword plan, a great user experience with visitors staying on the site longer and visiting more and more pages, and a site that performs based upon its chosen keywords. Other topics that contribute to search visibility are site uptime and your robots.txt file.
Linking Relationships
You need inbound links, internal links, and outbound links connecting to the web. If a site has three broad topics with multiple web pages on each topic, the topical web pages should be cross-linked from within the body of content. Human visitors can handle about eight links per page easily, more than that can be confusing. You need planned anchor text links leading to your home page, but in addition for great search visibility and relevance you need deep links into your most important internal web pages.
If your small business is seeking a Littleton, CO SEO Consultant we offer professional SEO Services along the Colorado Front Range.
Keyword Research
Extensive keyword research using analytical tools is the first step, taking into consideration how people search, search engines algorithms, your own site keyword objectives, and your competitors’ keywords.
Content Organization
It’s not only quality content but well organized content showing focus and emphasis that is needed. Think of a web page as an outline: title, meta data, and well organized paragraphs with relevant content supporting H tag headings. Blocks of content in paragraphs using appropriate emphasis is powerful and effective. Sometimes SEOs ignore the most basic and fundamental concepts.
Search Visibility
Search visibility is the intersection of links and content. You need inbound links, excellent internal linking (often underutilized as a technique), good site architecture, and well-organized content so the website has a natural flow of both links and content internally from web page to web page. Optimizing pages with keywords should pull in targeted search engine traffic, then it’s up to the web design to direct visitors towards the call to action –whether it is to fill in a form, complete a transaction, or pick up the phone and call. The end result of search visibility is targeted traffic matching your keyword plan, a great user experience with visitors staying on the site longer and visiting more and more pages, and a site that performs based upon its chosen keywords. Other topics that contribute to search visibility are site uptime and your robots.txt file.
Linking Relationships
You need inbound links, internal links, and outbound links connecting to the web. If a site has three broad topics with multiple web pages on each topic, the topical web pages should be cross-linked from within the body of content. Human visitors can handle about eight links per page easily, more than that can be confusing. You need planned anchor text links leading to your home page, but in addition for great search visibility and relevance you need deep links into your most important internal web pages.
Competitive Analysis and Reverse Engineering Other Websites
In the preceding four years I have been reverse engineering many hundreds of websites for strengths and weaknesses. These examinations have been completed both for my business competitive query space, and also for other more competitive query spaces in other markets. The objective was to learn as many characteristics and attributes as possible that were present on high ranking sites (and to beat the competition).
This examination process has given me practical field knowledge and valuable insight into the ongoing evolution of online search. Good content and links generate consistency and a solid foundation that will always be a mainstay of high-performing sites. The topic of content is very broad and goes beyond keywords and basic topical information. I have observed and applied new content upgrade techniques such as those learned through studying Latent Semantic Indexing for example.
Links continually challenge us because it is an important area in which to stay ahead of the game. Links deserve careful observation and continual learning due to the continual search engine algorithm tweeks and updates placing more value, or less value on certain link types. For example the introduction of social media marketing and social media optimization brought about new linking opportunities, but along with that opportunity came overindulgence practices by spammers and thus a reaction and clamp down by social media site overseers and search engines regarding recognition of these types of links. Many social media sites now include no-follow links which limits the ability to pass page rank value to the destination site.
Reverse Engineering Websites
There are a few things I look at when reverse engineering competitors' websites. The first thing I look at usually is their incoming links. By examining a site's back links you can not only identify link popularity but identify the most important sites and partners that are connecting to them. The obvious goal is to get links for our client published on any worthy sites discovered that will pass value to our site. Look at your competitors' link profile -where are the majority of their links coming from? Look at how many pages they have already indexed in the Google main index to get an idea on the amount of work required to meet a challenge, and look at the page rank achieved on those indexed pages as an indicator. Most of this topic will be covered on other link-related pages of this blog. What is the degree of thoroughness and complexity in the content of your competitor? How many keywords to they have content written for?
Competitive Analysis
Any particular site will have its own strengths and weaknesses affecting rankings, and any particular factor or combination of factors can be the catalyst for achieving, or not achieving, rankings and success. By reviewing and examining top sites and higher-ranking sites in our own search query space and by knowing the universal factors present for top ranking sites it’s not difficult to set a working agenda for our own site, plus implement SEO Best Practice methods that our competitive analysis has brought to our attention where our competitors aren't yet using those techniques.
This examination process has given me practical field knowledge and valuable insight into the ongoing evolution of online search. Good content and links generate consistency and a solid foundation that will always be a mainstay of high-performing sites. The topic of content is very broad and goes beyond keywords and basic topical information. I have observed and applied new content upgrade techniques such as those learned through studying Latent Semantic Indexing for example.
Links continually challenge us because it is an important area in which to stay ahead of the game. Links deserve careful observation and continual learning due to the continual search engine algorithm tweeks and updates placing more value, or less value on certain link types. For example the introduction of social media marketing and social media optimization brought about new linking opportunities, but along with that opportunity came overindulgence practices by spammers and thus a reaction and clamp down by social media site overseers and search engines regarding recognition of these types of links. Many social media sites now include no-follow links which limits the ability to pass page rank value to the destination site.
Reverse Engineering Websites
There are a few things I look at when reverse engineering competitors' websites. The first thing I look at usually is their incoming links. By examining a site's back links you can not only identify link popularity but identify the most important sites and partners that are connecting to them. The obvious goal is to get links for our client published on any worthy sites discovered that will pass value to our site. Look at your competitors' link profile -where are the majority of their links coming from? Look at how many pages they have already indexed in the Google main index to get an idea on the amount of work required to meet a challenge, and look at the page rank achieved on those indexed pages as an indicator. Most of this topic will be covered on other link-related pages of this blog. What is the degree of thoroughness and complexity in the content of your competitor? How many keywords to they have content written for?
Competitive Analysis
Any particular site will have its own strengths and weaknesses affecting rankings, and any particular factor or combination of factors can be the catalyst for achieving, or not achieving, rankings and success. By reviewing and examining top sites and higher-ranking sites in our own search query space and by knowing the universal factors present for top ranking sites it’s not difficult to set a working agenda for our own site, plus implement SEO Best Practice methods that our competitive analysis has brought to our attention where our competitors aren't yet using those techniques.
Four Cornerstones for Achieving Online Success
There are four corners that need to be covered, analyzed and mastered in order to succeed with organic web search: the search engines’ algorithms; what other people do with their websites; the online search behavior patterns of human beings; and what you do with your own website.
An advanced SEO has a good understanding of the interrelationships between these four areas, as well as the features and characteristics of a world-class website which you're seeking to create. Beyond our own search engine optimization practices which are fully under our control, mastering the other three outside elements are mandatory in order to achieve online success. A weakness in full understanding of any of these four areas may doom a campaign.
The good news is that an Advanced SEO has worked in-depth in all four corners and knows what to do. SEO Best Practices covers what you do with your own website. Competitive analysis and reverse engineering covers the element of your competition. Keyword research covers how people search for information on the internet. Search engines' algorithms are ever changing and need to be constantly studied and examined, however by focusing on quality content and avoiding spam you should be in synch with the search engines good practice and prevent problems.
An advanced SEO has a good understanding of the interrelationships between these four areas, as well as the features and characteristics of a world-class website which you're seeking to create. Beyond our own search engine optimization practices which are fully under our control, mastering the other three outside elements are mandatory in order to achieve online success. A weakness in full understanding of any of these four areas may doom a campaign.
The good news is that an Advanced SEO has worked in-depth in all four corners and knows what to do. SEO Best Practices covers what you do with your own website. Competitive analysis and reverse engineering covers the element of your competition. Keyword research covers how people search for information on the internet. Search engines' algorithms are ever changing and need to be constantly studied and examined, however by focusing on quality content and avoiding spam you should be in synch with the search engines good practice and prevent problems.
Selling SEO Services and Web Search Visibility
In order for the client to fully embrace web marketing via SEO it is useful to inform them generously on the various components and contributing factors of SEO, how they work together, how they impact a site, and what’s possible to achieve through a comprehensive SEO campaign initiated by experts. The better information a client receives in the Selling SEO Services front-end process the better they can make appropriate decisions and stay committed to the process. SEO is a process and not an event and clients should understand this -especially if they want to win. It is helpful to get an idea for the end result they have in mind and are willing to pay for in the SEO campaign.
One key concept for Web Search Visibility is in Social Media Marketing or SMM. Sometimes you just have to dive in. One example of SMM is in using the many online services to mash together the many options available which helps your Site Visibility.
Do You Want To Participate, Compete, or WIN?
For example does the client want to Participate, Compete, or Win, which basically comes down to working with the right SEO and then investing the necessary time and capital. Basic SEO services can definitely improve their web search visibility so they can Participate in the search query space on chosen keywords. More work is needed in order to successfully Compete with a higher level of expectation with other indexed sites already employing SEO experts.
For me personally, to Win means top three or four SERP position achievement on Google for high volume keywords along with consistent SERP results over a period of several months or longer. Given the correct information regarding SEO practice business owners can choose what they want worked on and the associated time schedule.
A few important questions to ask business owners are: how are you currently marketing your business; how are you currently using your website; do you know what keywords are delivering traffic to your existing site now; how important is it for you to market your business on the internet in the short-term, medium-term and in your long-term business plan; do you want both a PPC and an SEO campaign; and do you realize what is realistically possible to achieve through SEO? Well, we know what is possible, and what it will take. It shouldn't be necessary for an SEO to make claims or promises in advance on what SERP results a particular client will achieve; set realistic expectations together and then get the ball rolling and keep it moving down the field.
At the beginning of a project a business owner needs to weigh all the factors and make the key business decision as far as scrapping or reconstructing the old site or building an entirely new search engine friendly site. In some cases, especially where site architecture, URL structure and design has been poor, it could make sense and provide a higher return on investment by starting over.
Web Search Visibility
One major determing factor in the decision to reconstruct the existing site, or start over, has to do with their existing web search visibility. Quality of inbound links; search engine indexing; well organized and well written content; and link flow dispersing the link juice within the site will help determine the probability that existing or new blocks of content will be discovered by search engines and delivered to the eyes of visitors.
What you do not want at the beginning of any SEO campaign is to be saddled with multiple built-in limitations and constraints due to site design or problems such as crawling or spidering issues. Another key factor before starting any new client campaign is whether they compete locally or nationally or internationally, as that will drive the keyword plan, content strategy, and the linking strategy portions of the campaign.
Code to Text Ratio
One key element I examine when working to improve a website's SERP performance and search visibility of the individual web pages is the Code to Text Ratio. This SEO metric gives you the percentage of text on a web page counting as content that visitors actually see. For a web page to be relevant for search visibility for a keyword you need plenty of unique text -I shoot for around 30% text minimum.
Web Search Visibility with RSS Feeds
We're a fan of utilizing the free tools readily available on the internet for distribution of web and blog content. One effective web marketing promotion strategy is to not only create a business blog, but to distribute the blog in the form of RSS Feeds in blog directories and free RSS syndication services that are powerful and simple to distribute content that can be indexed and crawled by webbots automatically. We also regularly have the blog directories and other social media marketing promotion sites PING our blogs so the most recent blog entries can be crawled to maximize visibility and indexing.
Local Search
If your customer strategy is based locally then make sure you create an online presence in your local state and community. This is preferable for highly targeted traffic. Local search sites include Superpages.com, CitySearch, Yellowpages.com, and Local.com to name a few.
One key concept for Web Search Visibility is in Social Media Marketing or SMM. Sometimes you just have to dive in. One example of SMM is in using the many online services to mash together the many options available which helps your Site Visibility.
Do You Want To Participate, Compete, or WIN?
For example does the client want to Participate, Compete, or Win, which basically comes down to working with the right SEO and then investing the necessary time and capital. Basic SEO services can definitely improve their web search visibility so they can Participate in the search query space on chosen keywords. More work is needed in order to successfully Compete with a higher level of expectation with other indexed sites already employing SEO experts.
For me personally, to Win means top three or four SERP position achievement on Google for high volume keywords along with consistent SERP results over a period of several months or longer. Given the correct information regarding SEO practice business owners can choose what they want worked on and the associated time schedule.
A few important questions to ask business owners are: how are you currently marketing your business; how are you currently using your website; do you know what keywords are delivering traffic to your existing site now; how important is it for you to market your business on the internet in the short-term, medium-term and in your long-term business plan; do you want both a PPC and an SEO campaign; and do you realize what is realistically possible to achieve through SEO? Well, we know what is possible, and what it will take. It shouldn't be necessary for an SEO to make claims or promises in advance on what SERP results a particular client will achieve; set realistic expectations together and then get the ball rolling and keep it moving down the field.
At the beginning of a project a business owner needs to weigh all the factors and make the key business decision as far as scrapping or reconstructing the old site or building an entirely new search engine friendly site. In some cases, especially where site architecture, URL structure and design has been poor, it could make sense and provide a higher return on investment by starting over.
Web Search Visibility
One major determing factor in the decision to reconstruct the existing site, or start over, has to do with their existing web search visibility. Quality of inbound links; search engine indexing; well organized and well written content; and link flow dispersing the link juice within the site will help determine the probability that existing or new blocks of content will be discovered by search engines and delivered to the eyes of visitors.
What you do not want at the beginning of any SEO campaign is to be saddled with multiple built-in limitations and constraints due to site design or problems such as crawling or spidering issues. Another key factor before starting any new client campaign is whether they compete locally or nationally or internationally, as that will drive the keyword plan, content strategy, and the linking strategy portions of the campaign.
Code to Text Ratio
One key element I examine when working to improve a website's SERP performance and search visibility of the individual web pages is the Code to Text Ratio. This SEO metric gives you the percentage of text on a web page counting as content that visitors actually see. For a web page to be relevant for search visibility for a keyword you need plenty of unique text -I shoot for around 30% text minimum.
Web Search Visibility with RSS Feeds
We're a fan of utilizing the free tools readily available on the internet for distribution of web and blog content. One effective web marketing promotion strategy is to not only create a business blog, but to distribute the blog in the form of RSS Feeds in blog directories and free RSS syndication services that are powerful and simple to distribute content that can be indexed and crawled by webbots automatically. We also regularly have the blog directories and other social media marketing promotion sites PING our blogs so the most recent blog entries can be crawled to maximize visibility and indexing.
Local Search
If your customer strategy is based locally then make sure you create an online presence in your local state and community. This is preferable for highly targeted traffic. Local search sites include Superpages.com, CitySearch, Yellowpages.com, and Local.com to name a few.
Advanced SEO, Intermediate and Beginning SEO
There are three levels of SEO: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced SEO.
A Beginning SEO should know and apply all the SEO basic fundamentals and mechanics of keyword density and keyword prominence, alt tags, title, meta tags, header tags, all content emphasis techniques (ie. bold, underline, italics, font etc), what makes a relevant web page from a search engine's point of view, how to get a site indexed quickly, how to acquire some good inbound links and provide guidance on basic internal linking, know what makes a good site structure and URL structure, and know both on-page and off-pageSEO techniques and strategies.
An Intermediate SEO should have additional skills in competent SEO copywriting, developing and implementing a broad-based or diversified link profile, good communication skills for all levels of the client and the employer organization, analytical tools experience and competence for all that is required, advanced keyword research skills leading to a full keyword plan, full competitive site evaluation capability being able to identify strengths and shortfalls related to their site, and their competition’s site, as well as firm strategies to move the campaign to higher and higher steps or levels, plus be able to perform high quality work output efficiently, effectively, and consistently for all projects and tasks undertaken (long sentence I know) with little to no supervision. An intermediate SEO should also understand different important aspects regarding domains, site uptime, hosting sources, and domain ranking factors.
An Advanced SEO has had complete management and control over SEO campaigns on numerous sites, and has achieved multiple top ranking positions on these sites for competitive search queries (ie. over 250 daily Google searches) on the three major search engines. An advanced SEO can be effective with campaigns for all industries and all types of sites (eg. static, dynamic) with all types of clients, has been in the trenches for 3-5+ years working online knowing who to listen to (eg critical thinking skills), plus has a great intuitive feel for what makes a site succeed to higher levels.
Something more measurable as an indicator of expertise could be the sites under ones control that have successfully survived major algorithm updates, through them all coming out on top, and knowing why your site didn't get booted (or having a good idea why you did get booted). An advanced SEO can surpass their competitors' SEOs in value of content, and given the resources can keep moving a site up in rankings for multiple keywords and drive more traffic to a site through natural or organic search. An advanced SEO knows how to author content that directs website visitors towards the desired call to action, ultimately driving more sales, leads, hits, and targeted traffic visitors.
I also believe that an advanced SEO should be able to teach or share the trade expertise with others that need the information. An advanced SEO is worth their compensation due to having large arsenal of techniques and optimization methods draw upon, elements, and tactics to use in advancing their client’s site -Ethically. An advanced SEO can work effectively going solo or can be a critical member and contributor on a multi-person SEO campaign team. An advanced SEO can set realistic expectations on what is achievable, and knows the work, resources, and likely time it will take based upon prior experience, work in the trenches, and as a result of the competitive analysis metrics. An advanced SEO has honed skills in head and long-tail keywords knowing well how they fit together to make the site more relevant and useful. (There is also Expert SEO which is beyond the purpose of this blog content.)
An Advanced SEO Has Exceptional Head and Tail Keywords Knowledge
For a top-performing site you want to include top level keywords or head keywords that are more difficult to rank for, but you also want to include a comprehensive list of long-tail keywords in your optimization work for each page. The keyword content should consist of higher level vocabulary and industry buzz words related to the head keyword topic. In other words, you want more sophisticated content that shows the reader you know what you're talking about. Search engines can recognize unique and original content that is not just keywords and fluff.
Your long-tail keywords should support the web page head keywords (and vice versa) making both more relevant from a search engine algorithm’s perspective, which should lead to higher rankings for the internal pages and the home page. I use the terms head keywords and top level keywords interchangebly. The special combination of head and long-tail keywords in web page and site design is extremely powerful. Organize your content into blocks and give the blocks or paragraphs an H1 or H2 tag. With well-written keyword-rich content, search engine friendly site design, and adequate site visibility your site is unhampered to move up.
One thing should be made clear. The goal is not only to achieve rankings for high volume keywords but to achieve hits and web page visits for as many topical search queries as possible. The end result of a successfully implemented keyword plan is a notable increase in the amount of keywords and phrases your site ranks for. Through professional Denver internet marketing techniques your natural rankings can advance on your most important top level keywords thus accomplishing the overall objective of creating an authority site in your industry of choice.
A Beginning SEO should know and apply all the SEO basic fundamentals and mechanics of keyword density and keyword prominence, alt tags, title, meta tags, header tags, all content emphasis techniques (ie. bold, underline, italics, font etc), what makes a relevant web page from a search engine's point of view, how to get a site indexed quickly, how to acquire some good inbound links and provide guidance on basic internal linking, know what makes a good site structure and URL structure, and know both on-page and off-pageSEO techniques and strategies.
An Intermediate SEO should have additional skills in competent SEO copywriting, developing and implementing a broad-based or diversified link profile, good communication skills for all levels of the client and the employer organization, analytical tools experience and competence for all that is required, advanced keyword research skills leading to a full keyword plan, full competitive site evaluation capability being able to identify strengths and shortfalls related to their site, and their competition’s site, as well as firm strategies to move the campaign to higher and higher steps or levels, plus be able to perform high quality work output efficiently, effectively, and consistently for all projects and tasks undertaken (long sentence I know) with little to no supervision. An intermediate SEO should also understand different important aspects regarding domains, site uptime, hosting sources, and domain ranking factors.
An Advanced SEO has had complete management and control over SEO campaigns on numerous sites, and has achieved multiple top ranking positions on these sites for competitive search queries (ie. over 250 daily Google searches) on the three major search engines. An advanced SEO can be effective with campaigns for all industries and all types of sites (eg. static, dynamic) with all types of clients, has been in the trenches for 3-5+ years working online knowing who to listen to (eg critical thinking skills), plus has a great intuitive feel for what makes a site succeed to higher levels.
Something more measurable as an indicator of expertise could be the sites under ones control that have successfully survived major algorithm updates, through them all coming out on top, and knowing why your site didn't get booted (or having a good idea why you did get booted). An advanced SEO can surpass their competitors' SEOs in value of content, and given the resources can keep moving a site up in rankings for multiple keywords and drive more traffic to a site through natural or organic search. An advanced SEO knows how to author content that directs website visitors towards the desired call to action, ultimately driving more sales, leads, hits, and targeted traffic visitors.
I also believe that an advanced SEO should be able to teach or share the trade expertise with others that need the information. An advanced SEO is worth their compensation due to having large arsenal of techniques and optimization methods draw upon, elements, and tactics to use in advancing their client’s site -Ethically. An advanced SEO can work effectively going solo or can be a critical member and contributor on a multi-person SEO campaign team. An advanced SEO can set realistic expectations on what is achievable, and knows the work, resources, and likely time it will take based upon prior experience, work in the trenches, and as a result of the competitive analysis metrics. An advanced SEO has honed skills in head and long-tail keywords knowing well how they fit together to make the site more relevant and useful. (There is also Expert SEO which is beyond the purpose of this blog content.)
An Advanced SEO Has Exceptional Head and Tail Keywords Knowledge
For a top-performing site you want to include top level keywords or head keywords that are more difficult to rank for, but you also want to include a comprehensive list of long-tail keywords in your optimization work for each page. The keyword content should consist of higher level vocabulary and industry buzz words related to the head keyword topic. In other words, you want more sophisticated content that shows the reader you know what you're talking about. Search engines can recognize unique and original content that is not just keywords and fluff.
Your long-tail keywords should support the web page head keywords (and vice versa) making both more relevant from a search engine algorithm’s perspective, which should lead to higher rankings for the internal pages and the home page. I use the terms head keywords and top level keywords interchangebly. The special combination of head and long-tail keywords in web page and site design is extremely powerful. Organize your content into blocks and give the blocks or paragraphs an H1 or H2 tag. With well-written keyword-rich content, search engine friendly site design, and adequate site visibility your site is unhampered to move up.
One thing should be made clear. The goal is not only to achieve rankings for high volume keywords but to achieve hits and web page visits for as many topical search queries as possible. The end result of a successfully implemented keyword plan is a notable increase in the amount of keywords and phrases your site ranks for. Through professional Denver internet marketing techniques your natural rankings can advance on your most important top level keywords thus accomplishing the overall objective of creating an authority site in your industry of choice.
SEO Industry Standards and SEO Best Practices
There is no single officially recognized all-encompassing SEO Industry Standards body sanctioning the Search Engine Optimization profession. I am fully familiar with the top SEO blogs and true SEO authorities and experts in the field. You've got to know who to listen to, pay attention to, and what to ignore. For SEO standards there exists educational SEO courses and certifications, achievement certificates for completion, classes & training, e-books, and online tests etc. SEO is both a science and an art and therefore there is no single exact answer, and if there was, nobody would share it with you because it would be too valuable to share freely and give away.
Evaluating Your Search Engineer
The true test of SEO expertise is what have you achieved personally and consistently in the online community, what can you do for me, and are you capable of all that is required? If more business and website owners knew what is truly achievable online through high-rankings achieved with SEO Best Practices they would invest heavily into this area and deploy considerable resources into their online assets and web properties. It is our responsibility as professionals to educate clients on what’s possible to realistically achieve through SEO (within their budget constraints)and then perform ethical wonders on their websites given the time and budget constraints.
Business owners should acknowledge that the websites ahead of them in the Search Engine Results Pages are there for a reason - and not by accident -and that reason is because they've invested in SEO. The upside to this is the fact that there is no reason why a business owner can't compete (or WIN) online successfully by making wise informed choices for their SEO personnel and services.
To sum up SEO Best Practices, it's knowing what to do, and what not to do, as well as knowing when to start using, and stop using a particular technique or method. It's also never running out of legitimate ways and steps to move a campaign forward. Add patience! The best example of what not to do is generate too much repetition and high volume, which are the common elements identified as Spam – know what spam is, and what it isn't, in order to avoid harming a site's chances. Build a diversified link profile and understand what the components are for search visibility. Keep your website progress consistent over time doing what is right....which comes down to better content, more unique and original content, and authoritative link development through on-site and off-site link building..
By using SEO Best Practices you keep in the good graces of the major search engines such as Google, MSN Live, Yahoo, and Ask. Your online assets grow in value over time.
Over the years I have closely followed recognized experts in the field of SEO such as Dan Thies, Danny Sullivan, Matt Cutts, Aaron Wall at SEOBook, Rand Fishkin at SEOMoz et al, Link Building Expert Eric Ward. Most of my personal achievement is due to studying, analyzing, practicing, applying, and reverse-engineering top-performing websites in all categories to identify best practice common elements present.
Evaluating Your Search Engineer
The true test of SEO expertise is what have you achieved personally and consistently in the online community, what can you do for me, and are you capable of all that is required? If more business and website owners knew what is truly achievable online through high-rankings achieved with SEO Best Practices they would invest heavily into this area and deploy considerable resources into their online assets and web properties. It is our responsibility as professionals to educate clients on what’s possible to realistically achieve through SEO (within their budget constraints)and then perform ethical wonders on their websites given the time and budget constraints.
Business owners should acknowledge that the websites ahead of them in the Search Engine Results Pages are there for a reason - and not by accident -and that reason is because they've invested in SEO. The upside to this is the fact that there is no reason why a business owner can't compete (or WIN) online successfully by making wise informed choices for their SEO personnel and services.
To sum up SEO Best Practices, it's knowing what to do, and what not to do, as well as knowing when to start using, and stop using a particular technique or method. It's also never running out of legitimate ways and steps to move a campaign forward. Add patience! The best example of what not to do is generate too much repetition and high volume, which are the common elements identified as Spam – know what spam is, and what it isn't, in order to avoid harming a site's chances. Build a diversified link profile and understand what the components are for search visibility. Keep your website progress consistent over time doing what is right....which comes down to better content, more unique and original content, and authoritative link development through on-site and off-site link building..
By using SEO Best Practices you keep in the good graces of the major search engines such as Google, MSN Live, Yahoo, and Ask. Your online assets grow in value over time.
Over the years I have closely followed recognized experts in the field of SEO such as Dan Thies, Danny Sullivan, Matt Cutts, Aaron Wall at SEOBook, Rand Fishkin at SEOMoz et al, Link Building Expert Eric Ward. Most of my personal achievement is due to studying, analyzing, practicing, applying, and reverse-engineering top-performing websites in all categories to identify best practice common elements present.
Friday, July 18, 2008
SEO White Paper Blog
My name is Kevin Yeaman and I have made a full-time living performing quality Search Engine Optimization marketing services since March 2005 as a Denver, CO SEO Expert. I began building websites and performing SEO web marketing services in late 2004 and have continued to have significant success as a natural search specialist. In March 2005 I left my corporate position after 18 years of dedicated service with two objectives in mind: to spend more time with my two young boys that needed my undivided attention at that time in their lives; and to make a living doing something that I am absolutely passionate about –Search Engine Optimization.
My objective dating back to August 2008 is in earning a living applying my SEO skills business clients that recognizes expert work and rewards results and performance! I am flexible and can work either on a contract basis, project basis, trial basis, working as an in-house Denver SEO, or working for a Colorado search marketing company or firm that requires Advanced SEO Services. The objective of this SEO Blog is to convey key SEO concepts and methodologies that I continue to apply successfully for clients, plus present you with a snapshot of the broad-based skills and value I will bring to your organization. Hopefully we can meet in person to discuss what I can do for you.
For prior experience in Search Engine Optimization practice I have published and developed numerous websites that have achieved valuable ranking positions over the last four years for personal businesses with each subsequent project leading to higher success through more intense SEO integration and implementation -thus accomplishing the goal of earning a living while working from home. With my oldest son entering college in August 2008 the family budget needs a boost, and therefore it's time to seek work externally.
Pure Search Engine Optimization
The fundamental marketing method used in earning income has been Pure SEO. Initially I used some pay per click sponsored advertising but chose to fully develop SEO skills because of its superior Return On Investment over the long-run. I am used to working in the trenches under pressure with deadlines, plus comfortable performing high-level strategic work and planning. A benefit to you will by my valuable critical thinking skills which can be applied to resolve complex problems. I'm comfortable performing any individual portion of an SEO campaign, selling comprehensive SEO services, instructing or coaching others in SEO, or in full campaign management accountability and responsibility. For human skills I know how to develop and nourish human interpersonal and communicate effectively. Recently my wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.
One important fact should be stated here. Some SEO Best Practices and methods are simply too valuable to be given away freely in a public SEO White Paper Blog and are reserved for paying clients.
Key Point. It was always my plan to return to the work force when our family situation enabled this. I'm a dedicated professional anxious to provide long-term value to your company -plus come in and immediately make a positive contribution.
My objective dating back to August 2008 is in earning a living applying my SEO skills business clients that recognizes expert work and rewards results and performance! I am flexible and can work either on a contract basis, project basis, trial basis, working as an in-house Denver SEO, or working for a Colorado search marketing company or firm that requires Advanced SEO Services. The objective of this SEO Blog is to convey key SEO concepts and methodologies that I continue to apply successfully for clients, plus present you with a snapshot of the broad-based skills and value I will bring to your organization. Hopefully we can meet in person to discuss what I can do for you.
For prior experience in Search Engine Optimization practice I have published and developed numerous websites that have achieved valuable ranking positions over the last four years for personal businesses with each subsequent project leading to higher success through more intense SEO integration and implementation -thus accomplishing the goal of earning a living while working from home. With my oldest son entering college in August 2008 the family budget needs a boost, and therefore it's time to seek work externally.
Pure Search Engine Optimization
The fundamental marketing method used in earning income has been Pure SEO. Initially I used some pay per click sponsored advertising but chose to fully develop SEO skills because of its superior Return On Investment over the long-run. I am used to working in the trenches under pressure with deadlines, plus comfortable performing high-level strategic work and planning. A benefit to you will by my valuable critical thinking skills which can be applied to resolve complex problems. I'm comfortable performing any individual portion of an SEO campaign, selling comprehensive SEO services, instructing or coaching others in SEO, or in full campaign management accountability and responsibility. For human skills I know how to develop and nourish human interpersonal and communicate effectively. Recently my wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.
One important fact should be stated here. Some SEO Best Practices and methods are simply too valuable to be given away freely in a public SEO White Paper Blog and are reserved for paying clients.
Key Point. It was always my plan to return to the work force when our family situation enabled this. I'm a dedicated professional anxious to provide long-term value to your company -plus come in and immediately make a positive contribution.
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