Category Archives: SEO

Should Your Facebook Presence Be Part of your SEO Strategy

Posted on by Russ Lubin

Should your Facebook presence be part of your SEO strategy?  In short, yes!

Social media platforms are all the rage nowadays because they provide an easy and mobile solution for users looking to socially express their thoughts and statuses. If trends continue, early next year Facebook should reach over 600 million members and over 3 million businesses will be marketing through the Facebook platform. Nobody denies the benefits that a well managed viral inducing Facebook campaign can have on any given product or brand, but what most miss out on is that Facebook can be leveraged to drive traffic to your website and brands through search engines as well.

In fear of becoming antiquated Google is adding more social media content into their search results.

… we’re excited to share a few new innovations in the areas of real-time, mobile and social search that we feel are important steps in the evolution of information access.

.. Of course, none of this would be possible without the support of our new partners that we’re announcing today: Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, Jaiku and Identi.ca – along with Twitter, which we announced a few weeks ago. The Official Google Blog

That being said, a company planning to create a Facebook presence should put some best practice SEO methods into their social media efforts.

Currently, search relevant Facebook images can be found near the top rankings in Google Images and sometimes in the general results as well. It makes sense to upload images to your Facebook albums on a regular basis that have optimized image names with a splash of relevant keywords in the comments below the picture. That possibly means more views on your brand coming directly from ‘search’ which is known for its’ great goal conversion ratio. It’s also possible to get the company’s Facebook Wall or other informational Facebook page listed highly in the search engine results as well. The Facebook and Twitter accounts of well entrenched or unique brands often land on the first page results in Google.

Facebook is also a great example of leveraging offsite optimizations to increase the view-ability of your company’s websites. Facebook itself has a very high authority ranking and is a trusted source which means that links to your corporate or franchisee websites inside of a text rich status update or comment can inject a little bit of Facebook’s link juice into the destination website, and every little bit of link juice helps.

While applying best practice SEO methods into your Facebook campaign will not make you rich overnight, any planned Facebook marketing strategy should include optimizing your text, links and images for maximum benefit.

Our Elements Local platform allows a franchisor or their franchisee’s the ability to manage Facebook campaigns directly through the content management dashboard built into our software. Our built in Facebook tools maximize the benefits of the company’s Facebook campaign strategy with a minimal amount of training and effort.

Google Instant, Has it Changed Local SEO as We Know It?

Posted on by Russ Lubin

Google has done it again.  The Mountain View search giant has dramatically changed the end-user experience by displaying possible search results below the search field as the user is typing in their search query.  In fact, the end-user does not even have to enter in the entire key phrase that they are looking for. Google Instant now suggests further key words following what the end-user has already typed in based on popularity of searched terms, the end-user’s geographical location and even the historical search pattern of that specific end-user.

With search results now being displayed on the page in real time as you begin to type in keywords some pundits are asking whether SEO has changed forever?  They are also asking whether we now need to optimize for single keywords or even partial keywords to push our rankings above our competitors based on just the first few letters of the keyword’s entry.

The overall consensus from SEO experts like Google’s own Matt Cutts is that Google Instant has changed the end-user experience and possibly made search engine results more relevant to the end-user.  Instant feedback from the on-page results can guide end-users to more specific results that might have previously resided on page 2 or 3 or even lead the end-users to generate more searches when the topic of one of the results catches their eye.  Google has publicly stated that with Google Instant a website’s “ranking stays the same”.  That means that your website will still rank where it did previously to the change and you now have more chances of your listing being seen if the instant feedback drives the end-user to add more keywords to their query to find what they are searching for.

As local SEO marketers we are very interested in how Google Instant would affect local SEO.  So when Google Instant launched publicly we began capturing analytical data and researching Google Instant’s impact on localized search queries from various sources including Google’s official SEO blog.

One of the first concepts we looked into was the ‘search-before-you-type’ recommendations that Google displays in real-time.  But in all actuality Google has had this predictive key phrase suggestion technology integrated into their search field for quite some time now.  The only difference is that those recommendations are now bringing about instant on-page results that match the predicted query.  Let’s take a look to see if their predictive technology differs in regards to local search between a Google Instant search and a classic Google search.

classic google search google instant search

As you can see in the images above, when I search for the key phrase “window repair” both the instant search and the classic search predict that I am looking for a localized result, in this case the two nearest counties.  The only difference is that Google Instant provides the top results right on the page.  Both searches will give me local results based on the geo-location of my IP address.  So even without entering in an exact location into our search query we are still seeing local results predicted and delivered by Google Instant.

vague google instant result specific google instant result

 Next, we thought about the possibility of not receiving local results through Google Instant because the term we entered was too vague or perhaps the location suggested in the prediction was too broad?  If an end-user was truly searching for a local “window washer” and they did not get the results they were looking for, they are not going to click through to the anti-virus software at the top of the Google Instant result as seen above, but instead they will narrow the scope of their search by adding their city name to the end of their existing query.  From what we can tell end-users that are truly looking for a local service will find it as easily as they found that service before Google Instant and very little local search traffic will be lost due to click-throughs to broad non-localized results.

Our study of the results and implications of Google Instant continues as we search for best practice methods we can pursue to make the most of the instant feedback results predicted by the search engine.  As Google continues to mold their search engine for the benefit of their end-users the ELEMENTS team will continue to follow its’ development and make changes to our SEO strategies to take advantage of their ever changing technology for the betterment of our clients.

Social Media Is Important, But So is Local Search

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

Social Media Is Important, But So is Local Search

With all the hype about social media and speculation that mobile is where everything’s moving, it’s difficult to determine what is most important to your Internet marketing strategy.

The most important thing you can do is allow your audience to drive your decisions and not the latest and greatest technology. While many businesses may be pushing their brands and establishing themselves in social media, research by the Kelsey Group shows that over 57% of people online are performing local searches. And if you’re curious about where those people are clicking, a research study done by Cornell University showed that the top 3 Google results get 79% of all of the clicks.

So, how do you get to the top 3 in Google?

In order to achieve high local rankings for each of your franchise locations it is important for the search engines to know about each physical location and that each physical location is relevant and popular enough to make the top 3 spots in the search results.

Below are just a few key strategies any franchise can leverage to ensure the localized search results that will produce the most local leads.

Local Websites

Consider having a unique website for each franchisee, with its own domain name and the ability for the franchisee to update it. By giving the franchisee control of a portion of the website allows them to tell their story and is enough information to make that franchise location’s website unique from other franchisee’s websites and stand out from their local competitors.

Domain Names

Also consider having a separate domain name per franchise location. By having its own domain name you can use a ‘keyword rich’ name which will garner you greater search relevance for your top keywords and also allow you to create a ‘back link’ strategy by linking all of franchise location websites to each other. There are several ways of choosing how to optimize your domain name for local search, but doing so is important because Google puts a lot of weight on a domain name when deciding where a website should rank.

Local Optimization

Another essential key to ensure high localized search engine rankings is optimizing the page contents of a website for product, brand and location.  This means that on your franchise location’s website you should include location keywords into appropriate links, titles, meta-tags and images.  Another great tip is to place the address of the franchise location at the top of every web page as it allows search engines to easily find that physical location and give your website higher location relevance because of it.

Off Site Localization

Lastly it helps to have other sites linking to your website and your physical location.  Get your franchise locations reviewed in Yelp.  Submit the franchise location to directories like Google Places, Yahoo Local and Superpages.com.  The more websites linking to your website and physical location the better as those links will help increase your stature as a local business that is both relevant and popular.

These are just a few tips on how to improve your local search. It can be overwhelming when dealing with hundreds or even thousands of franchisees and websites, but a properly developed local websites program that brings in more leads and provides other value added services such as email messaging and social media, is bound to have an extremely high adoption rate amongst your franchisees.

Using Metro-Pages to Avoid “Territory Conflicts”

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

With over 80% of people searching online to find local businesses prior to purchasing goods and services, more and more franchises are responding by getting local with their franchise online marketing.

One way franchises are getting local is by having websites for each franchise location.  Using localized websites, franchise marketers are driving more and more traffic from local searches directly to the franchise locations their customers prefer.

However, large franchise systems run into “territory conflict” when they have multiple franchise locations in one densely populated metro area. This can cause confusion with consumers when they type in ‘hair cut Austin TX’ and find five locations near them. And what could be worse is if the first listing they find in the search engine is the furthest from them.

Elements, Inc., developers of the ElementsLocal™ software platform for franchise online marketing, has developed a new concept called “Metro Pages” to help avoid territory conflict.  By placing all of the neighboring franchise locations on a “Metro Page”, and placing a Google Map on that page, it allows customers to select the franchise location of their choice.  This drives more online leads to every franchise location, unveils more options   and simplifies the customer experience.

“One of the great things about our Metro Pages is that our system automatically creates the listings based on the pre-defined metro areas, or regions, of a franchise system.  This is just another example of our platform creating automated ways to increase organic, natural listings”, stated Jeremy La Duque, CEO Elements, Inc.  “Ultimately, we’re always looking for new ways to improve the expansion of a brand through online marketing while deepening customer engagement with that brand.”

Metro Pages will be released this month  as another valuable component of the ElementsLocal™ software platform.

The Inbound Advantage: Tips to Evolve Your Franchise’s Marketing Strategy

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

 In a world where marketing messages abound in nearly every aspect of daily life, a new, discerning consumer has evolved – one adept at filtering and tuning out information irrelevant to personal interests. Rightly so, franchise marketing tactics need to also undergo a major shift, since traditional outbound techniques such as advertising and unsolicited email blasts are increasingly becoming blocked or ignored.

                “Franchises should focus the majority of their marketing budget on inbound, not outbound initiatives,” said Jeremy LaDuque, CEO of Elements Inc., creator of ElementsLocal™, a new software solution for franchises that increases company leads through maximized search engine results. “When you push your message out far and wide with little discretion, you’re essentially crossing your fingers that it will resonate with a few individuals. Inbound marketing generates leads that are more abundant and credible, as potential customers seeking your services have been attracted organically through search engines, blogs and social media.”

          

  • Get Local. Instead of relying on just one national web site for the entire franchise network, provide cross-linked autonomous and brand-compliant web sites for each location. As the franchisor, you benefit from:

o    A “network effect” of hundreds of web sites, each displaying relevant content about the company, being seen by search engines, which increases rankings and visibility

o    An ability to leverage each franchise by allowing franchisees to customize (according to franchisor specifications)  their web site with local content and local e-marketing campaigns

  • Get Optimized. Some simple ways to get started with search engine optimization:

1)       Focus the attention of each webpage to just a few keywords

2)       Add relevant content about those select key words to that webpage

3)       Add those keywords to the title and meta tags of that webpage

 

Get Social. Social media is the fastest-growing segment of the Internet, and best of all, it’s much less expensive than most other marketing tactics. Get your franchise on board by:

o    Participating in social media sites such as Facebook and You Tube. Start a corporate Facebook profile and seek out fans or upload informative – or even humorous – videos that have “pass-along” potential, such as an engaging company story or client testimonials. This will help attract more visitors to your web site, increase your exposure within a larger audience and boost your search engine ranking.

o    Using a blog and/or Twitter to publish information about your business. Gaining “followers” or subscribers not only increases the audience for your company message, but also helps you gain valuable insight from the comments consumers leave on your posts.

  • Get Efficient. Inbound marketing efforts are highly track-able, so employ various strategies to monitor the efficiency of your efforts. This will allow you to repeat what’s working, discontinue what’s not, and gauge what’s providing you with the best return on investment (ROI). Some helpful hints:

o    First, establish exactly what it is you want to track and make sure you have a way to measure what you want to track

o    Use statistical programs like Google Analytics to monitor web site traffic behavior – from number of pages viewed to length of time on the site

o    Use landing pages to track specific ad campaigns and/or marketing initiatives

o    Track throughout – from campaign to conversion to sale!

                “As franchises start to ‘think inbound’ in their marketing strategies, they’ll attract customers who are appropriate for and receptive to the company message,” said LaDuque. “This competitive advantage will not only save franchises money, but will also help them build lasting and loyal relationships with clients.”

               

LaDuque Leads Internet Power Training

Posted on by Michael Boyer

Recession proof your business at the first Marketing Bootcamp. The Marketing Bootcamp brings together several top nationally known marketing experts and companies to help you stay the course while the economy gets back on its feet as well as stimulate business growth.

Learn how to use the power of the Internet and your website for more than just information exchange with Jeremy LaDuque, CEO of ELEMENTS, Inc. LaDuque will teach you to leverage your website to set and attain your marketing goals, analyze your statistics and tailor key performance indicators (KPIs) to fit your business and objectives.

INTERNET POWER TRAINING 1:50 – 3 PM

MARKETING BOOTCAMP- Learn Everything You Need to Know to Grow Your Business and Brand!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
8:00 am-4:30 pm
The Embassy Suites in San Luis Obispo

THIS EVENT IS SPONSORED BY: Central Coast Magazine, Mission Community Services Corporation, Central Coast Women’s Network, Pacific Coast Business Times, New World of Media, Elements, Inc. and Whizbang Ideas!

10 Ways to Improve Lead Generation and Close More Sales

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

The International Franchise  Association’s (IFA) Annual Convention in San Diego, CA offered a wide variety of very relevant roundtable discussions to attendees. ELEMENTS Inc.’s executive team, Jeremy LaDuque (CEO), Michael Boyer (CMO) and Steve Bridge (CFO), participated in six of them covering topics such as lead generation, online marketing and optimizing follow-up on online leads.

Immediate follow through is one of the most powerful things franchisors said will help generate more leads and create more closed sales from those leads.

1. 24-Hour follow up

The number one most effective strategy is to follow up with in 24 hours of the initial contact with your potential client. Statistics show that the success of following up on a lead increases by 70 percent if you follow up within this critical time. The consensus at the Internet Marketing Roundtable showed that immediate follow up is the most effective way to guarantee positive results from internet leads.

2. Automate your response to customers

Use an auto-responder program. This program or function is usually offered by your email provider and sends an automated response when a specific email address receives an email., You may already use this for an automated reply when you’re on vacation. However, you can employ the same automated response system with your sales force. When a potential client emails sales@yourfranchise.com, they receive an automatic response thanking them for their inquiry. This provides your client with immediate assurance that you are interested in their business and will contact them soon.

3. Use a drip campaign

By putting together a drip campaign, your franchise will send out emails on a predetermined schedule automatically. For example, you may send out an email every two weeks for several months. Your email topics would provide your target audience with more in-depth information about your franchise; then a customer testimonial; followed with news or an update on your products, its use or your community participation. There are several great reasons for a drip campaign:

  • You keep your name fresh with your users, prospects and clients
  • You proactively provide news and updates to your users
  • Your target audience continually sees that good things are happening with your company.

One franchise owner said that he has used drip campaigns for many years and swears by them. He referred to recently closing a deal with a client who had submitted an inquiry on their website four years ago!

4. Spend time on those that matter

In order to use your time efficiently, invest in some type of sales automation software to qualify leads from the internet. Automating the first few steps to qualify prospects is key. For example, if your automated reply asks a question or prompts the user for more information and they respond, you can qualify that person as a more serious prospect than someone who does not follow up with you.

5. Think like a buyer, not a seller

One of the main issues discussed throughout the IFA convention was that marketers typically think as sellers of their products and services. The consensus solution was by thinking creatively, sales and marketing need to think as buyers of their products and services. This manifests itself in many ways. One primary example is focusing on your benefits instead of your features.

6. Social Media

Social Media…one of the hottest topics everywhere. We discussed obvious heavyweights such as Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn and concepts like blogging (with WordPress or BlogSpot, for example) and micro-blogging with Twitter. Taking the time to participate in this huge and growing phenomenon seems to be universally beneficial, both for your website and for business. Ideas about social media include

  • Starting or investing time in your Linked In profile to connect with others
  • Starting a corporate Facebook account; creating a Myspace account.
  • Upload videos about your company story, or client testimonials to You Tube.

By doing this you can provide links to these rich and engaging videos in your auto-responders and create drip campaigns from any social media sites.  And most importantly was to provide links to your social media and networking accounts on your website, email and any other forms of electronic communications.

7. Start your own blog

One of the easiest ways to get involved with social media that seemed to be prevalent amongst franchises was blogging. There are many services that will allow you to create your own blog. An even easier way to participate without maintaining your own blog is to comment on other blogs and include links back to your site.

8. Per Click Advertising

Pay per click (PPC) advertising is an Internet Marketing strategy that everyone has obviously been using for several years now. The advantages are that you can control it, measure your return and track everything. However, as more and more people use PPC it gets more competitive, thus more costly. The most frequently asked question was ‘how do we continue to use PPC and get the most return from this strategy?’ We had the opportunity to discuss how to optimize marketing dollars with a few franchises and suggested a simple but more effective way of devising pay per click terms.

First, use what are called ‘geographic’ and ‘long tail’ terms. Start with geographic terms. For example, ‘closets san diego.’ This will cost less than ‘closets california’ or ‘closets new york’. Then, as geographic terms become more competitive start to look for ‘long tail’ terms. A long tail term is one that takes advantage of the 80/20 rule. This rule suggests that 80 percent of people look at 20 percent of search terms. This leaves 80 percent of search terms available and the other 20 percent searching them. Another way of putting this is to devise longer keyword phrases, like ‘closest installers san diego’  because they cost less. Research also suggests that the more people think about the terms they type in the more serious they are about buying and not just shopping.

9. Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to the fullest

Research shows that over 70 percent of people on search engines such as Google will chose an organic listing, or one that shows up naturally, that’s not listed under ‘sponsored links’ over paid-for links in the sponsored areas. So, logically getting your website ranked organically using SEO techniques is one of the best methods of online marketing. The challenge most franchises face is understanding SEO is laborious and confusing and often they don’t know where to turn for help. Our ElementsLocal software provides our clients with a solution that helps them take full advantage of natural SEO. Let us know if we can provide you with SEO services.

10. And always track

The saying is ‘you can’t manage what you don’t measure.’ You can rinse and repeat what is working, what’s not and what’s getting you the best return on investment (ROI) if you track your online marketing. There are many different, yet effective, methods of tracking their online marketing. Solutions ranged from: Google Analytics, custom in-house solutions, fully outsourced solution providers who deliver reporting monthly and systems that leverage off-the-shelf software like SalesForce.com.

Use these techniques to boost your marketing campaigns and online marketing strategies. All marketing programs take time and effort, but your work will be rewarded when you can measure that investment and see a return. Employing even a few of these strategies should help decrease your costs and increase your success.

The SEO Labyrinth and Successful Natural Search Results

Posted on by Michael Boyer

Website Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is complex and requires a systemic approach when working to enhance your natural search results strategy. “Natural” or “organic” searches that drive traffic to your websites are just that: the natural choices a user would make in entering search words (or sometimes, a singlular word…resulting in the user finding a new universe on the internet rather than more directed results).

A natural search assumes that you may not yet have other strategies in place, or if you do, you are still trying to optimize this type of search. Other strategies you can pay for include SEO/Search Engine Marketing (SEM) analysis services, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, linkbuilding services and trend analysis.

It Happens Overnight?

Not exactly, it takes a few months, maybe as many as 4-6 or 7 after you’ve put these strategies in place for you to see good results. One source sites “over 200 SEO factors that Google uses to rank pages in the Google search results.” So a working understanding of how search engines (SE) do their magic will help increase the chances of your site appearing high in a list of thousands or more search results.

Certain keywords and/or keyword phrases are highly competitive – meaning they describe and are used for a wide array of businesses with websites offering those products or services. “Cooking” and “appliances” describe a huge variety of products and services and keywords like these are competitive. So, logically, there are hundreds and hundreds of websites using these as keywords; it would be an uphill battle to achieve a Top 10 search result with natural searches.

Most internet users know what they want and often know specific details about what they want. One of the keys through this Labyrinth is to understand what specific goal or target users have when they search. For example, after a home fire, a user may know they want to find a “residential restoration” service or they may know they want to find a “residential restoration fire water damage” service or even more specifically “paul davis residential fire water damage  restoration theirtown.”

The last two sets are much more specific and competition for these is probably lower – they are applicable to fewer companies offering those products or services. Using more specific keywords and phrases can help better optimization and search rankings, providing there are enough numbers of people searching on those terms. Choosing keywords that are specific but not popular with users won’t necessarily deliver better results.

A Good Foundation

Doing some keyword research will help you build a good foundation for choosing keywords for your website. Doing some marketing research for your geographic area or your own target audience will give you even more ammunition. And trust yourself. You are the expert in your industry and your local area…how would your target audience search for you?  There are several free keyword search tools online. They give you an indication of how popular certain words or phrases are based on current databases from companies such as Google and Nielsen. Keep in mind, the results provide good indicator – not the end all of keyword results. Your industry, vertical market, product and geographic location are among the things that affect the outcome, not to mention results from automated traffic (you guess it, another Labyrinth path).

Cross check your word search with various free tools. We found a few:

Improving Your Search Results Ranking

When a user enters words into a search field, the search engines go to work and in seconds, have wound their way through countless number of websites and web pages looking for the combination of keywords the user entered.  By using some smart content strategies you can help increase your search results ranking. The following are some factors that affect page ranking and most are things you can put into place yourself.

So there are a few important “on-page” items and “off-page” factors that we look at:

Things to do On-Page:

  • Include one or more keywords in your site domain name.
  • Use keywords in your directory paths or folders on your site.
  • Include keywords in your Title Tag.
  • Use the keywords in your Title Tag in several variations that mirror your product or service and get a lot of searches as well:

    Home Fire Water Damage Repair – Fire Water Damage Mitigation – Residential Reconstruction and Restoration

  • Include keywords in your H1 Tag (first header tag).
  • Make your content keyword-dense; include your keywords often in the body content.
  • You need to incorporate your keywords and phrases logically in your content; you cannot merely repeat these words over and over. Use your keywords in your content in a logical and relevant way.
  • Create a customized keyword set for each section of your site, or better, each page.

Things that affect your site ranking Off-Page:

  • Length of time your site has been live.
  • How popular your website links are.
  • Link popularity within the site’s internal link structure.
    ~ Whether others linking to your site are relevant to the topic of your site.
  • Topical relevance of inbound links to site.
    ~ Whether the inbound links to your site are well-worded and use your keywords.
  • Anchor text of inbound links
  • The quality of sites who link to your site.
    ~ Whether your site links are popular overall and draw users to your site.
  • Global link popularity of site

Several off-page items are dependent on other websites’ awareness of your website and content. There are strategies you can employ on your site that can influence this, especially when they involve other sites linking to your site. Since this is yet another path in the Labyrinth, we will save this topic for another discussion.

Search Engines Are Your Friends

These days there are so many metrics that add value to search rankings, but keywords still provide the foundation of attracting search traffic. Search engines, depending on how many (or few) words the user queries, return a list of relevant sites that is ordered by relevancy or importance to the keywords. Again – searching through what could be thousands of websites and thousands and thousands of webpages, almost in a blink of an eye. As the web designer and/or content author, you can help your search engines friends by making your sites and content more SE “compliant” – by getting with their program and using keywords in the same key positions on the webpage.

Page Construction to Optimize Keywords

Once you’ve determined your keywords and phrases that users most often use to find your company, product and/or service, you’ll need to incorporate them into your webpages. The days of hiding keywords with white text (stealthy invisible), or using them repetitively in every html tag are gone. Keywords must now be incorporated logically into your content and add to the usability of your page and content from a users’ standpoint. Using the stealth strategy will actually cost you SE ranking as the SEs will realize the tactic and penalize your site accordingly. Search engines and their algorithms don’t like when we webmortals think we can outsmart them.

On-Page Factors

Again, the goal is to place your keywords in positions on the page that SEs can find them easily. Search engines interpret how important the keywords are to the user by the keywords’ placement on the page. Roll up your sleeves and revamp your pages and content:

Title Tag. Place a keyword phrase in the title tag; the title tag is about the most important factor when SEs rank webpages. Including keywords in the title tag shows the SEs the page’s focus. It is important to have a title tag on pages such as special interest, product, and services pages.

Header – H1 Tag. In HTML-speak, your “H1 tag” is the “header” or “headline” – generally, the large one liner at the top of your page. Bigger is better in this case: SEs consider larger type to be more important because it is more visible and easily read.  HTML header codes go from largest to smallest, H1 to H6. Your H1 Tag should contain your keywords for that page.

Other Header Tags – H2 to H6. The H-Tags specify a text hierarchy for headlines or subheads on your page. The higher the H-Tag number the smaller the text size. Generally, H1 is the only headline on the page, appearing at the top of the page. H2 tags are slightly smaller and can appear as subheads for the page. H3 tags are even smaller and may serve as a header for a bulleted list. H6 is the smallest text size and you may want to use this tag for image captions.

You don’t need to use all of the H-Tags, but their hierarchy should stay in tact. Again, part of the SE search involves keywords in the H1 tag, so remember to use a keyword or two in the headline of the page. In this way, you are optimizing the relevance of the keywords on the page as well as providing reinforcement to your users. They’ll see the Title Tag and the page headline (H1) with the same words they’ve searched for and know that they’ve come to the right website.

Keyword-rich Content. This may be “logical” but it is still worth mentioning. Your page content should contain your keywords and phrases several times. If you have target keywords per page, each page should mirror the unique set of key words. The content should be relevant and different for each page.

Creating extra pages on your site with duplicate content is another strategy that SEs don’t like; they will recognize the duplicate page content and give your site a lower rating. Also, if you mindlessly repeat your content, SE filters would catch it and not rank your site.  Unique content using your keywords is critical when you are dependent on natural search results.

There are a few ways to increase unique keyword-rich content that make SEs happy:

  • Break up your content by using subheads containing keywords.
  • Include keywords in the first sentence of your content and tie it up nicely with a summary sentence containing keywords.
  • Depending on the page design, bold your keywords now and then for emphasis. Create visual interest by pulling out important aspects of content as a bulleted list – keywords should also appear in this list.
  • Attribute images with a caption containing keywords.
  • Give your images and links Alt-Tags (or a Title Tag) using keywords.
  • Also, provide a way for your users or solicit your users to send you testimonials about your product, service or company (for example, a blog that users may participate in by submitting comments)
    ~ Content from your users is highly coveted because it can provide relevant and unique content without you having to generate it.

Keyword-rich Links

Search engines also looks at your internal links (page containing a link and the page the link goes to within your website). By making some text a link, you create “anchor text.” When you use keywords in your “anchor text” search engines consider the page it links to important to that keyword.

Meta Description Tags.

Meta Description Tags summarize the page “in 25 words or so” and are put into a “hidden” or background part of the webpage. When search engines display search results, they typically display the Meta Description Tag under the title of the page in the results. Again, include your keywords and keyword phrases. Use the most important keywords for that specific webpage.

If you feel as if the Tasmanian Devil has just whirled around your head a few times, you’re not alone. Search Engine Optimization is logical, but its logic contains many, many variables. These variables must be in place for the SEs to find your site among possibly thousands in a natural search query. Some of the variables are more difficult to control (mainly the age of your site). But by following these key strategies, you increase your search result rankings within the SEO Labyrinth.

Let’s review:

  • Update your site often – with photos and content. Activity on your site always verifies to SEs that your site is authentic.
  • Generate key words and phrases for each page of your site. You can do this just by sections of your site as well.
  • Include keywords in your Title Tag. Make sure your keywords are also in your Headline (H1) of the page; use the H1 to H6 tag hierarchy giving relative importance to text on your webpage.
  • Mirror your key words and key phrases in your content at least 3 or 4 times. Use the terms logically – you cannot just type your key word over and over and over.
  • Use bullet point lists containing keywords as a way to break up the page content and add key words w/out having to write longer sentences.
  • Bold at least one of your keywords within your content – it gives importance to that word. If you can do this to several keywords without making the content awkward, this is even better.
  • Use keywords in your text links to your own site pages.
  • Give your images captions and alternative text – this is an opportunity for you to get more key words on the page.
  • Acquire user-generated content.

Website Optimization and Marketing Consulting
ELEMENTS Inc. | 805-547-1160 x205

The primary objective of any focused marketing initiative is to drive qualified leads, which convert into users, customers and clients. ELEMENTS specializes in creating business results for franchise and mid-size companies using integrated website optimization and internet marketing strategies, with a firm belief that success can not be obtained with a singular focus on one small portion of “Search Engine Optimization”.

Successful website optimization requires holistic planning and management of all aspects of search engine marketing (SEM) including public relations, website content, keyword buys and search engine optimization, as well as most aspects of information architecture, user-interface and online community best practices. ELEMENTS applies both marketing sensibility and technical expertise for campaigns that focus on customer acquisition and retention.