What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is the science of producing web pages that are attractive to the search engines. The better optimized the page is, the higher a ranking it will achieve in major search engine results. This is especially critical because most people who use search engines, such as Google or Yahoo, only look at the first page of the search results. For a page to get high traffic from a search engine, it has to be listed in that first page.
Search engine optimization focuses on techniques such as making sure that each web page has appropriate title tags and meta tags, and that the keyword or key phrases for the page are distributed throughout the content in a way that the particular search engine will like.
Search engines find and catalog web pages through spidering (aka ‘crawling’) software. Unfortunately, not all search engine spidering software works the same way, so what gives a page a high ranking on one search engine may not give it a high ranking on another.
One of the things that search engine optimization specialists do is keep track of all the changes in search engine operations so they can optimize pages accordingly. They also keep up with changes in the different search engine submission policies. Source: RedlineSEO
Who needs SEO? Successful internet marketing requires more than just having a website. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) makes it easier to connect to potential customers willing to pay for the goods and services you offer. Without SEM, businesses generally only show up in search results when someone searches for their business name. That may be sufficient for people already familiar with your business and what you sell but that’s not enough for most companies.
If your company is considering building a new website or updating an existing one, then search engine optimization should be one of the top priorities in mind. SEO campaigns have a much higher return on investment than other traditional internet marketing techniques.
If you spend a significant amount of money to develop the look and feel of your website but clients can’t find you, then all of your "development" money has gone to waste.
What is the Best Time to Start SEO for My Website? While it's never too late to optimize or tweak pages that have already been published, it's a lot easier and more sensible to include search engine optimization when the page is first written.
What about Paying Search Engines for Higher Placement, such as sponsored links? Prospective clients who discover your site via search engines are more likely to think of your business as being capable and credible if they find it in the organic results, where they know that you did not simply purchase the placement. The higher your site is in the organic results, the more likely they are to trust it and contact you for the services that they need. Also, there is no guarantee of high ranking, even if you pay for a listing. There are a few exceptions where PPC (Pay Per Click), Google Adwords, paid Facebook ads and others are beneficial. Contact us to find out more.
When Will I See Results? Achieving a favorable ranking in the major search engines is a gradual process. We must consider several factors when determining the timetable for achieving a favorable rank including what keywords or key phrases will be targeted and to what extent they are competitive. You will see some tangible results within days, but typically it takes between 1 to 3 months to see a positive return on investment. For example, your homepage might be indexed by Google and/or Yahoo within days. However, it typically takes 4 to 8 weeks to have your interior pages indexed.
What Options are Available in a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Campaign? Like all marketing, there is never a single factor that delivers; it's a combination of a variety of well planned and executed tactics. The following SEO elements work synergistically to move your site to the top of the search engine results page. PDX Website Design can help you decide which of these items will bring your site the best return on investment. Click links below for more information:
• Keywords - One of the biggest factors in search engine placement is how many times the keywords for a given search phrase appear as text or links on any given page on your site. For instance, if a consumer typed in a search for "New Jersey homes," and your homepage had text and hypertext links containing those keywords—such as “Portland Homes and Gardens,” “Steps to Buying Portland Homes,” etc.—to several articles on your site, then, all things being equal, you would do well in the search placement. We conduct thorough research to identify key words and phrases that are relevant to your business and geographical area and that are most likely to be searched by prospective clients.• Page Titles - A website's page title appears in the (usually blue) title bar in the very top left corner of the browser window. Search engines look at these page titles to see if they match the keywords their users have entered as a search. Instead of titling your page “Bob’s Website,” title it to match the most frequently used search phrase(s) relevant to your site (ex: “Tampa Bay Real Estate”). • Meta Tags - Although meta tags are part of your site’s programming and do not actually appear on your site, they describe your site to search engines. When someone goes to a search engine and enters “Austin homes,” all things being equal, those websites with “Austin homes” as a meta tag will show up in the results. It is also helpful to have a good description of your site in the Meta Tag Description field. Keep it short and to the point, as most search engines limit the number of characters in the description that they will read. This description will show up under your website link in a search result on a search engine. It will help consumers to distinguish viable search matches from the rest.
• Alt Tags - Scripting by your web site designer for images on your site.• Coding - Search engines and people do not read sites the same way, so we make sure that our coding is as friendly to automated readers as to humans.• Link Campaigns - Link campaigns generate new incoming links to your website from quality websites related to your specialty. Incoming links can improve search engine rankings and traffic.- High Ranking Sites Linking to Your Site - One of the fastest ways to get higher ranking is to have industry related top ranking sites link to your site from theirs. We can help you identify and pursue these sites.- Link Exchanging – While having your site listed and linked on a high ranking site is optimal, being linked on most any industry related site is beneficial to you site’s ranking. Some businesses offer to link your site if you are willing to add a link to their site as well. Again, we can help you identify the sites that would most benefit yours and pursue link exchanging with them.- Intrasite Links - We use keyword-rich links in your site’s content to connect all of the pages together, a technique that helps the search engines recognize the relevance of each page to its designated topic.• Satellite SEO Pages - Prime online real estate is limited. As an increased number of websites turn to internet marketing to attract new clients, it becomes increasingly difficult to hit and maintain rankings on the coveted top ten spots in Google™ and Yahoo's® search engine results. This program is designed to show search engines constant growth of your website and build incoming links to your website. Regular updates to your website, additional content can improve search engine rankings and traffic. These techniques are in-line with Google™ and Yahoo's® guidelines and will help your website become a trusted authority on the web. Satellite SEO pages increase website size. Depending on your needs, we will allocate resources to satellite SEO pages, link campaigns, or a combination of the two.• Submission to Search Engines - You don’t want to wait longer than necessary to see a return on your investment, so we submit your new site directly to the search engines upon its completion to ensure that it is indexed and searchable right away. Search engines can take from a few days to a few months to ‘crawl’ your website and index your website.•Local Search Maps Optimization - 91% of potential clients contact a business immediately after searching, and most of them make a purchase. Maps Optimization puts your business right under the noses of customers looking to buy. It gives your contact info to local searchers, because they’re ready to buy, and they’ll buy from you if they can find you. Google Map is visual and usually at the top of search engine results. It draws potential clients and makes it easy for them to connect with local businesses. When buyers look for services on Google, the top three to six most relevant local businesses are displayed on a map with the company name, phone number, street and website address. Your first step is to create a free Google account at www.google.com if you don’t have one already. Next, click on Google Maps and create a business listing. PDX Website Design will then look at search data and current trends related to your services and revise the content of your listing to maximize its relevancy to local and mobile searchers. Additionally, listing your business on Google Maps gives you one more link to a powerful search engine and helps people find your place of business.
• Online Reputation Management (ORM) - Good? Bad? Neutral? Find out because it could help, or hurt, your reputation and might even cost you business. Rather than working to raise link results with a particular search term in order to (ostensibly) generate more commerce or page views, the goal of ORM is to push already highly-ranked negative posts off the results pages so that they are seen by fewer people, thus creating a more positive results environment for the sponsor of the effort. ORM is the specialization in prevention and repair of online reputation threats, and has less to do with directly promoting businesses. • Social Networking (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc.) and SEO –“By involving SEO insight in a social media marketing effort and vice versa, marketers, public relations professionals and advertisers can extend the value of their investment. Well optimized social media content marketing efforts can attract new network participants via search. News content that is distributed via social news and bookmarking channels can facilitate links to company website content directly and indirectly. Advertisers that fund social media campaigns can continue to realize the traffic benefit from keyword-optimized interactive content long after the campaign has ended. “Now more than ever, company marketers are charged with improving performance with fewer resources and shifting marketing budgets from traditional to digital tactics like SEO and social media. There are significant benefits from combining search engine optimization and social media marketing tactics ranging from increased social network discovery via search to the ability to attract links for improved SEO. Making the most out of combining SEO insights with social media marketing tactics can be accomplished with a roadmap that identifies the audience you’re after, the goals you’re trying to reach (and can measure) as well as a strategy that sets the stage for the tactics you’ll use to execute your game plan..” Source: Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing and editor at Online Marketing Blog.
To learn more about how social networking can help your SEO we encourage you to visit: http://mashable.com/2009/04/15/social-media-seo.
• SEO Maintenance Campaign - Frequently updating and adding to your web site, optimally once a month, initiates re-listing of your site by the search engines thus benefiting your search engine rating. The following is a list of what is included in our Maintenance Campaign:- Periodic Reviews - The search engines are always changing their systems in order to deliver better results to their users, so we conduct reviews at set intervals that help maintain and improve your search engine positioning.- Statistical Reports - Website statistics provides clients with a calculation of the number of users visiting their sites each month and data on each user's search behavior. For example, clients can learn which of their web pages is most popular, which is least visited, and the amount of time users spend on each page of the website. These valuable statistics are essential for determining the performance and cost-effectiveness of individual pages within the site, as well as the site as a whole. - Keep that content fresh and informative! Updating content such as text, blogs, forums, and other items previously mentioned refreshes your site in the eyes of the search engines. They see you are busy and active. This is one of the most important SEO tools you can implement. Too busy to create articles? PDX Website Design can provide unique, industry specific, keyword rich, copy for your website.Costs: PDX Website Design understands the importance of your marketing dollars and what it means to the future success of your business. We make it affordable by spreading the cost over months because that’s how you implement a successful, long benefit-yielding optimization plan. Contact us to review your new or existing site. We will give you a proposal based on your needs and budget. Call us today (503-753-4520) or use the form below to receive your FREE SEO analysis.
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SEO (Search Engine Optimization) FAQs
See also: Online Marketing and Sales
Placement at the top of search engine results can mean a lot of business for you from the Internet. Google and other top search engines frequently change criteria that help a site rank high. Our Seach Engine Marketing options include a variety of 'white hat' (ethical) tools. During our initial (no obligation) meeting with you, we can review SEO options for your website and recommend those with the best ROI for your marketing budget. Click on the links below for more information.
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