Were you convinced by the debunking we did on some web site optimization myths in the previous post? I sure hope so. Yet that was not the end – there are more myths out there than we can count. Let’s try to look at some more myths and see if we can provide alternatives.

I have no time. Web site optimization is too time consuming.
How true is this idea? Practically untrue, I would say. Web site optimization is not an added task to your daily web site development task. The truth is, a lot of the basic principles involved in web site optimization can be incorporated into what you are already doing. Focusing on content so that you can optimize your web site is one of the major things. What you need to do is have a vision of how to optimize your web site and take the steps towards this goal as you continue to work on the site.

I need at least 1,000 submissions to be visible.
Gosh, every time I see an ad promising 1,000 search engine submissions to potential clients, I want to tear my hair out by the roots. Even more frustrating is that some people actually buy this line! Think about it, how many search engines are there? Do you really think there are 1,000++ search engines in existence?

I just need to pay someone to do the job for me – I don’t need to do any work myself.
Well, you can pay someone to optimize your web site for you but that does not mean that you do not have to exert any effort. You know your content best. Optimization professionals may not know your topic inside out as well as you do. Though you can pay someone to do the technical stuff, do not totally exclude yourself.

Photo courtesy of G&M

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As many other people have noticed, sometimes, SEO efforts can tend to become too focused on search engines. Though obviously, the search engines should be a prime consideration, we cannot totally discount the importance of the end users – human users. This is what user experience is all about.

In SEO parlance, user experience is also dubbed as UE or UX. To be honest, I only came across this term recently, thanks to Shari Thurow at Search Engine Land. In a post published yesterday, she shares her thoughts on UX:

Search engine optimization is all about the user experience, because the idea behind SEO is to get users to their desired information and destination(s) as quickly and easily as possible by using the users’ language (keywords). Searchers type in keywords at a commercial web search engine. Searchers’ expectations are validated in search results pages and, hopefully, after they click on links within those search results…a perfect, seamless user experience.

An important point that we should put under consideration is the difference between UX and the perceived UX, the former being what human users actually experience and the latter being what SEO experts may think their users want to experience. Though sometimes, these two factors jive, more often than not, there is a disparity. That is why it is important that when working on SEO, you have to bear in mind UX – the real deal. Do not be limited by your own perceptions, actually open your mind to reality and adjust your strategies accordingly.

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In this day and age, things do not have to be expensive to be good – right?  I suppose nothing is exempt from this kind of thinking, not even SEO.  And with SEO being a very popular activity these days, it is not a surprise that you see countless companies touting their expertise in the field.  Some focus on promoting the idea that they are the best while others focus on the concept that they are the cheapest.  So which one should you go with?

I read an article earlier today tackling the very same question.  It provided me with some food for thought:

There is a saying that ‘Cheap’ and ‘Best’ do not exist together.

The costs coming down do not reflect on the quality of the work however. With more and more channels of optimization in place, companies providing search engine optimization services are able to work on entire new strategies; Strategies that were not around a few years ago, like social networking, and video marketing. These new age strategies ensure that the exposure for a customer is maximum, while keeping the costs at a minimum.

Indeed, just because a product or service is cheaper than others does not mean that you are sacrificing quality.  So when you find yourself looking for an SEO provider, try to bear this in mind.  However, do make sure that the quality that you’re looking for is there – don’t be blinded by the low cost!

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Here is the continuation of the previous post on some of the best – and easiest – SEO tips. There are actually ten of them in the whole article at About.com but I am only choosing the ones that I myself have done and can attest to. Here goes.

Optimize your site for your target audience, not for the search engines.
This may sound counterintuitive, but hear me out. The search engines are looking for pages that best fit the keyword phrase someone types into their little search box. If those “someones” are typing in search words that relate to what your site offers, then they are most likely members of your target audience. You need to optimize your site to meet *their* needs. If you don’t know who your target audience is, then you need to find out one way or another. Look for studies online that might provide demographic information, and visit other sites, communities, or forums where your target audience might hang out and listen to what they discuss. This information will be crucial to your resulting website design, keyword research, and copywriting.

I have written about this before and I do not hesitate to keep repeating it. The problem that some people encounter is that they become too obsessed with what the search engines want. The human side oftentimes becomes ignored. This, I believe, negates much of the efforts put into the site. So the search engine spiders love your site but who is going to read it and keep coming back for more? People! Need I say more?

(to be continued)

Photo courtesy of Martin Heigan

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We hear this term all the time – search engine ranking – and rightly so.  It is one of the important things that we should pay attention to when engaging in SEO.  That is why it is called “Search Engine” Optimization after all.  So what should we do in order to climb the ranks of the very high search engine ladder?

I am sure that there are countless ways and means by which we can do so – every SEO expert will probably have his own list.  I found a comprehensive – and yet simple – list of tips at About.com.  Let’s take a look at them.

Do not purchase a new domain unless you have to.
Due to Google’s aging delay for all new domains, your best bet is to use your existing domain/website if at all possible. If you’re redesigning or starting from scratch and you have to use a brand-new domain for some reason, you can expect to wait a good 9-12 months before your site will show up in Google for any keyword phrases that are important to you.

This is so true!  That is why there is a very profitable market which peddles domains that have been around for quite some time.  The longer the domain has been around, the higher you should expect to pay for it.  That is also why I suggest buying a domain immediately when you think of a potential idea.  It doesn’t mean that you have to use this domain at once – you can keep it for future use.  In the meantime, for your current needs, try sticking to your existing domain or shopping around for one that is already established.

(to be continued)

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I hope that I have gotten your attention with regard to page title tags. As I mentioned before, not everyone really pays attention to these. If you just want to blog or create a web site without really focusing on SEO, then that should be just fine. However, if you have the slightest inclination to optimize your site, then I suggest shifting a bit of your focus to the page title tags. Here are some tips by which you can do that – again, courtesy of the Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.

Tip #1: Accurately describe the page’s content.
Choose a title that effectively communicates the topic of the page’s content.

Avoid:
• choosing a title that has no relation to the content on the page
• using default or vague titles like “Untitled” or “New Page 1″

Ask yourself, what is the page talking about? For blogs, what is the post all about? Focus tightly on the main idea and get the title from that.

Tip #2: Create unique title tags for each page.
Each of your pages should ideally have a unique title tag, which helps Google know how the page is distinct from the others on your site.

Avoid:
• using a single title tag across all of your site’s pages or a large group of pages

If you do not use unique title tags, then guess what? The search engines – Google, at least – will think that your web site has redundant pages and that is not good at all.

Tip #3: Use brief, but descriptive titles.
Titles can be both short and informative. If the title is too long, Google will show only a portion of it in the search result.

Avoid:
• using extremely lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users
• stuffing unneeded keywords in your title tags

I really do not need to dwell on this – just think about it, titles that are more than 5 words long could be quite tiresome.

Hope this helps!

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To be honest with you, I never really paid much attention to this.  As I was going through Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, which I talked about in the previous post, I was hit by the realization of just how important the page title is.  According to the guide, the purpose of the page title is to let both human readers and search engine bots know what the content of a particular web page is.  It is actually much like a book, which has chapter titles.  You tend to get the idea of what a chapter contains from its title.

This is what the guide says:

A title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. The <title> tag should be placed within the <head> tag of the HTML document. Ideally, you should create a unique title for each page on your site.

If your document appears in a search results page, the contents of the title tag will usually appear in the first line of the results (If you’re unfamiliar with the different parts of a Google search result, you might want to check out the anatomy of a search result video by Google engineer Matt Cutts, and this helpful diagram of a Google search results page.) Words in the title are bolded if they appear in the user’s search query. This can help users recognize if the page is likely to be relevant to their search.

The title for your homepage can list the name of your website/business and could include other bits of important information like the physical location of the business or maybe a few of its main focuses or offerings.

In the next post, let’s look at some tips which you can use to come up with the proper title tags.

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Search engine optimization has reached new heights in the past year. Suddenly, everybody and their mom are interested in engaging in SEO in order to make their web sites more visible. Not everyone knows even the basic SEO practices and not everyone wants to spend some time on them. That is why there are many SEO companies making a killing in this niche. However, you should know that not everyone who claims to be an SEO expert is for real. In fact, I just read the results of a research conducted by an SEO firm, Increase Visibility, which shed light on some of the common SEO scams being run today.

I am hoping that you have not been victimized by any of these but to be on the safe side, here are some of the major warning signs that they have pinpointed:

• Emails guaranteeing number #1 Google rankings.
• Offering guaranteed rankings for a very small fee.
• Achieving a #1 ranking for a unique, very long search term. The very long search term has no search volume. This practice is a scam.
• Guaranteeing a #1 search engine ranking by purchasing it with Google Adwords or pay per click advertising. The Adwords might show up on the top of the search page or in the sponsored link section in the right column. However, the majority of searchers use the organic search results located in the left column.
• Offering to submit a website to a vast number of search engines for a small payment (this strategy simply fails).
• Not having a legitimate website or they own an amateurish site.
• Offering to submit a website to over a thousand important directories, however there are only a small number of directories that bring traffic to websites.

My suggestion is for you to start learning about the basics of SEO yourself. You can build on this in the future and actually be your own SEO person OR you can use your basic knowledge to hire legitimate and knowledgeable SEO professionals.

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Who is not wary of bad PR? Everyone is! After all, if the hype gets bad enough, the effects on any company can be disastrous. That is why many companies spend a lot of time and effort on PR activities. But what if, despite your best efforts, you get bad PR? I am sure that your PR firm probably has contingency plans for such events but have you thought about using SEO to counter bad PR? (By the way, if you have not caught on by now, I am talking about Public Relations and not PageRank.)

According to Richard Gregory, you can make the most out of SEO in order to counter bad PR. Direct News has this report:

An effective search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy can aid firms when they are faced with a negative public relations (PR) situation, according to an expert.

In order for this to work in the most effective manner possible, the site notes, it is “crucial” for the firm not to wait for the crisis to break.

This is a brand new way of looking at things – at least for me. Did you know about this before? What do you think of using SEO for good PR?

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We have already taken a look at two questions that you can ask your potential SEO consultant, courtesy of Terence Chang. I have found another resource article that provides more questions that you can use to determine if the SEO consultant is right for you. This is written by Jon Rognerud. Let’s take a look at them.

What ranking guarantees do you provide?
If the answer is anything but “none,” look elsewhere. You might tell them you heard a page one ranking can’t be guaranteed, since nobody owns the search engines, except search companies. A superior search firm may add that while ranking is important, keyword research, relevant traffic and a steady increase in traffic that turns into sales are more important.

This one is a very important question. Although we love to hear guarantees, when it comes to SEO and rankings, there are really no guarantees. And if a potential SEO consultant will guarantee you a specific number with regard to ranking, you should see that as a red flag. Remember, SEO is not simply all about numbers and rankings – it is all about the overall performance of your web site AND the conversions.

Are you going to make changes to my website?
Changes are crucial for SEO, especially changes to content and structure within your site. If you have a lot of graphics, flash and complex navigation with pull-down menus and hierarchical trees that spiders can’t follow, you have a serious problem. Visit some of the sites they have optimized and see what SEO tactics they have applied.

You have to know at the outset how much work it will entail on your part. If you need to re-write a lot of content (or come up with a lot of new content), then you should know at the beginning so that you can come up with a strategy that is feasible for you.

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