Success Recipe: 4 Ingredients To An Optimized Website!
Posted by Jody Raines
Ingredients for SEO?
Search Engine Optimization and conversions don't just happen. I
have to chuckle every time someone tells me that they want to come up #1 for Google, or that they "just had the website optimized". What do they think that means, exactly?
What's Cooking?
Think about it. Every day the Internet changes. It's a dynamic, bubbling cauldron of information, constantly churning and never at a standstill.
Just because you may have come up at the top of Bing today, does not mean you will in the next search. Just as you "optimized" so is the competition. There are millions of new pages added to the Internet every day.
So, how do you compete? How do you create a website that's going to be an effective too? Remember that it's not about the traffic - it is, however, about the conversions!
Here's the recipe! It's a simple 4 step process for creating an optimized and efficient website:
1. Gather your ingredients: make a list of suspected keywords that your target audience may use to find your product. Evaluate and select appropriate keywords based upon:
- Search Volume - How many monthly searches are being conducted for these phrases?
- Difficulty factor - How many other sites are competing for these words. What kind of authority do these sites have?
- Relevance - How defined are these words for your target market. Are they too general. Are they specific? Dependent upon the terms where do they fall within the purchasing decision cycle?
2. Mix well: On Page SEO - How do you use the keywords in order for Google, Bing, Yahoo or other search engines to recognize them?
- Keywords in Title, URL, Headings, Page Text. Check to be sure that the keywords are exact. Even adding an 's', or changing the flow will impact the optimization.
- Optimize description - yes, Google does use the description, and it should match the content of your page.
- Keywords in meta keyword - general consensus is that Google does not use the meta keywords, however, there is some evidence to support Yahoo using them. Best practice is to have them. I use them to keep me on track for each page.
- Don't forget to use keywords for alt text - great way to include and optimize for misspellings. Google can't read pictures, so be sure to have the alt text there.
3. Add Toppings: Developing authority requires time and -
- Inbound links - For two websites that are both optimized similarly, the site with the greater authority will rank higher. Authority is conveyed by others linking to your website. Most links go to the blog, and not the website - essentially because the blog is helpful info, while the website is more static and generally product or service focused.
- Anchor text - the text that points to a page helps the search engines identify what the page they are pointing to is about. Try not to optimize for "click here". Ask for descriptive anchor text.
- Authority of the site - sites with greater authority that link to your site tend to help your sites authority. A ton of inbound links from Craigslist aren't going to help as much.
- Directories - There are free directories where you should be listed. See the last blog post for 5 easy links that you can do on a rainy day or a Sunday afternoon.
- Blogs - Blog posts are a great way to share your thoughts and perceptions and to have inbound links to your website.
- Tools and lists - Creating a list or pointing out tools are great to develop inbound links. Others enjoy
4. Bake - keep an eye on it:
- Track searches and keywords - Google analytics is great for this and Hubspot's platform is excellent. Tracking for changes in keywords and measuring progress will help to stay ahead of the curve. Continuous improvement is important.
- Track inbound links - Continue to develop relationships and share information that is link worthy. Lists and reference tools are great to share for inbound links.
- Track visitors - How are visitors finding you and what do they do when they visit your site? What's your bounce rate? Did they find what they are looking for?
- Track leads - A potential customer who shares contact information is a lead and deserves prompt follow up. What is your mechanism for doing this? How do you track these leads?
- Track sales - Great that you got a lead, now how many of those leads are converting to sales? By associating the leads that close with the way they entered the funnel - such as which keyword or which piece of collateral they were attracted to - will help to optimize that kind of content or those keywords, and ultimately will result in streamlining your website.
ENJOY!
WebMarCom is an Internet strategy and Web Marketing Communications Agency based in South Jersey and Philadelphia.