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Your Search Engine Optimization Strategy: Make Love, Not War
When it comes to search engine optimization strategy, there are basically two camps - those who view search engines as adversaries to be conquered at any cost and those who regard search engines as partners in their online marketing efforts. Long-time readers of my articles probably already have a good idea of which camp I fall into; however, I believe both approaches can be effective optimization methods. Adversarial Optimization Methods Service providers who have this "adversarial" philosophy will tell their prospects that the formulation of a search engine optimization strategy is much like a high-stakes game of chess. It's an "us vs. them," "winner-take-all," and "every man for himself" mentality. It's also rooted largely in technology - under this philosophy, success is defined as unraveling the latest search engine algorithm to find new optimization methods and exploiting its technical aspects for immediate benefit. The underlying premise of this search engine optimization strategy is that you must use optimization methods that trick the search engines into showing a website predominantly in the results since the site isn't currently offering attributes that the search engines consider valuable. The primary benefits of this approach are that it doesn't require much work on the part of the client and that results can be realized more rapidly. These qualities both stem from the fact that there isn't a large amount of additional content needed, nor are there many wholesale changes to make to the website when using such optimization methods. While this is not the methodology that I recommend, it is a valid - albeit potentially volatile - search engine optimization strategy. Partnership Optimization Methods Those who view search engines as partners have a very different search engine optimization strategy. These service providers embrace the idea that the attributes and optimization methods that give a website high rankings in search engines are, by and large, the same ones that make the site more valuable to website visitors and potential customers. This theory makes sense. Every search engine needs to return results that their users find to be the most relevant and useful. If search engine R&D people operated in a vacuum, they would probably find their market share rapidly diminished while they lamented about how "people are stupid". This means that each of the major search engines spend endless research dollars to determine exactly what it is that search engine users find valuable, and each has a high stake in the results of the research. No search engine marketing or web design firm has the resources or motivation to conduct studies of this magnitude. It is, therefore, highly advantageous to use the findings of these studies, deduced from common algorithm traits of multiple search engines, to improve your search engine optimization strategy and website. I consistently hear from companies who are puzzled as to why their expensive, cutting-edge website is perpetually outranked by a site of perceived inferior quality - "our website is better than theirs" or "we are a much bigger company" are common remarks. Beauty is, as always, in the eye of the beholder. The sites that consistently rank highly are almost always using optimization methods that offer something of value to people who entered the search query. Search engines care as much about the size of a company or how much it spent on its website about as much as they care about what you had for breakfast this morning (I had blueberry muffins, but Google hasn't called to ask). The advantages to the "partnership" search engine optimization strategy are numerous. Rather than chase the ever-changing technical attributes that can get you short-term results, you instead use optimization methods that leverage your company's knowledge of your industry to create something useful for the searcher. You can improve your website and offer the information and products that prospects are seeking, even if those prospects are in the earliest stages of the buying cycle. In general, you will not have to watch your rankings swing wildly based upon new spam filters and algorithm shifts, and thus will enjoy a higher level of predictability when it comes to your website (although with search engines, there are never any guarantees). Since you aren't constantly forced to re-address your site's search engine optimization methods, you'll have more time to focus on other online marketing areas that need attention, such as the website's conversion rate, an e-newsletter, or online PR. Conclusion It's a fact that websites rise and fall in the rankings all the time. The only real constant is that the sites of TRUE value, the ones that offer something relevant and important to the searcher, are generally always near the top - even after the latest algorithm shift has sent the "adversarial" crowd into a frenzy of activity as they attempt to reformulate their search engine optimization strategy. While it may take a little extra effort, I like to think of the relationship with search engines as a "partnership" in a real sense. We use optimization methods that apply the attributes search engines have deemed to be valuable to a website, which improves both the website and the website's search engine rankings. The search engines, in turn, send highly-targeted visitors who have shown an interest in your industry, products, or services. Sure, it may seem that we get more out of the deal, but the engines don't complain. They haven't even acknowledged our partnership. Scott Buresh is managing partner of Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including ZDNet, WebProNews, MarketingProfs, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, SEO Today, and Search Engine Guide. He was also a contributor to the recently released Building Your Business with Google For Dummies (Wiley, 2004). Medium Blue is an Atlanta search engine optimization company with local and national clients, including Georgia-Pacific, DuPont, and Boston Scientific. To receive Scott's monthly articles, sign up for Medium Blue's e-newsletter, Out of the Blue.
MORE RESOURCES:
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PageRank for Websites: Is There More to the Web? Google's PageRank has been around for years, and in the opinions of a lot of e-business owners, it can make or break a site. Lately, with Google's fingers in every pie, it seems important to remind everyone that there is more to a website than just PageRank. 7 Steps to Prepare You for The Local Search Bonanza At One Time Local Searches were reserved for services like City Guides and Online Yellow Pages. But the BIG 3 (Yahoo, Google and MSN) have all jumped into the Local Search Market. Opinion - Search Engine Success This article is actually the summary to a book soon to be released by the author, titled "Guaranteed Website Success". Opinions are quite often controversial. Meta Tags - An Important Part of Every Web Page Meta tags are an absolute must from a search engine optimisation perspective, there are many mistakes that can be made by not including these or even trying to 'spam' the SE's using them so heres a quick summary of the three main ones:Meta Page Title TagThe title tag is supported by all search engines and should be considered as the most important element in your optimisation process. Why is this you may ask? Well the page title is the first thing search engine spiders and human visitors will see. Adding Content To Your Site Every Day If you have been a webmaster for more than a week, you've surely heard the saying "Content Is King". And it really is true! This article will explain why the regular addition of fresh content to your website is so crucial and explain several ways to do it easily and inexpensively (even free). How to Avoid Getting OOPed On by Google? Earlier this year, I was having trouble getting good search engine placement for one of our sites. I was trading links like crazy, spending many hours a week trying to optimize the site properly, checking my linking structures, keyword density, etc. An Easy Way Not to Get Banned by Google Strategic search engine optimization involves far more than keyword research, META tags and content.If you want to mange an SEO program, you need to be aware of any issue that can affect your success. A Three Day Marketing Plan for Better Google Rankings If you're reading this article, you've probably discovered that simply building a website is not enough to ensure success with your small business. Competition on the web is fierce. DIY SEO Part 1. Wordtracker for keywords. 10 Ways to Make Sure Your SEO Goes Out of Its Way for You If they want to have success, companies should do everything they can to ensure that their SEO firm doesn't provide lousy service. Here are 10 tips to keep in mind:1. Search Engine Wars - Quality Searches Vs Quantity! It is no secret that Google and Yahoo are on a continuous battle to win our hearts and get everyone to convert, but is converting someone really a matter of the quantity or the quality?Let's take a look at some top key searches and compare them with some search engines online. I will outline a few things for each search result:1) Search Engine2) Number of results found3) Quality & content of the top 10 sites4) What you find going beyond the first 10 pagesEach section will get ranked out of 10 points for quality (information taken on August 26,2005). How to Develop a Successful ROI for Your Website Are You Really Measuring for Return on Investment (ROI) with Search Engine Optimization?Puzzling studies and reports suggest that businesses are missing out when it comes to ROI, including a whole host of metrics that should confirm or shape search engine marketing strategies.You can't accomplish much if you're not even implementing SEO the right way. Keywords: The First Step To Recognition Open Wordtracker [ http://www.wordtracker. High Search Engine Rankings - A Long Term Strategy The last 1.5 years have shown major changes in search engine behavior across the board. Is Page Not Found Making Google Tell The World Site Not Found? Search Engines are hard to tame, that's for sure. But if you can get on their good side, search can be your biggest ally when it comes to generating tons of free traffic to your business web site. Search Engine Optimization - A Must As you surf the web take a look around at many of the sites you see. Do you notice anything that seems strange? Well, let me point it out to you. SEO Tips - Google Has Changed - Learn Why And What To Do Google now checks the year your domain name was first registered.This just makes sense. Youve Got The Power, Why Arent You Promoting It? Like all things, theft is theft, misery loves company, negative people are everywhere, business is sometimes bad, things go up and others go down.If those are all true then knowledge is power right? Wrong, knowledge is only power if applied. Designing a Website So the Search Engines Will Like You Before you go and spend big money on a professional website designer, or start designing yourself, read through this article and make sure that you or your designer knows how to design a website that the search engines will like.Being a web designer myself, I know firsthand what they teach you in college about being a good designer. What Is Search Engine Marketing? It's in our genes, we're driven to seek. We 'hunt' for food, homes, partners, jobs and lately - with the advent of the Internet - information.
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