The Only Article You Will Ever Need To Read on SEO

SBOCTeam — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:44:00 GMT

by ZekeLL

Do you think that SEO is rocket science? What if I gave you a step-by-step plan that has worked for us and our clients time and time again? What if it was so easy than even a computer-idiot could do it?

This is going to be a long article so I will break it into parts and post one part every day.

Today we will talk about the very first step of SEO, keyword research.

Step 1: Coming up with a list of possible keywords
Let's say you sell furniture online. Some of the keywords that I could think of are: wood table, metal dresser, kitchen furniture set. Make this list a lot longer. Add as many keywords as you can think of.

Step 2: Use a keyword research tool to get even more keywords
I love WordTracker and even the free version provides priceless information. When I enter "furniture" on WordTracker I get a lot of suggestions: dorm furniture, patio furniture, storage furniture, office furniture. This will give you a lot of keywords you didn't think of before.

Step 3: Check search volume
You can use WordTracker (http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/) or/and Google Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) to find out how many searches your keywords have. You don't want to waste your time optimizing your website for keywords that are searched for once a month.

Step 4: Check competition
After you've found relevant keywords with a good search volume you have to make sure that they are relatively easy to rank for. The less competition, the better. You can go to Google and type "allintitle:patio furniture" (without the quotes) and it will tell you how many websites are competing for that same term.

At this point you should have 5-10 keywords that are highly relevant to your business, have a lot of monthly searches, and are not too competitive. For some markets this is a very easy task. For others, such as financial services and real estate, coming up with the right keywords can be a daunting task.

If this is the case, break down the market into micro-markets. For example, if you own a national chain of car dealerships, ranking for the term "cars" will be extremely hard. But by breaking down the market into locations, car brands, and models, it will be a lot easier. Take a look at how it should be done:

Toyota Prius Cleveland Ohio
Ford Focus Denver Colorado

Zeke Camusio is a serial entrepreneur. The Outsourcing Company, his 6th endeavor, is a creative web design and Internet marketing agency with offices in Aspen, CO and New York.

Zeke writes Let's Do It!, one of the most prestigious and popular entrepreneurship and Internet marketing blog. Check it out: www.TheOutsourcingCompany.com/blog.

Applied SEO Marketing Strategy to Engage Consumers

SBOCTeam — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:11:00 GMT

by icrossingseo

SEO relevancy, the second component of an SEO marketing strategy, focuses on defining keywords and applying them to your site. Find out how keyword relevancy and understanding the Keyword Consumer Decision Process can help you connect with customers.

SEO Relevancy
Applied SEO marketing strategy to engage consumers with your business

The main components of any successful SEO campaign can be broken into three parts; Crawlability, Relevancy and Popularity.

The previous article, SEO Fundamentals, focused on the technical aspects of SEO - providing an overview of the major obstacles that affect web site crawlability.

The second major component, SEO relevancy, focuses on the applied SEO marketing strategy of your web site. This critical stage is where keywords are defined and applied to your web pages.

Keyword Relevancy

Keywords provide the greatest insight into consumer behavior. The consumer is telling the world exactly what they are looking for by the search terms they use.

Researching keywords relevant to your website is the most critical component of SEO. This is where you will determine which search terms are critical for your business.

Keyword Consumer Decision Process

When researching keywords, it's important to consider your entire site structure and choose only keywords or phrases that are most relevant to each page. During this time it's tempting to use the same popular keyword on every page of your site, but it's a temptation that should be avoided. Instead, apply individual keywords as they would flow through the Keyword Consumer Decision Process (see graphic).

General Interest: Keywords in this stage are usually most relevant for a home page or major category pages. Search terms typically have high search demand and tend to convert at a lower rate. Keyword example: Cookware
Research: Keyword relevancy at this level is most applicable to category and sub-category pages. Although search demand will decrease at this stage in the keyword consumer decision process, they will convert at a higher rate. Keyword example: Frying pans
Conversion: While search demand is at its lowest during this phase, conversion is at its highest. Product-level pages are the most common at this stage. Keyword example: 10-inch non-stick frying pan

Applying Your SEO Marketing Strategy

To achieve the highest-possible search-rank position, targeted keywords must be visible on the page and should represent each page's overall theme. When consumers visit your web site from search engines, the page must speak to keywords they searched. The following page elements are crucial for keyword integration:

Page title: A short phrase that describes the overall theme of the page. This is the main link from a search engine results page (SERP). Keywords should be integrated into the title and should be part of a compelling marketing message that entices users to click-thru. Page title example: Shop for Gourmet Cookware from Rita's Kitchen Store

Meta description: Displayed in the SERPs, a meta description provides a detailed description of the page theme. While it is not visible on the page, meta descriptions are visible in the page's HTML code. Meta description example: Rita's Kitchen Store offers gourmet cookware at low prices. Choose from a wide selection of cookware from your favorite brands. Free shipping is available on all orders over $100.

Page content: Applying keywords to the visible page elements is critical. Integrating targeted keywords into page headers, paragraph content, page links, etc. will help consumers and search engines understand that the page is about the targeted keywords. This helps ensure that your web site is relevant to a particular keyword and, over time, higher keyword rankings in search engines should reflect this.

Note: You should use no more than two to three keywords/keyword phrases on each page. To help you gauge keyword relevancy, use tools like Wordtracker, Keyword Discover or Google AdWords Keyword Tool when developing your SEO marketing strategy.

Crawlability and relevancy are the primary controllable factors of SEO. Eliminating technical obstacles and applying relevant keywords to your web site can create strong search engine visibility and engage a wider audience with your business.

The next article in this SEO Fundamentals series will cover popularity - the third phase of any successful SEO marketing strategy.

About the Author: Richard Chavez is an SEO Manager at iCrossing, a leading digital marketing agency, who develops search strategies for Fortune 500 clients in the financial services, publishing, CPG and pharmaceutical sectors. He is also a frequent search-industry conference speaker.

InterneteCommerce

The Only Article You Will Ever Need To Read on SEO

Applied SEO Marketing Strategy to Engage Consumers