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Search Engine Optimization

Our most recent Top Ten Tips for natural Search Engine Optimization and Paid Keywords

Top ten tips for free natural search engine web site promotion listed in order of importance:

  1. Find keywords by searching for competitors' websites in either Yahoo, MSN or Google, adding the word "related:" before their URL. Example: related:www.insert competitor's URL here.xxx

  2. Install Google Analytics and study what keywords visitors used to find your site.

  3. Write the URL (with dashes in between words), title, description, headline, first paragraph, alt tags, meta description, meta keywords and link text using those words (plural is best). Only those words (a two, three or four word phrase). Weave related keywords into your narrative. Use the full URL address on your links. Also put your images in a directory named with the keyword phrase.

  4. Have an informative HTML site that keeps the reader engaged so he will bookmark or add your site to his favorites list as a resource. Make the site a resource guide. Write technical articles or presentations for the trade and publish these articles on your site and also as searchable PDFs.

  5. Submit your site to Open Directory.

  6. Include a site map in your site directory and submit to Google, Yahoo and MSN (Google webmaster tools). Clean up your site files, deleting unused ones. Be sure all links work.

  7. Add a Wordpress blog to your home page or rotate a "Featured Product" and edit it once a week or so. Set up Google alerts for those keywords and post your URL when relevant to the blog posting. Repost blogs to Faceboo, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media that work for your market.

  8. Get links to your site at the same places your competition does. Find these places by searching for a competitor's website, adding the word "link:" before their URL in the search field. Example: link:www.insert competitors URL here.xxx. Consider requesting a link on the same site where your competitor has a link only if that site ranks 4 or better in Google. These include industry associations and publications you advertise in.

  9. Every month search Google for 5 keyword phrases, make changes to your site to improve rankings. Don't rely on a keyword ranking program.

  10. Study your keyword usage at http://www.indextree.com or Google Insights For Search.

Top ten tips for paid search engine web site promotion listed in order of importance:

  1. Test to see if it has any effect for your market.

  2. Don't pay too much for ad words if you are ranking high naturally. Probably 80% of your traffic comes from natural search anyway.

  3. Google, Yahoo and MSN programs will generate over 80% of your sponsored visitors. Focus on only the direct search functions through the SE's program first. Don't use content partners or content matches. They can triple your costs and you don't know where visitors found you. Later with more experience you can experiment with them.

  4. "Spend budget until depleted" with MSN. Don't set to spread out. You won't be able to properly see your listing if the SE is hiding it to wait until later in the month. Use bidding and daily maximums to limit expenses. Set your individual keyword bid low enough to meet your budget but not go over your daily maximum.

  5. Add conversion codes to your site: Yahoo's code goes in between the <head> tags; Google's code goes between the <body> tags, closer to the </body> tag; MSN's code goes between the <body> tags at or near the lower-right corner of the page so that it does not detract from your page design.

  6. With Google limit your expense with monthly budgets and keyword bid maximum, "xxx" and - (negative) keywords. You need to think of every possible way a visitor may use your keywords and put it and the modifer in "quotes." Without quotes, Google will display your ad in places were you don't want those visitors. Use negative "-" keywords to limit those. Create unique ads that improve your quality score but that will only limit your cost by about 20%. Lastly, limit the display of your ads to 4 am to 8 pm for North America. Funny, some how all of your budget gets spent at 1 am. The SEOs have stopped refunding for click fraud. Remember, you're communicating with an algorithm not a human.

  7. With Yahoo limit your expense with monthly lower bid. limit the credit card charge amount to get a notice of too high spending activity.

  8. With MSN limit your expenses with monthly budgets and maximum bid.

  9. Pay attention to the words that get clicked on. Pay closer attention to words that convert.

  10. Fine tune your ads to convert and try to find out if conversions result in sales since industrial conversions are for going to the contact page or sign in page for more information or a sales rep visit.

Please call us before you spend thousands for canned sites that no one visits and can't find anyway.

Register your company's name so someone else won't get it.

The cost for your home page should be only $35 per month with a provider that provides reporting functions. It's free with Microsoft Office Live.

A personal name "company-name.com" should cost an additional $25 per month.

For that $60 per month you get plenty of web space and an e-mail address. And with a personal name you can change providers anytime and not have to reprint all your literature! Extra e-mail addresses should only cost $5 per month.

Sell selected products or services at a small discount on E-Bay or Craig's List. Use them as more of a promotion of your internet site than a single sales channel.

Thomas Register has a good reporting program based on Urchin that interprets the ISP into a company name.

Have site viewers go to unique URLs for different publication advertisements. You will be able to see how many viewers reached your site from each publication.

Have visitors sign in for access to download your value added information. Forward those sales leads to your salespeople. Ask the visitor what sources they use when purchasing your type of product. Spend more of your budget on those media.

Internet marketing is a rapidly changing industry. No one approach will work with every company. Start with an informative site that educates your viewer. Home page blogging is the easiest way to increase traffic and force you to promote your site via email.

Follow up with customer services that make it easier for your customer to do business with your company.

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