Beneath the Surface: Search Engine Optimization

Many companies are not aware of the full gamut of search engine optimization (SEO) methods that build long-term reputation and ranking.  Are you aware of the more advanced SEO methods beneath the surface – waiting to be leveraged? You may reevaluate your strategy after reading this blog.

First of all, let’s make sure we’re on the same page:

  • You never pay a search engine for ranking
    (You do with Pay-Per-Click however. Learn about the difference between SEO and PPC here.)
  • Effect’s definition of search engine optimization:
    The process of proactively influencing the growth of your search engine reputation by preparing and communicating valuable and relevant content to search engines in the way they expect with the objective of achieving top-of-first-page ranking that ultimately rewards with leads and buyers.

Beneath the Surface of SEO

What Most People Know

Most people see only the tip of the SEO iceberg. They understand:

  • It’s critical to figure out which keywords are relevant and actually searched for.
    (So you know what to target with the objective of achieving top-of-first-page ranking.)
  • It’s good to use these keywords in your page titles and content.
  • The more links to your site – the better.

What Many Companies Don’t Leverage

The factors above are  important and should be done correctly. If that’s the extent of one’s SEO strategy, SEO results may better, but will soon grind to a halt.  If your goal is to increase website traffic long-term, taking the process of building links and reputation to a higher level is becoming more and more crucial.  Google is sizing you up using many indicators:

  • Content Syndication for Link Building
    Content can be created not only for on-site purposes, but also for the purpose of syndication to other sites to build links.  The great thing about this strategy is it offers the ability of using optimal anchor text for the links within that content that point back to your site.  This content syndication strategy can be used with article directories (such as EzineArticles), Web 2.0 sites (such as Squidoo), and in guest-blogging campaigns. Understanding which venues to invest into and how is important in knowing what kind of results to expect, how quickly results happen, and how long they last.
     
  • RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
    The RSS feeds from a blog or other content syndication channel can be used in advanced strategies for link building – often making it possible to multiply the number of incoming links per unit of effort.
     
  • On-site Blog
    An on-site blog is a great way to build your website’s reputation with Google.  Google loves new, unique and relevant content. The long-tail traffic that results from regular blogging can be significant. (“Long-tail traffic” are visitors from search terms and variations that you aren’t targeting specifically. These are usually 3 or 4 word phrases.) Properly structuring blog pages can also improve the internal linking power of your site, thus improving organic search rankings for priority keyword phrases.
     
  • Off-site Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, News
    In a nutshell, creating off-site content frequently on appropriate venues helps your target pages appear of the top of various listings. This positions your website as an authority and help convince search engines that you’re a valuable resource. Be aware that many directories/websites do not allow search engines to give you any credit for being linked to. Because of this, it’s important to know where to send new content so it actually contributes to your reputation.
     
  • Focused Site Hierarchy
    Avoiding too many levels in your website hierarchy will improve indexing of your site by Google and other engines.  At the same time, it’s important that pages do not compete against each other for ranking. Usually your homepage targets your general keywords, and subpages target specific keywords. The more pages of your site that Google can index, the better the potential will be for rankings improvements.
     
  • “Link Bait”
    Link bait is the concept of creating website content that is so unique that it makes other people want to link to it.  Social media sites such as Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and others, in addition to content-sharing plugins installed on blogs, make it possible to gain a large number of new backlinks quickly.
     

Summary

A long-term, successful SEO campaign will have invested most of the effort into the these beneath-the-surface methods. According to SEMPO, “Nine in every ten companies polled said they will use search engine optimization (SEO) in 2010“. The right keywords and titles are vital, but should be considered “setting the stage”. To revisit our “think of Google as a person” analogy: For Google to continue to think well of you, Google needs to hear and see what you’re doing on a regularly basis. A set-and-forget SEO strategy allows competition to easily surpass you. Continually growing a base of quality content and distributing it properly will keep you balanced while others begin to compete proactively.

Give us your 2-cents:

  • Did you learn something new?
  • Did we forget something?
  • What do you want to know that wasn’t mentioned?

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