By Shari Thurow
Search engines are the primary way most people find new web sites, but web
site designers forget this when they create sites. Often, site designers make
the mistake of building the web site, then contacting a search engine optimization
specialist to ensure the site is search-engine friendly.
They have it backwards. A search engine optimization specialist should be
brought in before the site is even designed, not after the site has been built.
Such specialists, who focus on ways of landing web pages near the top of search
results, can look at design templates and tell if a site’s navigation scheme,
layout and keyword structure might be problematic. Addressing design and copywriting
issues early in the design and redesign of a web site can save companies time
and expense.
But there are search engine optimization specialists and there are search
engine optimization specialists. Many people who consider themselves specialists
place keywords and keyword phrases inside of HTML tags without considering an
overall online marketing strategy. A true specialist, though, writes for the
search engines, analyzes site statistics, has a thorough knowledge of spider-friendly
HTML, has considerable experience with search engine optimization in multiple
industries and stays up-to-date on search engine happenings. And to top it off,
the ideal search engine optimization specialist in retailing has, if not merchandising
experience, at least a good understanding of the principles of merchandising
and product promotion.
This article addresses important points to consider when looking for a search
engine optimization specialist to work on your site.
1. Know a search engine from a directory
A true search engine optimization specialist knows the differences between
spider-based search engines (Google, FAST Search, Inktomi, Teoma, AltaVista)
and human-based search directories (Yahoo, Open Directory, Business.com). Spider-based
search engines crawl sites looking for identifying tags that will determine
how and when the page appears in search results. A human-based search engine
employs cadres of researchers to look at millions of sites and categorize them
according to what the researcher deems appropriate.
Strategies for being listed well in search engines differ from strategies
for being listed well in directories. Search engine optimization is designing,
writing, and coding in HTML a web site to maximize the chance that web pages
will appear at the top of spider-based, search engine results for selected keywords
and phrases. Factors that affect search engine visibility include keyword density,
that is, the ratio of keywords to the total number of words on a page; keyword
placement, the positioning of keywords in title and other tags and in alternative
areas, such as in image descriptions; keyword prominence, how high up on a page
a keyword appears; and link popularity.
Search directories, by contrast, require that the site operator select the
most appropriate directory categories for a web site and write descriptions
that concisely and accurately describe the content of the site. Factors that
affect directory placement are selecting the right category and writing a good
description.
Editors will modify a directory listing if the company name, description,
or web address is no longer accurate. Since it is nearly impossible to modify
a directory listing after your initial submission, a search engine optimization
specialist should emphasize the importance of doing it right the first time.
2. Do keyword research
A considerable amount of an SEO specialist’s time should be spent on researching
keywords your target audience is most likely to type in a search query and incorporating
these into your web pages. You will be surprised to find what your audience
is typing in. For instance, shoppers searching for a necklace won’t search just
for necklace. They might search for 18K gold chain necklace, or jewelry AND
necklace AND gold, or where can I find an 18K gold chain necklace online.
Jeremy Sanchez is a representative from Position Technologies, a firm specializing
in paid inclusion and trusted feed programs for all of the major search engines.
Position Technologies receives massive amounts of click-through data each day.
“75% of all search queries in our Inktomi data are three terms or longer,” Sanchez
says. “And very few search queries are alike. For every 50 clicks a URL receives,
90% of the search queries are different.”
The most important tags in an SEO specialist’s arsenal are title tags and
the main body text. Secondary in importance are meta-tags, alternative text
and comment tags. Meta-tags are HTML tags that give information about a web
page’s content but do not affect how a page is displayed on a browser. Alternative
text is the text placed inside a graphic image. Comment tags are used to hide
content from browsers. Designers use these tags to keep web page content more
organized. Meta-tags, alternative text and comment tags are supplemental; having
extra keywords in these tags alone will not give long-term results.
3. There are no guarantees
No one should guarantee a search engine ranking. A credible, experienced,
and knowledgeable search engine optimization specialist can demonstrate results
from past performance but cannot guarantee future results.
Except for pay-for-placement search engines, such as Overture.com, no one
can guarantee top positions because there are third parties—the directory editors
and the search engines—who have all the control. In fact, all major search engines
have a disclaimer stating that they decide which web sites to include in their
indices.
4. Beware of cloaking and doorway pages
Search engines have made it clear that the web page delivered to the search
engine spider and the web page delivered to the end user should contain the
same content. If not, the search engines remove the site from the database.
Prime examples of this form of search engine deviousness are the widely reported
adult-content sites a few years ago that encoded the phrase “Barney the dinosaur”
in their home pages as a way to trick people into coming to their sites.
Some programmers practice a variation of this theme by creating what are known
as “doorway” pages. These programmers look at which sites are coming up high
in search results, then copy the code from the those sites and repeat it numerous
times on pages they create as a way to get those pages high in search results.
Then when users click on the link in the results, the page re-directs them to
the site for which the programmer is working. These programmers are not search
engine optimization specialists. And search engines will quickly drop such pages
from their databases. In fact, to search engines they are a form of spam. “FAST
considers spam to be pages created deliberately to trick the search engine into
offering inappropriate, redundant, or poor-quality search results,” Tim Mayer,
vice president of web search for FAST, says.
Search engines also often will not direct users to sites whose content is
hidden from spiders. Some sites like to cloak their content because someone
has told them that anyone can grab their content then figure out their marketing
strategies. This is not true. You cannot determine a site’s online marketing
strategy just by looking at a site’s meta tags. You cannot determine the most
frequently visited pages, the pages that generate the highest sales conversions,
least frequently visited pages, top pathways through the site, etc. Online marketing
is a series of processes, not just placing words inside of a meta tag.
Displaying the content for search engines to find is the best way to get to
the top of search lists. Hiding it from view and using a round-about software
program to get into search results will only keep you out of the search engines’
databases. “There are often legitimate ways that a technique such as cloaking
can be used but the vast majority of content providers that use these techniques
are aiming to artificially increase the rank of their sites in search engine
results,” Mayer says. “Content creators should be wary of using these techniques,
as their content will draw extra examination by search engine software and personnel.”
5. Understand b2b and b2c differences
Another question to ask search engine optimization specialists is how much
experience they have with b2c and b2b sites. The approaches that work with one
are very different from the approaches that work with the other. With a b2b
site, where a product or service can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars,
the user will probably do considerable research, then talk to a company representative
before making a purchase.
With a b2c site, however, encouraging site visitors to make a purchase right
away is paramount, especially during Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas.
To ensure a quick turnaround time for the holiday seasons, a search engine optimization
specialist should have experience with the different types of pay-per-click
and paid inclusion programs at the major search engines.
And they should be familiar with the data feed programs, usually used by b2b
sites. “For retailers with dynamic (database-generated) sites, a good option
is to work with one of the XML data feed programs, “ says Stephen Baker, vice
president of FAST. “These programs enable retailers to provide product catalogs,
for example, directly to the search engines for indexing and can be updated
every couple of days. If optimization is required, the major search engines
can recommend companies that they are partnered with.”
Teoma, Inktomi, and AltaVista offer trusted feed programs. Google offers the
Froogle product for merchants. Search engine optimization experts can optimize
data feeds to the search engines.
6. Give your audience
what it wants
To get the best long-term results, a web site should be constructed with quality
content and a navigation scheme that search engines can easily spider. Make
your pages easy to read. Give search engines and end users a navigation scheme
that they can easily follow. Learn to write content using words and phrases
your target audience will type into a search query. By giving your audience
exactly what they are searching for via a search engine query, you are not only
helping boost your sales, you are also adding value to the search engines.
Shari Thurow is marketing director at Grantastic Designs, a full-service
search engine marketing, web and graphic design firm. This is excerpted from
her book, Search Engine Visibility, published in January 2003 by New Riders
Publishing Co. She can be reached at shari@grantasticdesigns.com.
After a retailer has chosen a search engine optimization expert, the retailer
needs to focus on search engine results. Here are five areas that Stuart Larkins,
vice president of partner services at Performics Inc., urges retailers to pay
attention to:
1. Uncovering numbers improves conversion rates
Don’t focus on traffic numbers alone; identify visitors. One retailer realized
that much of its traffic was coming from overseas locations outside of its target
market. To remedy the situation, the marketer lowered keyword bid prices in
the evening to incur fewer click-throughs from overseas users; conversion rates
climbed thereafter.
2. If marketers don’t manage their brand, affiliates will
Above all else, own brand-related keywords; do not allow affiliate partners
to become unnecessary intermediaries that outbid on crucial terms to create
commissions for themselves.
3. Managing keywords is like parenting
Some blossom into productive marketing vehicles; others simply do not reach
their potential. They sometimes react strongly to their surroundings; a keyword
that delivers on Google might lose its edge when implemented at another engine,
much like an outgoing student who becomes a wallflower at a new school. Search
engines cater to demographically diverse user groups, which leads to different
searches and different reactions to search results.
4. Cohesiveness drives sales
Customize copy for each keyword. Ranking will get you noticed, but appropriate
copy will earn you more visitors and sales.
5. Smooth landings increase buys
One retailer sent visitors who searched the term “khaki pants” to a page on
its site that offered women’s and men’s khakis. Because conversion rates were
too low and the vast majority of khakis sold were men’s, the landing page was
redirected to men’s khaki pants and conversion rates climbed dramatically.
