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search engine optimization

Search Engine Optimization


Potential clients always ask how search engines will find their new site. The technique of designing a web site to appear near the top of a search engine results page is called Search Engine Optimization, often abbreviated as SEO.

At Lombard and Thomas Website Design, we pride ourselves on keeping up with the latest ethical SEO practices and our original design and coding will take these practices into account.

The "tricks" used to design sites with good SEO are not a secret, but found on many reputable sites on the internet. We especially like The High Rankings Advisor, which publishes a free bi-weekly newsletter.

Below are some of the best suggestions for optimizing a web site for search engines:

     1) FINDING GOOD KEYWORDS:

  • Working with you, the client, we create a list of the keywords that people looking for your site would be most likely to use.
  • The list is modified and/or expanded and keyword phrases added using statistics provided by Wordtracker.com, whose web site says it "compile[s] a database of terms that people search for. You enter some keywords, and we tell you how often people search for them, and also tell you how many competing sites use those keywords."
  • Microsoft's Small Business Center web site offers the following tips on choosing keywords and keyword phrases:

    • Think "specific keyword phrases" not "keywords". Why? Due to the extreme amount of competition for general terms in the search engines, if your keyword phrases are too general it is very unlikely you will rank well in the search engines. You stand a far better chance to rank well for specific phrases where there is less competition. The resulting traffic, since it is more highly targeted, should also be much higher quality too! Here's an example for a site selling shoes:

MUCH TOO GENERAL MUCH BETTER
shoes imported Italian shoes
men's shoes men's leather loafers
women's shoes women's aerobic sneakers

   2) USING GOOD KEYWORDS
          Keywords should appear in the following locations:

  • the titles of your pages
    Microsoft's Small Business Center says "Without question the title tag of your page is the single most important factor to consider when optimizing your web page for the search engines. This is because most engines & directories place a high level of importance on keywords that are found in your title tag. The title tag is also what the search engines usually use for the title of your listing in the search results."

    The actual coding for your page titles looks like this:
    <title>Lombard and Thomas: SEO: How Do People Find My Site Using Search Engines?</title>
    but is not visible on the page itself. The page title does show up at the top of your browser screen like this:

    • lombard and thomas: faq's...

    Lombard and Thomas's FAQ page, in Internet Explorer

    lombard and thomas, firefox

    Lombard and Thomas's SEO page in Fire Fox

    lombard and thomas, netscape

    Lombard and Thomas's home page in Netscape.

    The title tag should be 50-80 characters long and include one or two of your keywords or phrases that are most relevant for the page.

  • the text of your pages
    Jill Whalen, the High Rankings Advisor says: Write compelling copy for the key pages of your site based on your chosen keyword phrases and your target market's needs, and make sure it's copy that the search engines can "see." This is a crucial component to having a successful web site. The search engines need to read keyword-rich copy on your pages so they can understand how to classify your site. This copy shouldn't be buried in graphics or hidden in Flash. Write your copy based on your most relevant keyword phrases while also making an emotional connection with your site visitor. Understand that there is no magical number of words per page or number of times to use your phrases in your copy. The important thing is to use your keyword phrases only when and where it makes sense to do so for the real people reading your pages. Simply sticking keyword phrases at the top of the page for no apparent reason isn't going to cut it, and it just looks silly.

Microsoft's Small Business Center says "Add additional copy-filled pages to your site. For example, how-to articles, tips or tutorials. These types of content pages not only help you in the search engines, but many other sites will link to them too.

Don't ignore this tip! Seriously, optimizing your page copy is one of the most important things you could possibly do to improve your listings in the search engines. So, make sure you have plenty of it even if you need to redesign your site to work it in!

Adding good text is probably the most difficult but rewarding aspects of creating a new web page. We rely on clients to provide their own content, but are happy to sit down and edit/expand it as needed.

  • the titles of your graphics and graphic menu items
    Microsoft's Small Business Center says "Did you know that any images on your page can help your listings too? Each image on your page can include a keyword phrase or two that relates to the image. This text will also show up & help those that may have their images turned off when visiting your site. This does not work for all engines, but it certainly does not hurt so we recommend you give it a try where you can.

  • The computer code called meta tags:
    There are two basic meta tags - "description" and "keywords". Meta tags can be found in your source code (view>page source) near the top of the page and look like this:
    <meta name="description" content="Lombard and Thomas affordable web site design specializes in custom sites for small businesses" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="web designers,web designs,affordable web site design,custom web design,small businesses,Lombard and Thomas,web sites" />

    There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about meta tags, which are part of your page code, but do not appear on your site.

    Microsoft's Small Business Center says "Many people incorrectly believe that good meta tags are all that is needed to achieve good listings in the search engines, which is entirely incorrect. While meta tags are usually always part of a well optimized page they are not the be all and end all of optimizing your pages. In the early days of the web people were able to get great listings from optimizing just their meta tags, but the increasing competition for good search engine listings eventually led to many people spamming the search engines with keyword stuffed meta tags. The result is that the engines have changed what they look at when they rank a web page.

    The High Rankings Advisor agrees: "I imagine many of you know this already but Google does not use meta tags such as the keywords meta tag or the description meta tag. This is because the text within these tags can't be seen by visitors to a web site Therefore Google feels these tags will be abused by webmasters placing lots of unrelated words in them in order to get more visitors."

    However, meta tags are still recommended and should be written using the same keyword phrases that you use in the copy of your page, title tag, etc. Any keywords phrases that do not appear in your other tags or page copy are likely to not have enough prominence to help your listings for that phrase.

   3) CREATE VALUABLE LINKS

  • Create links that will provide additional info by linking from one of your pages to another.
  • Create links to other sites on the web that offer complementary services or information and ask these sites to link back to you.

The High Rankings Advisor says "Make sure your site is 'link-worthy.' Other sites linking to yours is a critical component of a successful search engine optimization campaign, as all of the major search engines place a good deal of emphasis on your site's overall link popularity. You can go out and request hundreds or thousands of links, but if your site stinks, why would anyone want to link to it? On the other hand, if your site is full of wonderful, useful information, other sites will naturally link to it without your even asking. It's fine to trade links; just make sure you are providing your site visitors with only the highest quality of related sites. When you link to lousy sites, keep in mind what this says to your site visitors as well as to the search engines.

Regardless of who does your SEO, remember what Jill Whalen says: "any professional SEO company should be doing extensive keyword research, making site architecture recommendations, making copy recommendations, and creating Title tags. If a company seems to mention *only* Meta tags and submitting your site to search engines, but not the things ... previously mentioned, then you'd be throwing away your money if you use them. ... neither Meta tags nor submitting to search engines will move your pages in the search listings. Those alone aren't worth even a penny."

Internet Guide Co.Uk says: [Shady] SEO companies may also employ techniques that are deemed bad or "spammy" by search engines. This could result in the web site being penalized or banned from a search engine.

"Good" examples of bad SEO can be found at the tongue-in-cheek site Black Hat SEO.

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NOTE: SEO should be only the first step in a comprehensive marketing plan.
YOU MUST PUBLICIZE YOUR SITE
    (Trust me - few people will find you by accident!)

  • If you have a retail store, your new URL (domain/web address) should be posted on the front door and/or front window of your business. It should also be printed on your cash register receipts, shopping bags, gift cards and/or gift card backers.
  • Your URL should appear on your letterhead, business cards and in your e-mail signature.
  • Your voice mail/answering machine can promote your Web site by telling customers that you are "open" 24 hours a day at www.yourwebaddress.com.
  • A marketing piece specifically promoting your Web site can be periodically sent to your mailing list or included with purchases.
  • Be sure that your URL appears prominently in all display advertising for your business (newspapers, magazines, etc) as well as at the end of any promotional articles about your business that may be published in your local press.
  • Consider periodically sending an e-mail newsletter, including links to your web site, to your customers. Special online pricing (sales, discounted shipping) and/or limited run merchandise available only online can be promoted this way. (You must get prior approval from your customers for this or it will be considered spam!)

(Special thanks to the folks at Booksense.com for many of these great marketing ideas)

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For more information, contact Karen Green at Lombard and Thomas by calling 708-386-3298 or e-mail us at AKINGreen@earthlink.net

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