How do you write good SEO?

admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:00:23 +0000

At Level 343 they go on, and on, and on about the importance of content. They do this because so many people today seem to think that relevant quality information will just cost them far too much and isn’t worth the time or money. Of course, that approach is doomed to failure in the hyper competitive market we love to hate- The Internet.

However, those who have good content often don’t seem to get that you really do need both. The greatest content in the world won’t help you one bit if you don’t do decent search engine optimization. It’s the equivalent to writing the greatest novel in human history and publishing it on toilet paper. No one’s going to find it, and no one is going to want to read it. If your website can’t make both search engine spiders and people happy, you’ll fail. Granted some will argue what about organic? Organic is the gold but, only if you have time on your side.

So, how do you get good SEO content? By following a few simple rules in the creation and promotion of your website.

First off, do a decent keyword analysis. You may know that a ton of people are out there looking for books, but what search terms do they use when doing it? “Find book”, “find books”, and “find good books” may not seem all that different, but to search engine spiders they’re all individual terms. You want to get the people for all three if you’re selling books. You want to use keywords with high rate of search, low competition value. I won’t get into the analysis of it all but suffice it to say you want to generate a solid target so do your homework don’t take just my word for it.

Second, write your website in HTML! Yes, you really do want simple, un-ornamented HTML. All of the Flash, animation, Macromedia and the rest may look really spiffy to you, but they’re a pain to search engine spiders and they’re often a pain to your visitors. If you must use the pretty graphics and new Internet friendly programming languages, put up an optional HTML site along side them and at least give your visitors a choice. Spiders generally have no clue what your site’s about unless it’s in HTML, and if spiders can’t categorize you, search engines won’t show you. In addition, you will not make any friends among visitors who do not have the latest connection speeds.

Third, write decent metatags. A bunch of professional SEO specialists today will tell you that metatags are worthless these days. If your aim is to “trick” the search engines into showing your website faster or higher when you don’t provide quality content, that’s true. Metatags won’t do that anymore. However, three to five well chosen keywords plus a good title and description can make all the difference. Your keywords give the spiders a “heads-up” as to what they’re looking at, and your title and description are the first things any real visitor is going to see about your website. Whatever is in the title and description metatags will be the “clip” about your site that shows up on search engine results pages. You want to make a good first impression with them.

I love this quote from a surftrip I read in this article ” H1 editing is important. Period. Why? because, if done correctly, like a TITLE element, it provides descriptive text regarding the copy to be presented. If the element matches the H1, matches the copy, you’ve got a nice formula there and a good foundation for quality ranking and attracting links.”

Last, generate an XML sitemap, and have it uploaded to your server. Again, this sitemap tells the search engine spiders what they’re looking at in a language they can understand. The less deep comparative work they have to do, the faster your site will get listed. Keep this sitemap up to date and accurate, and resubmit it every time you update. Doing this shows the search engines that there’s someone home, and that your site probably has fresh and relevant information.

SEO doesn’t have to eat your life, and it shouldn’t. People who are trying to trick the search engines have to update their stuff constantly in order to keep the trick working. However, good quality SEO really just means getting the techie bits right so your site gets seen. Once it’s done, it won’t have to be redone for years if ever. How do you want to spend your time?

Why Professional SEO Providers Say Test Your Landing Pages

admin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:15:25 +0000

When you talk to professional SEO providers about landing pages, you’ll hear many of them extolling the virtues of testing those pages. Why? Why not just build a landing page that works the first time?

First, let’s talk about conventional wisdom, passed down from those professional SEO providers. Conventional wisdom says that your home page shouldn’t be a landing page. Conventional wisdom also suggests that testimonial landing pages work better than other so-called “conversion pages”, and that product pages are one of the top types of landing pages.

Now, let’s talk about reality. The reality is that there’s no telling what type of landing page will work for your specific website. As many of the better professional SEO providers know, what works depends on several factors, including the type of product you sell.

For instance, if you sell a weight-loss product, landing pages that show comparisons have a better possibility of working than just a sales ad with a “Buy Now” button. However, if you really want a landing page that works, you want to look at every aspect of the page, not just what type it is.

Okay, we’ve covered conventional wisdom and reality. Now we’re going to through everything out the window that you’ve ever read about building a “killer” landing page and start from scratch. Instead of wondering whether you should use a comparison, testimonial or feature landing page and constricting yourself to a “type”, ignore typing and build up the page according to your needs.

Landing Page Duties
Landing pages have some unique issues. For one, they ARE the sales process, from beginning to end. The product, service or information on the page has to be strong enough to get the user to convert.

Landing pages also have to capture a potential customer’s attention very quickly. You have approximately five seconds to impress upon the reader why your product, business or information is better than others.

The last issue is that a landing page is your first impression. Generally, it’s not going to be your regular audience that sees this page; the readers will be new visitors. Keep in mind that first impressions are the hardest to change.

Your Goals
Decide what the goal is for the landing page. Are you trying to collect contact information? Sell your product? Talk about your services? Whatever goal you’re going for needs to be the central theme of the landing page and, while all professional SEO providers will talk about content being king (I’ve done so myself many times), you need to think about design, also.

Design
When building your landing page (or looking at one you already have), keep in mind that you want to:

• Show professionalism – First impressions are everything. Make sure the design is sleek, professional and in line with your goal.

• Inspire trust – If you’re a member of your local BBB, provide Paypal or are registered with HackerSafe, use these logos on your landing page. Logos take little room, and these specific logos have been proven to inspire trust.

• Keep them on the page – Limit or eliminate your navigation. You don’t need links around your website on a landing page; these are only ways for them to leave the page. If they leave the page before conversion, you’ve lost them.

• Keep it focused – Your ad has a call to action also, so match your landing page with the ad. For instance, if your ad says “The best professional SEO providers money can buy”, you want your landing page to say something like “Level343: The Best Professional SEO Providers Money Can Buy.” Use the same phrases both the ad and the page.

There are many other tips and tricks, words of wisdom, about landing pages. However, as the professional SEO providers will tell you, no amount of wisdom can guarantee a working landing page. Test first!

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How do you write good SEO?

Why Professional SEO Providers Say Test Your Landing Pages