| Search Engine Positioning - Introduction | |
| But first, the disclaimer: These tips are designed to use the basic mechanisms inherent with the major search engines to the advantage of the web site owner. The key is not to ABUSE these mechanisms. As a web site owner, you have the duty to use the Internet in a responsible manner. This is especially true with Internet Marketing. Attempting to deceive a customer has never been a generally accepted marketing or advertising method, whether it is on the Internet or any of the other traditional media. Proper implementation of any generally accepted Internet Marketing strategy for your web site will reward all of us by making the Internet a quick and reliable source for relevant information. | |
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| Positioning your web site to be prominently located within the relevant search results is where the small business owner can attain the most "bang for the buck" with their Marketing budget. I will explain what every small business owner should know and actions you should take to implement an effective search engine positioning strategy for your company web site. The majority of the required actions, in an ideal world, would be implemented with the initial design of your web site. If not, most are simple updates to your web site and will probably be included in your web site maintenance agreement. | |
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| Content is king. Every page at your web site should be information rich about your subject. Original and up-to-date content is the key to your information. No, you are not expected to give away your trade secrets; just provide relevant information to your visitor. Remember, your visitor found your site because they searched for a keyword phrase that you have determined is relevant to your business. In marketing lingo, this is known as a qualified prospect. They have completed step 1 of the sales process - they're interested. You want to provide them enough relevant information for them to delve further into your site or to contact your company directly for more information. | |
| Up-to-date information is queen. Nothing will damage your credibility more than out of date information on a web site. Remember, your visitor is looking for relevant information. | |
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| The KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) truism is an important guideline to remember for effective Internet Marketing through any of the generally accepted methods, but especially Search Engine Positioning. Let's start at the beginning - what does a search engine see when it visits your web site? | |
| Remember, search engines "see" your web site through a robot. These programs are designed to search the backbone of your web page - the computer code - for various factors important to its specific algorithm to rank your page. It does not see your beautiful Flash presentation, scrolling text, flashing buttons, beautiful pictures, etc. It sees and ranks your page according to the basics: the domain name, page title, your page description, keywords for your page, the text contained within certain sections of your web site and various relationships between each of these factors. The easier it is for this program to decipher what your web site is about, the better (KISS). | |
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| Next we will review some of the common mistakes made by site owners in their zealous attempt to reach the top listings. | |
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