The Complete
Internet Marketer
Internet Marketer
How To Be Successful With Search Engine
Optimization In Seven Easy Steps!
by Jay Neuman
This article is an excerpt from: The Complete Internet Marketer: A Practical Guide To Everything You
Need To Know About Marketing Online
Search Engine Optimization is the most important thing you can do to bring traffic to your website. In
the “Search Before the Purchase” report of 2005, DoubleClick and ComScore Networks found that
roughly half of all online buyers perform a related search before they make their purchase. If your
website does not show up in their search results, then you have missed the opportunity to reach that
customer. But how do you make sure your website gets listed? It does not have to be a mystery.
Search engines have programs called spiders that scour the Internet looking for web pages to list in
their search results. Search Engine Optimization is web-speak for organizing content on your website
so the spiders will find your web pages and list them in the top search results. Professionals in the
field usually just call it SEO for short.
The secret to successful SEO is found in following these seven easy steps.
Step 1:
Make It Easy for Spiders to Find Your Site
The first step in getting listed by search engines is to make sure they find your website to list it.
Luckily, search engines help with this. They will allow you to submit your website to them to be
spidered. The easiest way to be found by a search engine is to submit your site to them. Identify the
search engines you want to be listed on, go to their websites and find out their submission
requirements.
Submitting your website to search engines will get you listed. But, it can sometimes take a long time.
In addition to submitting your web pages to search engines, it is also important to optimize your
website so it is easy for search engines to find it. There are really two things that search engines do
that affect them finding your site. First, you must have URLs that are easy for spiders to read. This is
discussed in the next section. Second, you should try to get your website linked to from other popular
websites. Since spiders find websites by following links, they will find your site as they are crawling
other sites.
Step 2:
Make It Easy for Spiders to “Crawl” Your Site
Once a spider finds your home page, it will follow the links on the page to other pages on your site.
Then it will evaluate each of those pages. This is called crawling. An easy way to make sure the
spiders crawl the pages you want listed is to create a site map page linked to the home page. If this
page contains links to all the pages you want crawled, then each page is only two links away from the
home page.
In addition to having a site map of links that spiders can follow, it is also important to have URLs that
spiders can read. Many websites dynamically generate URLs for some of their web pages that rely on
information pulled from a database. This is a very good idea for efficient website design, but it throws
up a roadblock for spiders trying to crawl your website. Spiders are designed to read words and
phrases. They often will completely ignore parameters that appear in dynamically generated web
pages. For large, dynamically generated websites, this can be a complex issue. However, if you
follow two simple rules, you will be ahead of the game:
Step 3:
Optimize Keywords
People find what they are looking for on the Internet by entering keywords into a search engine. The
search engine finds your web page by matching those keywords to words and phrases on your site.
The next step to getting your web pages listed is to learn what keywords people are most likely to use
to find your site. Then make sure those words and phrases are strategically placed in places the
search engines look. Optimizing keywords on your web pages is the heart of search engine
optimization.
There are three critical things you must do with your keywords, once you have decided what they are:
1. Keyword Density
Keywords should appear more than once on your web page to get a high ranking by the search
engines. However, if they appear too often on the page, the search engine will see it as a way to trick
the search engine and will push the page into a lower ranking. Search engines look at the amount of
times the keyword appears on your page as a percentage of total words on the page. This is called
keyword density.
2. Meta Tags
Each web page can contain a title, keywords and a page description. These are placed in hidden
locations on the web page called Meta Tags. They do not show up on the page, but the search engine
can see them. The Title, Description and Keywords meta tags give web developers a way to
categorize their own web pages. So, this is the first place search engines look to determine what
words are most relevant to the page. The keywords that are most relevant to the web page should
appear in these meta tags.
Many people try to trick search engines by loading their meta tags with keywords that are not directly
related to the content of the page. As with keyword density, putting too much into your meta tags will
push your search results listing down. Your search engine ranking may also be reduced by having
words in your meta tags that do not also appear in the body of the page.
The Title and sometimes the first few words in the Description will show up in the search results
listing. These two meta tags should be considered as advertising copy. Care should be taken to
provide wording that people will want to click on.
3. Position on Page
Third, search engines look for the location of words on the page to determine how relevant they are to
that page. The HTML code on your web page can identify titles and subject headers. Keywords
appearing in these are considered important to the page. Also, keywords appearing closer to the top
of the page are considered more important than words appearing lower on the page.
By identifying which keywords you expect your target audience to be searching for and then following
these three guidelines, you will obtain high search result rankings for your most important keywords.
Step 4:
Create Content Pages Optimized for Different Keywords
You may want your website to appear in the search results for many different keywords. If you have
an online store, you would probably want to appear for all of your best selling products. If you offer a
service to business clients, you may want to appear in listings for all of the target industries you
service. The challenge is that you cannot optimize one web page to rank high for all of these different
keywords. The answer is to create content pages relevant to each of these keywords. Then optimize
these content pages to rank high for their targeted keywords.
An online store could create buyer guides for each of their top product categories. A business-to-
business supplier could create custom pages tailored to the needs of each target industry. Another
common practice is to create an area on your website for archived articles you have written. These
pages will be rich in keywords related to the topic at hand. If you further optimize these pages for
those keywords, search engines will direct traffic to them. Then, design the layout of your article
pages and other custom pages to draw people from those pages into the main areas of your website.
Step 5:
Get Linked to from Other Sites
Getting other sites to place links to your site is another essential part of your search engine strategy.
Search engines look at the amount of times your website is linked to from other sites when ranking
your web page. In general, the more links you have coming to your site the better it is for your
ranking. If your site is linked to from other high ranking sites, that will do even more for your
ranking.
When you are thinking about getting links from other sites, the basic rule is to have content that users
on other websites will find useful. Then, find those websites where your content will make a
contribution. Once you find those sites, you will pursue getting both reciprocal links and one-way links.
1. Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links are links from websites that you also link to. This is a tit-for-tat situation. When you
have compiled your list of websites, look for websites that have content you would like to link to from
your website. Then place a link to their website on your own site. After you have linked to them, then
contact the owner of the website directly and ask to have your link placed on their site. All websites
are in the same boat. They all need to be linked to in order to get higher rankings. So most will be
open to your request. There are also services that specialize in helping you find reciprocal links.
2. One-Way Links
Reciprocal links are important. However, to get a high ranking, you must also have one-way links.
These are links from sites that you are not also linking to. Search engines look for both types of link
when determining their ranking. The basic rule applies. Have web content that is worth being linked
to. If you are targeting your website to a niche audience, then create content that is especially useful
to that niche. Other sites serving the same niche will want to link to your site. It helps them serve
their customers. This process can take time, though. As your site obtains higher search ranking,
more sites will find you and want to link to your content. But, of course, you need to get those links to
get the higher ranking. To get beyond this, you can look for websites that allow you to submit content
to them that will contain links back to your site.
A good way to get one-way links is to find websites that publish and archive articles related to the
content on your site. Once you find these, submit articles to them. When they publish your article and
store it in their archive, you will get a link back to your site.
Also, look for websites that act as information clearinghouses, with links to other sites. Find business
directories that cater to your industry or niche issue. Then submit your website to be listed by them.
If you have created content that can be offered as a free download, you can submit it to download
sites. If you have a blog on your website, submit it to be listed in blog directories.
It used to be a common technique to try and trick search engines by creating a variety of websites,
then having them all link to each other. This is called crosslinking. As with most ways people have
tried to trick search engines, this one has been found out also. Crosslinking is not prohibited by
search engines. It is only natural for a family of websites to link to each other. However, too much
crosslinking will be noticed and hurt your ranking.
Step 6:
Create a Robots.txt File
The main reason for search engine optimization is, of course, to get search engines to find and list
your web pages. However, there are often pages that you do not want them to find. You may have
an area of your website for customers, that you do not want the general public going to. You may
have pages that simply serve as redirect pages which record click stream information on the way to
other content pages. Some websites have pages that run interactive software which do not work with
automated robots. There are many reasons why you may not want a particular page listed.
Well, the search engines do not want to go to these pages either. They would like for you to tell them
which pages they can skip. You can do this by creating a small text file called the robots.txt file. This
file sits at the root directory of your website. It is the first thing search engines look for when they
arrive at your website. The robots.txt file contains instructions to search engines on which pages to
skip over.
Some search engines will not spider a website if a robots.txt file is not present. You should create one
even if there are no pages to exclude. Search engines will see the blank file and proceed to spider all
of your web pages.
Step 7:
Monitor and Improve
Getting your website to show up in search results does not need to be a mystery. By following these
seven steps, your web pages will appear in your customers’ search results. It is an iterative process.
Your first pass at it may not yield the results you were hoping for. Keep at it. Think of these seven
steps as seven levers you keep adjusting until you find the right balance. When you find that balance,
your site will consistently appear in the first page of search results for relevant keywords. Then, keep
tracking your results. Things will change over time. SEO is a process you should expect to repeat
periodically. It is a relatively small investment in time that will yield big results.
Each search engine has things it looks for when finding and ranking web pages. Things like the format
of your URLs or the optimal keyword density vary from engine to engine. Research what the search
engines you want to be listed on are looking for. Optimize your site for those search engines. This
changes over time, so you must repeat this exercise periodically.
==========================
This article is an excerpt from The Complete Internet Marketer: A Practical Guide To Everything You
Need To Know About Marketing Online by Jay Neuman.
Since 1994, Jay Neuman has been helping businesses as varied as Fortune 500 companies, startup
Dot-Coms and nonprofit organizations overcome their Internet Marketing and Database Marketing
challenges.
Jay is currently Sole Proprietor of the KnExT Consulting Group.www.knextconsulting.com.
He can be reached at jay.neuman@knextconsulting.com
Optimization In Seven Easy Steps!
by Jay Neuman
This article is an excerpt from: The Complete Internet Marketer: A Practical Guide To Everything You
Need To Know About Marketing Online
Search Engine Optimization is the most important thing you can do to bring traffic to your website. In
the “Search Before the Purchase” report of 2005, DoubleClick and ComScore Networks found that
roughly half of all online buyers perform a related search before they make their purchase. If your
website does not show up in their search results, then you have missed the opportunity to reach that
customer. But how do you make sure your website gets listed? It does not have to be a mystery.
Search engines have programs called spiders that scour the Internet looking for web pages to list in
their search results. Search Engine Optimization is web-speak for organizing content on your website
so the spiders will find your web pages and list them in the top search results. Professionals in the
field usually just call it SEO for short.
The secret to successful SEO is found in following these seven easy steps.
Step 1:
Make It Easy for Spiders to Find Your Site
The first step in getting listed by search engines is to make sure they find your website to list it.
Luckily, search engines help with this. They will allow you to submit your website to them to be
spidered. The easiest way to be found by a search engine is to submit your site to them. Identify the
search engines you want to be listed on, go to their websites and find out their submission
requirements.
Submitting your website to search engines will get you listed. But, it can sometimes take a long time.
In addition to submitting your web pages to search engines, it is also important to optimize your
website so it is easy for search engines to find it. There are really two things that search engines do
that affect them finding your site. First, you must have URLs that are easy for spiders to read. This is
discussed in the next section. Second, you should try to get your website linked to from other popular
websites. Since spiders find websites by following links, they will find your site as they are crawling
other sites.
Step 2:
Make It Easy for Spiders to “Crawl” Your Site
Once a spider finds your home page, it will follow the links on the page to other pages on your site.
Then it will evaluate each of those pages. This is called crawling. An easy way to make sure the
spiders crawl the pages you want listed is to create a site map page linked to the home page. If this
page contains links to all the pages you want crawled, then each page is only two links away from the
home page.
In addition to having a site map of links that spiders can follow, it is also important to have URLs that
spiders can read. Many websites dynamically generate URLs for some of their web pages that rely on
information pulled from a database. This is a very good idea for efficient website design, but it throws
up a roadblock for spiders trying to crawl your website. Spiders are designed to read words and
phrases. They often will completely ignore parameters that appear in dynamically generated web
pages. For large, dynamically generated websites, this can be a complex issue. However, if you
follow two simple rules, you will be ahead of the game:
 | A fixed path is easy to read. Dynamically generated URLs with parameters are hard for search | |
| engines to read. | ||
| English words are easy to read. Numbers and alphanumeric codes are hard for search engines | |
| to read. |
Step 3:
Optimize Keywords
People find what they are looking for on the Internet by entering keywords into a search engine. The
search engine finds your web page by matching those keywords to words and phrases on your site.
The next step to getting your web pages listed is to learn what keywords people are most likely to use
to find your site. Then make sure those words and phrases are strategically placed in places the
search engines look. Optimizing keywords on your web pages is the heart of search engine
optimization.
There are three critical things you must do with your keywords, once you have decided what they are:
1. Keyword Density
Keywords should appear more than once on your web page to get a high ranking by the search
engines. However, if they appear too often on the page, the search engine will see it as a way to trick
the search engine and will push the page into a lower ranking. Search engines look at the amount of
times the keyword appears on your page as a percentage of total words on the page. This is called
keyword density.
2. Meta Tags
Each web page can contain a title, keywords and a page description. These are placed in hidden
locations on the web page called Meta Tags. They do not show up on the page, but the search engine
can see them. The Title, Description and Keywords meta tags give web developers a way to
categorize their own web pages. So, this is the first place search engines look to determine what
words are most relevant to the page. The keywords that are most relevant to the web page should
appear in these meta tags.
Many people try to trick search engines by loading their meta tags with keywords that are not directly
related to the content of the page. As with keyword density, putting too much into your meta tags will
push your search results listing down. Your search engine ranking may also be reduced by having
words in your meta tags that do not also appear in the body of the page.
The Title and sometimes the first few words in the Description will show up in the search results
listing. These two meta tags should be considered as advertising copy. Care should be taken to
provide wording that people will want to click on.
3. Position on Page
Third, search engines look for the location of words on the page to determine how relevant they are to
that page. The HTML code on your web page can identify titles and subject headers. Keywords
appearing in these are considered important to the page. Also, keywords appearing closer to the top
of the page are considered more important than words appearing lower on the page.
By identifying which keywords you expect your target audience to be searching for and then following
these three guidelines, you will obtain high search result rankings for your most important keywords.
Step 4:
Create Content Pages Optimized for Different Keywords
You may want your website to appear in the search results for many different keywords. If you have
an online store, you would probably want to appear for all of your best selling products. If you offer a
service to business clients, you may want to appear in listings for all of the target industries you
service. The challenge is that you cannot optimize one web page to rank high for all of these different
keywords. The answer is to create content pages relevant to each of these keywords. Then optimize
these content pages to rank high for their targeted keywords.
An online store could create buyer guides for each of their top product categories. A business-to-
business supplier could create custom pages tailored to the needs of each target industry. Another
common practice is to create an area on your website for archived articles you have written. These
pages will be rich in keywords related to the topic at hand. If you further optimize these pages for
those keywords, search engines will direct traffic to them. Then, design the layout of your article
pages and other custom pages to draw people from those pages into the main areas of your website.
Step 5:
Get Linked to from Other Sites
Getting other sites to place links to your site is another essential part of your search engine strategy.
Search engines look at the amount of times your website is linked to from other sites when ranking
your web page. In general, the more links you have coming to your site the better it is for your
ranking. If your site is linked to from other high ranking sites, that will do even more for your
ranking.
When you are thinking about getting links from other sites, the basic rule is to have content that users
on other websites will find useful. Then, find those websites where your content will make a
contribution. Once you find those sites, you will pursue getting both reciprocal links and one-way links.
1. Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links are links from websites that you also link to. This is a tit-for-tat situation. When you
have compiled your list of websites, look for websites that have content you would like to link to from
your website. Then place a link to their website on your own site. After you have linked to them, then
contact the owner of the website directly and ask to have your link placed on their site. All websites
are in the same boat. They all need to be linked to in order to get higher rankings. So most will be
open to your request. There are also services that specialize in helping you find reciprocal links.
2. One-Way Links
Reciprocal links are important. However, to get a high ranking, you must also have one-way links.
These are links from sites that you are not also linking to. Search engines look for both types of link
when determining their ranking. The basic rule applies. Have web content that is worth being linked
to. If you are targeting your website to a niche audience, then create content that is especially useful
to that niche. Other sites serving the same niche will want to link to your site. It helps them serve
their customers. This process can take time, though. As your site obtains higher search ranking,
more sites will find you and want to link to your content. But, of course, you need to get those links to
get the higher ranking. To get beyond this, you can look for websites that allow you to submit content
to them that will contain links back to your site.
A good way to get one-way links is to find websites that publish and archive articles related to the
content on your site. Once you find these, submit articles to them. When they publish your article and
store it in their archive, you will get a link back to your site.
Also, look for websites that act as information clearinghouses, with links to other sites. Find business
directories that cater to your industry or niche issue. Then submit your website to be listed by them.
If you have created content that can be offered as a free download, you can submit it to download
sites. If you have a blog on your website, submit it to be listed in blog directories.
It used to be a common technique to try and trick search engines by creating a variety of websites,
then having them all link to each other. This is called crosslinking. As with most ways people have
tried to trick search engines, this one has been found out also. Crosslinking is not prohibited by
search engines. It is only natural for a family of websites to link to each other. However, too much
crosslinking will be noticed and hurt your ranking.
Step 6:
Create a Robots.txt File
The main reason for search engine optimization is, of course, to get search engines to find and list
your web pages. However, there are often pages that you do not want them to find. You may have
an area of your website for customers, that you do not want the general public going to. You may
have pages that simply serve as redirect pages which record click stream information on the way to
other content pages. Some websites have pages that run interactive software which do not work with
automated robots. There are many reasons why you may not want a particular page listed.
Well, the search engines do not want to go to these pages either. They would like for you to tell them
which pages they can skip. You can do this by creating a small text file called the robots.txt file. This
file sits at the root directory of your website. It is the first thing search engines look for when they
arrive at your website. The robots.txt file contains instructions to search engines on which pages to
skip over.
Some search engines will not spider a website if a robots.txt file is not present. You should create one
even if there are no pages to exclude. Search engines will see the blank file and proceed to spider all
of your web pages.
Step 7:
Monitor and Improve
Getting your website to show up in search results does not need to be a mystery. By following these
seven steps, your web pages will appear in your customers’ search results. It is an iterative process.
Your first pass at it may not yield the results you were hoping for. Keep at it. Think of these seven
steps as seven levers you keep adjusting until you find the right balance. When you find that balance,
your site will consistently appear in the first page of search results for relevant keywords. Then, keep
tracking your results. Things will change over time. SEO is a process you should expect to repeat
periodically. It is a relatively small investment in time that will yield big results.
Each search engine has things it looks for when finding and ranking web pages. Things like the format
of your URLs or the optimal keyword density vary from engine to engine. Research what the search
engines you want to be listed on are looking for. Optimize your site for those search engines. This
changes over time, so you must repeat this exercise periodically.
==========================
This article is an excerpt from The Complete Internet Marketer: A Practical Guide To Everything You
Need To Know About Marketing Online by Jay Neuman.
Since 1994, Jay Neuman has been helping businesses as varied as Fortune 500 companies, startup
Dot-Coms and nonprofit organizations overcome their Internet Marketing and Database Marketing
challenges.
Jay is currently Sole Proprietor of the KnExT Consulting Group.www.knextconsulting.com.
He can be reached at jay.neuman@knextconsulting.com