You are here » Home » Internet » SEO! What's the G.O.?
A whole industry has grown of companies using techniques beyond the basic SEO rules, in an attempt to trick their way to the top of search engine listings. The result? Search engines constantly change their "algorithms" for displaying relevant results... So the cheaters succeed only with lower placement or even getting banned.
You need a sensible, ongoing approach to SEO so you do not shoot yourself in the foot and run the risk of being banned.
But before you engage any SEO firm, look at what you can do yourself to get things going... You'll save a lot of money if you don't have to pay someone to do what you should have done yourself!
You are not - EVER - going to get to the top of the search engine results pages! No matter what anyone says! The competition for those TEN places is most likely way to BIG!
Just how is it possible to get there for ALL the keywords you desire? It isn't. Sorry.
Instead, focus on aspects of SEO other than getting a top ten placement!
That is highly unlikely to change (in the short term), as search engines don't really like new sites. Many new sites are unfortunately packed with keyword spam and offer little value to searchers.
As far as the search engines are concerned, established sites should provide better "results" for the real people using them.
New products, articles, links and news. Change up your existing pages from time to time.
Search engines love sites that "update" regularly. It encourages them to revisit and re-index your site more often.
And that is great news for you!
How many of these pages are currently indexed in the search engines?
Type site:www.yourdomainname.com into Google to see how many of your pages are currently in their index.
If your site does not appear at all, then look at getting external links to your site happening quickly. Once your site and pages are prepared properly (see below) then submit your site to the search engines using the forms they provide.
Avoid using services that promise to submit your site to 100's of search engines! These are not always "good neighbourhoods" to be associated with. See the section below titled "How can you get more links IN to your site?"
If you've got less than 5%-10% of your total pages available in the search engines, then you must be doing something seriously wrong that will take a lot of work to get the rest of your site indexed.
If you've got around 80-100% of total pages already in the search engines, then that's an excellent start.
Ask yourself the following questions about the structure of each page on your site:
This particularly applies to e-commerce sites. Often the product descriptions used are very "light" on. They are usually just a straight grab from the supplier's pages! Make them "unique" to yours, and you'll be a winner, chicken dinner!!!
Speaking of key words... Are you just "guessing" what keywords people "might" use to find you, or have you done some solid research into that area?
There are two ways you can easily add new pages to your site that both search engines and your visitors will love.
Make sure these new article pages are relevant to your site's theme, and each article focuses on one set of keywords. Don't stuff all the articles with all of your keywords!
That's not good SEO... and they'll stay buried under the bottom of the haystack!
Included in this category are "news" pages. Do you have "news" section on your site to keep your visitors updated with the latest info?
Yes... this is an "ancient" tactic, but still very worthwhile IF you approach it correctly :)
Notice I used the word "directory" as opposed to a "page". A "page" of a hundred or more links offers NO search engine value to you (or even the sites you link to).
Set up a directory structure. Then, build an entirely new, comprehensive section of categorised links to other websites that are relevant to your business or locality.
It's actually quite easy to build several hundred pages here... one page for each category, and one page describing each linked site in detail.
Examine how you link back to the rest of your site from these pages, to ensure that any visitors who arrive at these pages can easily find their way to what it is you are selling!
This does NOT need to be a "reciprocal" links directory as the benefit to you here is the extra content you are getting indexed.
Remember... Google does not like "Low-quality directory or bookmark site links" - so don't be one of those :)
"The best way to get other sites to create high-quality, relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can naturally gain popularity in the Internet community. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it."
An age-old tactic can be "reciprocal links" - i.e. sites link to you and you link back to them. Any reciprocal links you do get should be "featured" within your Links Directory mentioned in the previous section.
You should definitely look at building one-way links into your site. You can do this by "listing" your site on relevant topic directories, either with free or paid/sponsor listings.
Two excellent ways to get incoming links are to write articles and submit them to article banks, and/or submit press releases at other sites.
Wherever you link from, make sure the link to your site is a direct link to your URL, and not passed through a "redirect" or counter script. There is little SEO value in that. Also, avoid like the plague "link farms". They will damage your reputation.
Whatever new products, items on special, new articles, new links, etc., that you add to your site can be converted into RSS feeds. Search engines pick these up very quickly.
And… you can use other people's RSS feeds to add content to your site!
However... if you have done all the basics and you are still not happy with your search engine results, maybe it is time to talk to an SEO firm. At least by now, you should have a far better understanding of what they suggest they can do for you to decide if the investment is worth it.
Remember, as a website owner it is your responsibility to ensure any SEO firm you use to improve your site's visibility does NOT use dodgy techniques! These could permanently damage your site in the eyes of the major search engines.
A good SEO firm can add the shine to all your hard work! So be sure you get the right one.
Written by coais
