Search Engine Optimisation - can anyone recommend a good source of self-training material, be it books, videos, DVDs etc. I can find stuff on the web but it all seems rather vague and nebulous. Maybe because it appears encompass such a wide range of topics and techniques perhaps?
Ideally a thorough ‘Step 1 - do this’, ‘Step 2 - now do this’ etc, would be my wish! This is more of a ‘How do I precisely determine what I need to apply to Freeway’ rather than a ‘How do I apply this to Freeway’ request.
Before the expert SEO’s chip in, may I express an opinion. SEO is
sometimes over-hyped. The does not mean it is not important: it
definitely is. You need to achieve high search engine ranking to
guarantee being found and to achieve this there are some basic steps
to be considered right from the start.
I. You must understand the basics of how search engines index you
site. The most important areas appear to be content and link
popularity, with clear, meaningful page titling, realistic use of
search keywords, in context within the site and logical progression of
copy matter and meaningful naming of images (with alt text
description) throughout the site. Perhaps an over simplification, but
somewhere to start.
You must also understand how customers/enquirers will look for you
site and the search terms they will use. There is a psychology to this
and from an optimisation point of view you need to be at least on the
first two pages, the near the top of page 1 the better. Remember,
though, that unless looking for a very specific item or brand, the
searcher is likely to want a choice of links for comparing products or
services, so you can get a result without being top. Few rational
searchers will accept the top slot entry as necessarily being the best
answer to their query.
Don’t use SEO just to glorify your client’s position. In another
thread, a member with strong and valid views on SEO in relation to
Freeway gave an example of his achieving the top five slots and more
for different search times. The product was a mood music/natural
sounds product to lower blood pressure. By coincidence I had been
looking for natural blood pressure remedies shortly before he posted,
but his product appeared nowhere on Google’s first two pages for me,
using simple and obvious search terms including blood pressure remedy,
treatments, therapy, relief, non-medical, etc. After he had posted I
tried adding mood music, but got nothing until i added ‘sonic’, a term
I would not have normally associated with BP treatment. I admit that
searching from the UK may have skewed the results, however, although
searching across the full web.
My point, in brief, keep keywords and page titles realistic.
SEO alone is not enough. Promotion outside the Internet is needed a
well. Even the biggest, top slot names do that. Back to psychology, a
searcher is often looking to compare with something he/she already
knows or to find further information for a known brand. This is where
the confidence factor kicks in and seeing a know name pop up in the
searches, even if not at the top, will be more inviting for clicking
the link.
When it comes to the technicalities, like you Ian, I’ve found no
definitive “manual”. Maybe this is because the search engine
algorithms are both complex and fluid - always being modified to
eliminate spurious spamming and hone their sharpness in identifying
valid material.
Finally, don’t forget the law of diminishing proportions. Get the
basics right and you’ll move up the rankings. After that it can take
quite some effort in tweaking the site for even modest gains. So, if
you go this route it may be best to employ an expert - if your client
can stand the cost.
Now lets hear some advice from these who really know about this
subject in more depth than me.
Colin
On 9 Mar 2009, at 09:49, Ian Halstead wrote:
Search Engine Optimisation - can anyone recommend a good source of
self-training material, be it books, videos, DVDs etc. I can find
stuff on the web but it all seems rather vague and nebulous. Maybe
because it appears encompass such a wide range of topics and
techniques perhaps?
Ideally a thorough ‘Step 1 - do this’, ‘Step 2 - now do this’ etc,
would be my wish! This is more of a ‘How do I precisely determine
what I need to apply to Freeway’ rather than a ‘How do I apply this
to Freeway’ request.
As a caveat to the above, it’s all about content. Google actually wants you, not the other way round. That’s how they built their business, in finding relevant content that matches search terms. Simple, but aren’t all the best ideas?
As for a complete step by step guide to achieving this, perhaps you could let me know and we could set up a book deal.
Finally, don’t forget the law of diminishing proportions. Get the
basics right and you’ll move up the rankings. After that it can take
quite some effort in tweaking the site for even modest gains. So, if
you go this route it may be best to employ an expert - if your
client can stand the cost.
BE HONEST! Any monkey can “game” the search engines for a
while. If you decide to trick the index into listing you higher than
someone more interesting than yourself, you have committed yourself to
an arms race you cannot win. At the very best, you will have to
continue wasting time inventing new tricks as the search engines (or
your competitors) become more facile at recognizing your fraud.
I have a client in San Francisco who chased his tail for quite a while
because a competitor used all sorts of keyword-stuffing tricks to get
listed higher than him. I spent a long time researching the things I
could do at that moment to get ahead, and finally cleaned up the
page titles and H1 tags and reported this competitor to Google.
All the energy you put into trying to fool the system is better placed
in developing relationships with thought leaders in your market and
improving your content. Cream rises, even in the Google index.
BE HONEST! Any monkey can “game” the search engines for a
while.
Thanks for the added comment, Walter.
Perhaps there should be just one more:
BE REAL! Not everyone can hold top spot - and when you do, you can
be sure that sooner, rather than later, there’ll be someone doing
their damnedest to take it from you. You might even stay in sight
longer at ‘only’ at #5!
For anyone (on the Web) wondering why my “rule” isn’t #7 and Colin’s isn’t #8 – the text formatter we use (Markdown) for the Web presentation of this list doesn’t pay attention to the actual numeral in a numbered list format. It simply styles the entire mess as an OL tag, so even if you numbered your list 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 4, it would come out as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
It’s what’s in the rules Walter, not how they are numbered. :^) Good thoughtful comments from everyone, and all the responses are greatly appreciated. High quality brain food.
Also think laterally for your search words and key phrases to
configure your web pages around.
Sometimes its better to be number one on a search term less used (and
not thought of by your main stream competitor), and get 100% of that
smaller search traffic rather than compete head on, rather than ending
up on page 2 or 3 with 0% traffic using that often used popular search
term, that everyone is competing for.
David
On 9 Mar 2009, at 13:34, Colin Alcock wrote:
BE REAL! Not everyone can hold top spot - and when you do, you
can be sure that sooner, rather than later
OK, so what I’m getting here is that SEO is something that should be ideally built into the site from conception. In other words, the content of the site should reflect the research done into keyword and search term selection, whilst still maintaining relevance to a human user, and without attempts at outflanking engines. This research influences page titles, links, link names, image selection and titles, alt tags, as well as body copy.
By careful harmonisation of all these elements, a higher ranking than otherwise for a given search term will result. Easier said than done, but it looks like the sort of activity that gets better with lots of practice! Once more unto the breach…
Yes, If SEO is the main reason for the site, build the site pages
around what your searches are. Maybe a page for each search topic,
rather than lots of topics on one page.
Too many sites are built first, then configured after. If you know
your market, and know what your prospective clients are looking for
(i.e typing in) thats half the battle. Then a good page title, h1 page
heading, page description, file name, very precise keyword or better,
key phrase all related, AND plenty of text on the page about that
topic, should get you on your way.
I see it sort of… not how good your site is configured, but
(luckily) how bad everyone else’s site is configured. Those things I
mention alone will get you well on the way up the list, because so
many sites still insist on “about us” and “our history” pages. Lets
hope they keep on doing this!
On 9 Mar 2009, at 15:10, Ian Halstead wrote:
OK, so what I’m getting here is that SEO is something that should be
ideally built into the site from conception.
David Owen :: Freeway Friendly Web hosting and Domains ::
