[ Hire Portent for search engine optimization services - click here. ]
Search Engine Optimization - cont'd
A Word About Expectations
Search engine optimization can take time. Even Google only refreshes its entire index once a month, so don't expect instant results.
If your first registration run doesn't generate increased rankings within a month or two, don't panic. Look at your site traffic and search on the keywords you chose. Make sure that the search engine you're checking actually includes your site, too -- most likely the bots just haven't gotten around to 'crawling' your site.
Still stumped? Find a professional. Sure, we cost money. But you may have missed something about your site that's preventing a good keyword rank, and a second set of eyes can help.
A Solid Marketing Strategy
Obviously, Search Engine Optimization is a big job. But nothing can send more traffic to your site, for lower per-click cost. If you follow the basic steps, and keep at it, you will definitely get results. What's really, really important is to make sure you don't award too much weight to one step (such as link popularity) at the expense of the others. A well-rounded campaign will provide solid, long-term results.
What about pay per click?
Pay-per-click services, such as Overture and Google Adwords, are very different animals. If you've done your keyword analysis you're halfway there, but there are other tasks. I've not talked about them in this article because, well, they need an article of their own. Check back soon...
About the Author
Ian Lurie is an Internet marketer in Seattle, WA. He started his web design and marketing firm, Portent Interactive, in 1995. Portent offers complete Internet marketing support, including search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, and web design and development. Recent projects include SEO and production for www.princesslodges.com, SEO, marketing strategy, design and production for www.dessy.com, and, on the more whimsical side, frida.filmateria.com. Ian has a law degree from UCLA and has successfully avoided practicing law for almost ten years.
Thank you to Elisabeth Archambault, who contributed insights to this article based on her experiences as owner of BuckWorks Online Shopping Directory. Her article on Building Reciprocal Links is a useful introduction to the topic of building link popularity.
Feel free to reprint this article on your own web site, as long as you include the resource information above. For a version that's easy to copy-and-paste or print, click here. It's not pretty, but you can easily make it match the look of your site. Questions? E-mail Ian.
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