Recently by Thomas M. Schmitz
Google just updated their Toolbar PageRank, also known as the little green bar. Once again I am seeing a lot of web sites losing PageRank, so I want to re-share what I have counseled people in the past.
If your rankings and traffic have not recently fallen, do not worry about your diminished PageRank.
Visible Toolbar PageRank is only a snapshot that Google updates every four to eight months. The real PageRank, the one you never see, is continuously calculated. Google uses real PageRank in its ranking algorithm.
As the Internet gets bigger it becomes more difficult to achieve a high PageRank. In layperson’s terms, PageRank measures the likelihood that someone will arrive on a web page by only following links from other web pages. This means that as the number of web pages on the Internet grows in number it becomes less likely most specific pages will be found by solely clicking on links on other pages. This does not change the quality of pages or their ability to rank in Google.
PageRank is only a portion of Google’s ranking algorithm. If you look at the ranking results for most queries you will see that low PageRank pages frequently outrank their higher PageRank competitors.
If a lower PageRank makes you want to create more quality content and link-worthy content, then I say, “Go for it.” I am not saying that this will increase your PageRank when the next update comes around, but good SEO fundamentals coupled with a drive to build out your web site content will almost assuredly result in higher rankings, rankings for more search queries and increased traffic.
When you read that paid search and organic search require separate content strategies you might think, “Duh! That’s obvious.” Except that something happened to me last week, and this was not the first time.
A Portent’s client earned a top ten ranking for an important keyword, one right near the top of the keyword chart. Time to cheer, right? Except, Google selected a different “landing page” than the one we optimized and targeted for this particular search query. Instead of celebrating a profitable new top ten ranking I found myself asked how to move the ranking result away from the page Google selected? How, instead, can we make Google select the page Portent originally optimized?
I understand this reaction. I can even appreciate the sentiment. We did not get the desired reaction. Except, I was asked the wrong question. Trying to make Google change its mind might prove disastrous. We might crack the golden egg and loose that top ten ranking altogether.
I think that the reason I received the reaction I did was a blending of organic search optimization thought and paid search optimization thought.
Basic paid search strategies are fairly straight-forward. The search marketer gets to select specific keywords and match them to specific landing pages. Those landing pages become the top of the marketing funnel, they are heavily controlled and -- on well designed sites -- they usually exist separately from the site’s spider-friendly navigation. Marketers carefully design paid search, PPC or CPC landing pages to maximize advertising ROI and to elicit specific behaviors or conversions from visitors. Because this is a controlled environment marketers can refine the search queries and hone the landing page content until they come as close to perfection as possible. By controlling the content and the choices visitors are practically forced to follow the path you create.
Organic search optimization is more chaotic and attempting to re-point search engine query results from one page to another can be fought with danger. It’s like moving the Jack of Clubs from one side in a house of cards to the opposite side. You can too easily collapse everything.
From organic search engine query results visitors might arrive on any one of your web site’s pages. Sure, you optimize specific pages for specific search queries, but the ultimate decision maker about which pages get shown in the search engine results pages, and for which search queries, is the search engine algorithm.
If you make drastic changes to your pages you could loose you your coveted ranking altogether --or-- your page may be too specialized to turn into a landing page. Would you turn your company info page into a landing page because it begins ranking for what your company produces?
The correct question, the one I should have been asked, is, how do we move visitors from the page Google selected into the desired marketing funnel?
Visit your web analytics and look at the organic search queries from which visitors arrive and look at the pages they arrive on.
- Do all or most of your visitors land on your home page?
- Do they land on a handful of pages, such as your top level or category pages?
- Do visitors from organic search arrive on a wide range of different pages?
You’ll notice that it’s a numbers game. Unless you are like Amazon.com or Wikipedia.com, only a fraction of your pages will attract visitors for competitive search queries. Add to that, you can only optimize each page for a small number of competitive queries. In other words you have to make the best use of limited opportunities.
The real solution must be your web site design and navigation. It does not matter on which page a visitor arrives. Your job is to give them immediate hope and a fast path to the information they desire.
- Hope must occur quickly, within three seconds. This is because people do not immediately read web pages, they scan them. Visitors must see an indication that the information or benefit or solution they want exists on your web site.
- A fast path means making the correct content easy to find. It might be obvious navigation in only three or four clicks. It might be an internal search box. If it is not quick and easy visitors will give up and leave.
If you your web site is well optimized for organic search the importance of good design and navigation becomes even more apparent. Half of your visitors should be arriving from less competitive long-tail queries, and probably to a wide range of different pages. This means that a healthy chunk of your conversions or sales depend on moving people from organic landing pages to the correct marketing funnels.
When search engines send people to unexpected pages use your web site design and navigation to take them to the right place.
At this point I expect that some more seasoned readers are thinking about optimizing a second page. If so, you read my mind. But let me caution that optimizing a second page neither replaces or precedes getting the most from your design and navigation.
Google will show up to two listings per domain on any single page of organic search engine results. The second or lower ranking result will get promoted to the spot directly beneath the higher ranking result. So, if you rank #3 and #8, the #8 result will be promoted to #4.
- Without taking anything away from the page that already ranks, aggressively SEO the second page with on-page SEO, internal links and external link acquisition.
- Try to figure-out why, semantically, Google is ranking the page that it does rank and make sure that the second page has a distinct purpose. If you are uncertain, remove the Meta Description tag temporarily to see what text Google replace the description on the SERPs page with. This may give you a clue.
- Link the page that does rank to the page that does not.
Stronger optimization of the page you originally targeted for your keyword may get you a second rankings and even more traffic. But keep in mind that while this strategy might work for one, two or a handful of more competitive keywords, you cannot use it to convert visitors who arrive from long-tail or low volume keywords. Again, the best solution is well designed content and navigation.
Question: When should a company bring a search engine optimization (SEO) consultant into designing a new web site?
Answer: Immediately!
I just read an article where the author states that the time to hire a search engine optimization consultant is right after the design is finished, before the content is written.
Wow! There’s a disaster ready to happen.
I cannot tell you how often I have had to rip the heart out of gorgeous, visually appealing and clean web site design with carefully chosen color schemes and lots of white space.
- Is there space for anchor text or are the menus stylishly petite with generic text like ‘home’ or ‘solutions’ or ‘products’?
- Did your designer include signals of trust like addresses, telephone numbers, and copyright dates?
- Did your designer use fancy CMS image replacement tricks?
You can design around SEO. It is much harder to SEO around design.
BTW, this goes for development too. You do not want to spend thousands of dollars on a content management system only to learn that search spiders cannot crawl your links or that you have massive amounts of canonical URLs or that your CMS will not work with your web analytics.
Smart entrepreneurs use SEO to inform all of their online decision making.
Think about the words and phrases people use to query the search engines in order to find your product or service. Could you use valuable market research like this to develop your entire marketing message?
If you are serious about designing a profitable online business hire an SEO consultant and do so early.
Before your web site is designed and installed use your SEO consultant to
- Discuss your Internet marketing vision and ask for an independent reality check, one based on market behavior.
- Get a keyword list and find out what people are or are not looking for.
- Create your web site architecture (skeleton/org chart/page-tree).
- Make a checklist of requirements for your CMS developer and web site designer.
Being a Search Engine Optimizer is a bit like being an attorney. I’m not creating your design for you. I am not programming or installing you CMS. But I understand the process, the dangers and the opportunities. At the outset I will use my expert knowledge to give you a set of dos and don’ts that will protect you and help you. It is Search Marketing after all, and I am a Search Optimizer.
This week Portent Interactive is excited to welcome our newest member of the team, copywriter Amanda Halm. Hi Amanda!
Jade asked me to write some SEO copywriting pointers that I just finished. Since these sound so proprietary-like, I just had to sneak them past Ian to share with you. So enjoy and *shhhh* Don't tell the boss.
Select one to four keywords.
Writing friendly copy for organic search is all about targeting specific search engine queries. Select one to four search queries that will fit within a 65 characters. Selecting more than four queries will dilute your page content and make it difficult to rank for your target queries.
Write the Title Element/Tag
Your title element, also called the title tag, should state the overall them of the page. If you are creating a common theme on your web site you should include the target theme query too.
Google only shows up to 65 characters. Your home page and primary topic pages should keep within this limit. Deeper pages may be given longer title elements.
If you have space, include an adjective that will make the title element more appealing. For example Surf Boards are great, but Wicked Surf Boards is click-worthy.
Write the Meta Description Element/Tag
The meta description is a 155 excerpt or summary of the web page. Unique meta descriptions will not help a web page rank well, but duplicate meta descriptions can hurt search engine rankings. Therefore, it is important for every page to have a unique meta description tag.
Search engines use the meta description as their content in search engine result pages (SERPs). This create an opportunity to capture visitors by making the most compelling and clickable description possible.
Remember to include a call to action. Visit Tori Richards for the coolest authentic Hawaiian style shirts in the Universe. Limited edition Santa drag racing sleigh designs are here!
If the page is to be used in a link building campaign
Write five alternate title tags and five alternate descriptions for the link builder to use. Unlike the HTML title tag, these do not have to have every keyword in every title and description. When all five versions are placed together, though, all of the target keywords must be represented.
Craft the HTML Skeleton
SEO friendly web pages are built using HTML outlines to support paragraph text. Think of the outline as the skeleton and the paragraph text as all of the meat, muscle, and sinew that hangs clings to the skeleton. They are also like outlines for English term papers.
H# tags are important signals for telling search engines what is important on an HTML page. Because they are standard tags the search engines can recognize them and accord them influence.
Do not use h# elements in navigation or for in templates. These should be styles by using CSS.
The h1 element
The h1 element is much like a web site’s title tag. It should state the overall purpose of the page and include all of the target keywords. There should be only one h1 element on a HTML page.
The h2 element
The h2 element may be used either as a sub headline directly beneath the h1 or to denote a section of content within the page.
As a sub headline the h2 should appear directly after the h1 tag and include the most important of the target keywords.
To denote content the h2 should be used in the same way that English term paper outlines use I. II. III. Etc. Each should denote a major section of the web page. Each h2 should include the target search query or queries for its section.
The h3 element
The h3 element may be used either as a sub headline directly beneath the h2 or to denote sections of content between h2 elements.
As a sub headline the h3 should appear directly after each h2 tag and include the most important of the target keywords.
To denote content the h3 should be used in the same way that English term paper outlines use A. B. C. Etc. Each should denote a major section of the web page. Each h3 should include the target search query or queries for its section.
The h4, h5 and h6 elements
I am sure you recognized the similarity between the h2 and the h3 elements. The h4, h5, h6 are used in the same manner and continue the hierarchy.
Most web pages will not use h4, h5, and h6 as it is rare to break down a HTML page so precisely.
Paragraph text and span text
In paragraph text employ liberal use of the target keywords, especially the ones that correspond to the h# section you are in.
Use different forms of the keywords including adverbs, present tense, past tense, singulars, plurals and others.
Use related words that one might naturally expect to encounter. For example, if you are writing about baseball include words like bat, ball, glove, strike, and home run.
Keyword density
When reading about SEO you may see the term keyword density. This is the percentage of keyword text compared to all text on the page.
In earlier days, getting the correct keyword density was an important part of search engine optimization. Expert recommendations ranged from 4% to 7% and even higher. Today, no one correct keyword density exists. If you look at the keyword density for any search engine results page, you will find that the density fluctuates wildly from listing to listing.
Instead, we recommend packing pages as tightly as possible with target keywords and their variations and related words…that is, as tightly as possible while still sounding normal. Once you begin to sound robotic it is time to pull it back a bit.
Usability for people, not SEO
While this article is about writing copy for SEO, do not forget that most pages are for people too.
On the Internet people like to scan more than read. They prefer short, easy to view navigation. They like white space. They like brief paragraphs and short stories. Readers particularly enjoy bulleted and numbers lists, italics, bolding, indentations, and anything else that makes a story easier to parse visually and absorb.
No one will read a 1,000-word article unless they drilled down to and found exactly the content they sought.
Know Your Search Engine Optimization Competition
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, your competitors may not be whom you think.
One of the first things I ask for from new SEO clients is a list of competitors. This usually arrives from their marketing office and includes other companies that provide the same product or service as our client.
This in-sector competitor list contains useful information, especially for researching keywords and phrases. But, while there will be overlap, this is not their List of Internet Competitors.
Internet Competitors are companies that occupy the same marketing space that your company occupies or the places where you want your business or your products or your services seen.
Seattle, Search Engine Optimization and a Rubber Chicken
Say you want to SEO the web site of a major rubber chicken seller from Seattle. FYI: Archie McPhee’s is not a client. We just love to shop there.
If you asked the person at the counter, he or she might tell you that one of their competitors is a rubber chicken seller three blocks east and to the right. However, that rubber chicken shop has no presence on the web. It is not an Online Competitor.
Perhaps you know about another rubber chicken web site? Yes, they are online, but they don’t possess high enough rankings to be visible. This web site does not belong on your competitor list.
Your competitors are
- The top 10 to 30 listings for Rubber Chicken, Rubber Animal, and other top organic search terms.
- The paid listing also present on these organic search pages.
- Paid listing are there by virtue on their financial investment. You cannot push them out with an organic listing.
- You can make sure that your organic listing is better designed and offers a more compelling message than the paid listings.
- Sites that use paid listings are affected by Google’s quality score. Even if they do not rank organically they can offer insight.
This is where the eyeballs are! They are the ones you must squabble with for consumer mouse clicks.
- The organic results include various rubber chicken sellers. They also contain a motorcycle service center, a university literary journal, a paper arts supply shop and Wikipedia.
- The paid results on the right side consist mostly of novelty shops.
- On the top, the One Box contains Google Shopping (product search) results, two novelty stores and a big box pet supplies retailer.
Not all your competitors sell rubber chickens!
The Power of High Search Engine Rankings
In search engine optimization we used to say the key to success was being found within the first three pages or 30 listings of popular search queries. Time changes all things. Today search engines produce much better results. That means a first page or top 10 ranking is more often the requisite for triumph.
In 2006 AOL released a database filled with search data. From this we learned quite a bit about which listings get clicked on. Here are the click frequencies based on search engine rank, 1 to 10 and beyond.
- 42.10%
- 11.90%
- 8.50%
- 6.10%
- 4.90%
- 4.10%
- 3.40%
- 3.00%
- 2.80%
- 3.00%
Listings with a rank greater than 10 received a combined 11.30% of all clicks or visits. Analyst aggregated these figures from all of the AOL data. Results for individual search queries will vary.
This AOL data demonstrates the importance of high organic search engine rankings and getting onto the first page for popular queries, particularly in Google which receives 59.8% of searches. Yahoo! comes in second with 21.3% of searches.
Competitive SEO Knowledge
Anyone who vies for success should know:
- What are the top ten websites for each major search query?
- What are the competitive search ranking factors of each of these sites (page count, external links, keywords in titles, etc.)?
- Are their ranking factor anomalies, like a high ranking from a small site with few links?
- Which web sites rank for multiple major organic search queries?
Look for trends and outliers.
- Trends tell you the norm, what you need to accomplish to earn a top rank.
- Outliers offer-up insight into search engine behavior, at least for that particular search query. They can also reveal possible shortcuts to that top 10 ranking.
The adage is true. The more you know… Ultimately, search engine optimization comes down to three things: knowledge about SEO, knowledge about specific query results and knowing how to combine them successfully. That plus the will and determination will earn you your high search engine rankings.
This article is part of a continuing series, From Seattle - Search Engine Optimization - To You. An easy to understand explanation of SEO.
The SEO Preflight
Before diving into a new SEO project I want to understand what challenges the web site faces and, of course, the opportunities. Call it my SEO Pre-flight for Fitness Program.
To design a custom fitness program a personal trainer will begin by testing your strength and stamina. How would you feel if that trainer asked you to bench press 300 pounds during your first visit? Unless you are an advanced or elite class weightlifter 300 pounds is not a realistic expectation. The trainer determines your abilities first then uses that knowledge to create appropriate goals.
Search Engine Optimization works the same way. A web site cannot rank #1 for an industry’s most competitive search query without the right content or without earning adequate trust from the search engines. A Search Engine Optimization Review will find you web site’s baseline and help you select the best goals to:
- Achieve higher rankings.
- Get listed for more queries.
- Prepare to rank, in the future, for keywords that are more competitive.
Start With Web Analytics
I begin my Search Engine Optimization Preflights by studying web analytics and crawl data.
Use tools like Google’s Webmaster Tools and your web analytics package to look for trends and insights. Here are some of the questions I try to answer.
- What search queries or keywords does the web site rank for?
- How high are the rankings for those keywords?
- Do the search engine listings match the web site’s objectives?
- Do people click on the search engine links?
- Which search engines drive the most traffic?
- How much traffic do search engines bring?
- After they arrive from a search engine do people explore or abandon the web site?
Which Web Analytics Package for SEO?
To make sound decisions concerning anything you need good information. To make good SEO decisions your web site needs analytics software. It’s not an option.
Personally, I find Google Analytics more than serviceable for Search Engine Optimization. The price is right too, free. (Portent Interactive just happens to be an Authorized Google Analytics Consultant so if you need help you can call us.)
Some Portent Interactive clients use premium analytics packages like Omniture HBX SiteCatalyst™. If you think you might require premium web analytics I suggest you
- List exactly what data you want to get that you cannot get from Google Analytics.
- Make sure that the premium web analytics packages you consider can produce the data you desire.
- Talk to people that use the software and ask them to share their tips and tricks.
The next two parts of the Search Engine Optimization Preflight will be competitive research and keyword research.
From Seattle - Search Engine Optimization - To You
All SEO professionals face a difficult task when explaining their work in ways that are :
-
Understandable
-
Meaningful
-
Actionable
I enjoy talking about Search Engine Optimization at Seattle area events and discussing SEO in everyday terms with our clients from around the USA—it’s a highlight of my work. So I decided that a fun challenge will be to explain, from my desk in Seattle, Search Engine Optimization and how it works in simple usable terms.
SEO Definition
I’ll start with my own definition of SEO. I wrote this awhile ago for the Search Engine Optimization Group on Facebook:
Search Engine Optimization endows web sites with the traits and authority required to achieve high rankings on Internet search engines. Part science and part art, the search engine optimizer’s craft requires intellect, discipline and sound judgment.
I should have added persistence and patience to my SEO definition.
SEO requires:
- Knowing how search engines work
- Understanding the search engine ranking factors
- The ability to implement or strengthen different ranking factors
SEO is Not Connecting Dots
Search Engine Optimization is not a simple formula one blindly follows. You’ll find numerous forks in the road and hills in your path. SEO requires experience to understand the challenges ahead and sound judgement to make good choices.
Future Search Engine Optimization Stories
Going forward I plan to discuss each aspect of SEO, a beginning to end SEO Guide, except that SEO never really ends. I’ll include as much everyday vocabulary as I can muster too. We’ll start with a pre-SEO checklist.
So here we go. From my desk in Seattle, search engine optimization, for you.
Twitter is a Popular Group Chat Client
When Twitter came on the scene 2006 I was an early adopter. Chatting IRC style with the addition of subscribers and an archive was most compelling to me. I was quick to abandon it too. Back then you may as well have shouted, "Hello!," into a desert canyon, but without the comforting echo. Twitter reached a tipping-point (and I began using it again) during the 2007 SXSW conference when attendees used the tool to chat during sessions and figure-out which bar to convene in. At the same time conference bloggers lit the Internet with stories about just how revolutionary Twitter was.
Today the question is,
"How do I use Twitter to get rich for marketing?"
Personalities like @GuyKawasaki, @SethGodin and @JasonCalacanis all use Twitter so there must be gold in them there hills. Right?
Right size your expectations.
Twitter is a lousy audience building tool when you have to start from scratch.
Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin and Jason Calacanis did not create new audiences on Twitter. They brought their audiences with them. They told blog readers and subscribers, "Follow me on Twitter to receive more fresh content and enjoy some personal time with me."
So how do Guy, Seth and Jason use Twitter to grow the readership their blogs and web sites? They exploit the fact that no one enjoys being privy to only one side of a conversation.
- On Twitter everyone has their own followers
- When you send a message to Guy Kawasaki your followers see what you write
- When Guy writes to you people will not see what Guy writes unless they follow Guy too or visit his profile
- When your followers see you conversing with Guy Kawasaki
- Many will want to know what Guy wrote to you
- They will visit Guy’s Twitter page
- Some will follow Guy
- New followers will get Guy’s messages, both personal and marketing
The larger the audience you bring with you to Twitter in the beginning the more useful Twitter will be as a marketing tool. If you have only a small audience Twitter will prove difficult use.
You can build an audience from scratch on Twitter.
It takes time to make new friends. As you become more involved and recognized people will follow your account. It can be a slow process, especially at the outset.
- Create an account with your real name (Unless your nickname is widely recognized).
- Use a Twitter search tool
- Find discussions that interest you
- Make sure you have a potential audience on Twitter
- Visit the Twitter pages of @names you see frequently in messages.
- Read their recent posts
- Evaluate them
- Follow them
- Visit their web sites and blogs
- Participate in the conversation.
- Be online during peak posting periods
- Use people’s @names in your posts
- Seriously, engage people and use their @names in your messages. This is the most important secret of all.
- Write compelling content
- Write only when you have something worthwhile to contribute
- Don’t be a troll or somebody who fans the flames of argument
- Avoid useless messages like, "Me too."
- Use Tiny URLs (Firefox addon)
Here is one last hint.
Don’t follow too many people right away.
If you visit somebody’s Twitter profile and see that they follow 250 people but only 25 follow back, chances are good you will not follow either. The ratio is unnatural, too far apart. Keep this in mind for your own account when you begin following users. Start with under 50 then grow gradually. You’ll pick-up speed soon enough.
If you want to follow me
These secrets and some determination should get you started. And, if you want to follow my tweets here is my Twitter Profile: SEOinSeattle.
Update: See what Neil Patel thinks about Twitter too.Lists and grouping are terrific ways to simplify or remember complex stuff. So today I am sharing how I categorize audience development for Internet websites.
Before I start, however, I want to emphasize a point. Management guru Peter Drucker declared, "The purpose of business is to create a customer." Success in business depends on creating positive ROI; it requires profit. Everything below, no matter how counterintuitive, are pieces of a puzzle...a Rube Goldberg machine that delivers customers to your doorstop.
Ever website should cultivate three audiences:
- The Sales/Conversion Audience
- Search Engines as an Audience
- The Social Media/Conversation Audience
ONE: The Sales/Conversion Audience
This is your traditional target market, the prospects, leads and customers that you want to draw into your sales or conversion funnel. This group also includes customers, especially ones you hope to offer repeat sales or support. This is your Peter Drucker audience.
TWO: Search Engines as an Audience
For most businesses search engines are the top deliverer of website traffic and prospects. Search engines have their own needs: relevance, authority and trust. Meet these needs and they will feed you a steady stream of leads. This is not about manipulation. It is about cultivation. Search engines depend on certain signals to rank web pages. Develop those signals naturally, with purpose and in harmony with your other audiences.
THREE: The Social Media/Conversation Audience
Malcolm Gladwell calls them Mavens. Rand Fishkin calls them the Linkerati. The fact is that most people do not add content to the Internet and they will never link to your website. Yet, links to your website and conversations about your website are two fundamental measures of relevance, authority and trust, benchmarks search engines use for ranking pages. The Social Media/Conversation Audience will also drive branding and increase recognition among your Sales/Conversion Audience.
To get website traffic from Audience #1 you need:
- High search engine rankings - Audience #2.
- Internet mavens writing about your business and linking to your website - Audience #3
To get high search engine rankings you need:
- Lots of relevant keyword rich content
- Internet mavens writing about your business and linking to your website
To get Internet mavens to write about your business and to link to your website:
- You must provide them with compelling content that they can pass on to their own networks and audiences.
It is indirect. It is counterintuitive. Which is why most business websites target only The Sales/Conversion Audience. Look at the above image, the circles. Most business focus on the yellow circle exclusively. Others only cultivate SEO and social media when those two audiences overlap with the yellow. In a competitive world success probably lies beyond the overlap. Out there, in the green and the blue…that is where the new opportunities are.
Again, it is indirect. It is counterintuitive. So is paying a public relations firm to get a 30 second clip onto the 6:00 news about a family that uses your product.
The title of this post is Search Engine Marketing Does Not Affect Your Business Model. If I went into a search marketing conference and proclaimed that Search Engine Marketing Does Not Affect Your Business Model I imagine that the conference organizers, the speakers and quite a few attendees would want to tar and feather me then run me out of town on a rail. I don’t care and I’ll say it again, Search Engine Marketing Does Not Affect Your Business Model.
Search Engine Marketing Should Emulate Your Business Model.
What do I mean by Search Engine Marketing Should Emulate Your Business Model? Chances are good that your website and your larger Internet presence (You do have a larger Internet presence, don’t you?) does not match your company’s business model.
Most business websites are designed for one audience, the sales & conversion audience. These are your company’s prospects, leads and current clients. The website content for this audience typically consists of extended brochure content for products and services, basic customer support such as manuals and some type of a Q&A process, plus information about your company. This focus is so pervasive that, as an SEO Analyst, when I recommend expanding website content the immediate reaction is to add additional sales pages.
Does this reflect accurately how your company operates in the physical world?
- Does your sales staff only fill-out order forms or do they spend time networking and building relationships.
- Do they limit their networking to prospects and leads or do they communicate with others as a part of their search for those leads?
- Does your company engage in increasing brand recognition and building awareness of your company?
- Do employees attend industry conferences, either for your own business or the businesses of your prospects and your prospects’ clients?
- Do people in your company speak at events or engage in other activities that demonstrate industry leadership?
- Does your firm lobby lawmakers or work to influence regulations and standards?
- Is your business engaged in community development and charitable causes?
Okay, that’s enough, almost. Let me ask you two more questions.
- Would your company be successful if it did not do all or many of the things in my list of questions?
- How many of these activities does your business engage in on the Internet?
I understand it is rather difficult to attend a conference or trade show online. The point is that your business is about more than sales.
- It relies on building your brand or company reputation so people will know about your company and think of it favorably when they need your product or service.
- It relies on networking and building relationships throughout your industry and your clients’ industries.
- It relies on being an industry leader and an active business citizen.
Marketing a business online is no different than marketing a business offline. It requires enthusiastic interactive communication on multiple fronts.
How does this affect search engine marketing?
Search engine algorithms are designed to identify relevance, trust and authority. Trust and authority are measured using signals from other websites like links to your website. When you engage vigorously in building conversations on the Internet, on and off of your website, you dramatically increase the opportunities for search engines to raise the level of trust and authority that they assign to your company’s website. That will increase your rankings across a variety of relevant search queries and, in turn, generate leads and sales.
That is why I say Search Engine Marketing Does Not Affect Your Business Model. I say it because Search Engine Marketing Should Emulate Your Business Model.
