Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization begins with identifying the search strings and key word phrases which are utilized in the search engines to locate web-sites which promote particular products or services. For example, if you were surfing the Internet for someone to assist you with promoting your web site, you would search for "web site promotion" or "search engine optimization." The search engines would then provide you with a list of web-sites which specialize in search engine optimizing. However, search engine inquiries reveal that people utilize a variety of search terms including "search engine optimization," "search engine rankings," "search engine positioning," "search engine marketing," "Internet marketing" and "web site promotion" to locate information on search engine optimization.

For example, according to search engine inquiries in April 2003, the following search terms were utilized to locate information on web site promotion, search engine optimization and related search terms:

188,909 - web site promotion
102,085 - Internet marketing
42,711 - search engine optimization
29,702 - search engine ranking
15,301 - search engine positioning
13,555 - search engine marketing

Note that there were over 188,909 searches conducted for the search term "web site promotion" and 102,085 searches conducted for the search term "Internet marketing." Notice that the number of inquiries for these two search strings total almost three times the number of total inquiries for the searches focusing on the "search engine" terms and key words. No doubt, the majority of the individuals performing these search engine inquiries were interested in learning more about using the Internet, via their web site, to market and promote their businesses. However, they were not familiar with more specialized search terms in the industry such as "web site promotion" or "search engine optimization." On the other hand, those who searched for the more specialized terms, i.e. "search engine optimization," were probably more serious customers who are more knowledgable and ready to hire someone's services to assist them with optimizing their web site.

Hence, based on the above information, if an individual was interested in developing a web site to assist clients with search engine optimization, he should utilize terms such as "web site promotion" and "Internet marketing" in addition to "search engine optimization" or "search engine ranking" in order to appeal to a wider audience with greater potential of obtaining clients. On the other hand, due to the competitive nature of optimizing popular search terms and the desire to work with more knowledgeable or serious clients, one could choose to specialize by optimizing only the most specific search engine term listed above, i.e., search engine optimization. The old adage, quality versus quantity becomes an important consideration. Specializing and developing an area of expertise in a field such as search engine optimization, web design or graphic design is usually most productive. At Terencenet, Inc., we pride ourselves on being an elite team of web site designers, logo and graphic designers and search engine optimizers who work together to promote the products and services of our clients via their web sites.

Once the key words and search terms have been identified for a particular service or product, web site promotion and search engine optimization is achieved by designing the client's web site around those key words and search terms, often referred to as search strings. Careful web site layout and design considerations include choosing a compatible format to promote your web site, i.e. basic html, frames or a data base language such as Cold Fusion, PHP or ASP for product driven sites, which is the next most important step. Typically, most web site designers and web site developers know little about search engine optimization and hence they do not consider this when they begin designing and developing web-sites. This initial lack of planning can potentially make web site promotion and search engine optimization difficult or impossible without first restructuring the entire web site. This is particularly true for web sites which are developed and powered via data base languages with generic headers (i.e. they use the same title and meta tags for each page). This is a critical mistake since generic headers do not allow for search engine optimization of individual pages containing important information on products and services offered by a company.

The most effective search engine optimization is achieved by focusing on a single search string or key word phrase for each specialized web page. For example, if you were a Marine Products company that offered a variety of products, you would want to create separate pages for your product lines, i.e. Marine Electronics - VHF Marine Radios, with sub directory pages for each product, i.e., Standard Omni VHF Radio. This type of web site design and layout allows for maximum optimization of each individual product or service of a particular company. It also allows for the creation of custom titles, descriptions, key words and specialized content including text and graphics for each product or service offered. This type of custom optimization is extremely important for driving traffic and enabling customers to find your services and products on the Internet, especially if you are working with a variety of products and services.

Conducting research on a specific product or service and developing relevant content utilizing the right balance of key words, often referred to as key word density, is the next important step. This is a critical step since search engines will increase or decrease ranking of web sites based on key word density. Content should be informative and should not appear awkward or conjested with key words. In connection with this step, key words should also be utilized in the title and headers contained in the body of the web pages as well as in the summary description of the meta tags. Key words should also be inserted into the key word meta tag and in the alt text tag for graphics. Though most search engines rarely utilize meta tags anymore, we recommend using them. Meta tags are fairly simple and easy to implement for each web page or sub directory page and they allow for maximum search engine optimization for the search engines which continue to use them.

After the initial content is compiled and the preliminary web page is completed, the next step is to compare the web page code and key word density of our client's web pages with top ranking competitor's pages utilizing optimizing software. We then fine tune the optimization process until our client's pages are consistently ranked higher than the majority of their competitor's pages. Often times we are able to outperform competitors and place our client's web site at the top of the search engine rankings. Though optimization is more difficult to achieve in regards to competitive search terms and popular phrases, primarily due to changing algorythims used by the search engines for ranking web sites, over time it is possible to achieve higher and higher search engine rankings. Once optimization is complete, it is time to submit your web-site to the various search engines for indexing and ranking. We recommend that you submit only your index page. Do not submit it more than once in a 24 hour period. Some search engines will move your web site to the end of the list each time you resubmit. There are are only a handful of relevant search engines which you need to submit your web site to for indexing. Some of the expedited submission services such as Inktomi, which accomodate several of the major search engines, we strongly recommend utilizing for immediate results. They usually guarantee indexing within 48-72 hours. Contact us if you have any questions. We recommend that you have a professional, who is trained in search engine optimization, assist you with reviewing your web site prior to submitting it to the search engines. There are certain techniques such as spamming that you want to avoid in order to prevent your site from being penalized or removed from the search engines and directories.

Though the above information lists only the basics for web site promotion and search engine optimization, these are the most important steps for optimizing your web site. Whether you are creating a new web site or optimizing an existing one, keep in mind that your web site should be designed around search engine optimization in order to drive traffic to your web site. Be sure to inquire if your web site is being designed to promote your products or services and that whoever is assisting you with your web site design & development is utilizing search engine optimization techniques. If you are looking for professionals who are knowlegable about web site promotion and search engine optimization in addition to web site design, please contact us. TerenceNet, Inc., a publicly traded company, offers a full range of Internet marketing services for our clients including ebusiness consultation, web marketing strategies, search engine optimization, web site design & development, logo design, graphic design, ecommerce solutions, shopping cart, web site hosting & technical support, domain name registration, perl and cgi scripts, networking, pay per click advertising services and targeted email marketing.