Monthly Archives: August 2007

Building a website? Don’t forget about the user!

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In the golden age of SEO and SEM often websites are built with the search engines in mind. This is not necessarily a bad thing its just that sometimes one of the key elements is forgotten. The user. The person who brings revenue and eyeballs to your site in the first place.

We know that content is king, always has and always will be. We also know that content is one of the keys to a search engine friendly site. But when the content does not speak to the user and is geared more towards the SE’s. Then we have a problem. As a Search engine marketer, you have to be intrinsically aware of what you are trying to achieve.  Simply put, you want…web nirvana. That happy place where you have achieved the goal of creating a search engine friendly site with a user friendly design.

It can be done, but remember that it has to be built from the inside out. That means your pages have to have ample room for content. Sure Flash is cool but really, what does flash do for a site? It makes it sexy and it’s visually appealing but the SE’s are not too wild about it. But… “What about my user? They like it!” And there my friend is the Catch-22. What’s good for the user is not necessarily good for the search engines. Thus the thinking that has to go into any and all web deployments. You have to straddle the beam like an olympian. Balancing between the users needs and expectations and the SE’s criteria.

Keep the flash to a minimum if you must use it, and spare the flash/splash as some organizations are wont to do. I would say that most users skip the intro anyway. Once you get past the flash, crank copy that you as a user would want to read and that is relevent to the site. After a rough draft, you can then go back and possibly tweak with some of your key words.

After you have crafted the content, then you can work on the structure, site maps, alt tags, metas and linking, all which speak to the SE’s and really won’t affect the user too much. Lastly once you have the site done, go back and see if it flows; and if you the user think the content is relevent to you, the user! While you’re at it, I would highly recommend one of the few Naples based seo companies

SEO: Actual rankings versus expectations

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So the client comes in and says,”I need more traffic”. Ok you say, do you want the quick fix or do you want something that will last. In other words, are you willing to do the work that it will take to sustain a site that has traffic day in and day out or do you want to blow it out regardless of the cost? As a business owner, and depending on your product, your site and what you expect it to deliver to the bottom line there is reality and then there is  the sweet smell of false traffic so to speak. I’m not saying that the traffic won’t convert to actual sales but when you run out of money acquiring traffic, then what are you going to do? So you’re sitting there saying, I have to or can spend money and I can generate traffic to my website. Absolutely. And you’re not the only one doing it. If you think the Big Players in your business of choice are not doing it, then you better think again. And they can outspend you right into the ground…

Some people think that once you build it and they come, they will keep coming back over and over and over again. That very well might be true if your brand is abercrombie, Gap, or Limited Two. But the online shopper is so fickle and so NET saavy anymore, that you really really have to work hard to keep that buyer coming back.

So having said that, your goal as business owner who has a web site, should be to acquire traffic, keep the traffic, sell to the traffic and keep them coming back. And the only way to really do that is to build your website right the first time. Granted you come back to the site and re-do it. We all do that. Or we tweak a page, upgrade this or maintain that. But I’m  talking of SEO 101 where you build the site with the search engine’s in mind from the inside out, so to speak.

 Some times we become so enamored of a design, a logo, a bell or a whistle that we forget the effect that the design will have on the design and how the SE’s( search engines) will view it. Make sure that whoever you are dealing with knows what they are doing in regards to a SE friendly design.

So to sum it up, if you think you are ranking well make sure you are looking at an organic or natural listing versus  a paid one and understand that the paid listing is good only as long as you can afford to have it in the  top 3 of the first page.

I could wax on, but I will save that for another post. The bottom line. Build your website right the first time so that the traffic keeps coming back. Oh and one last thing, make sure you have the right analytics tool to measure your traffic as well. For a company that is doing it right, you might want to check out my new venture, truly one of the few  Naples search engine optimization companies

Typical search results page..

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SERP Page If you don’t understand, here is the down and dirty: Number 3 is paid listings. These are Googles’ bread and butter. Number 2 is the organic or “natural” listings. These are the tougher to get listings and the ones that mean the most if….you’re not trying to sell something. If you are trying to sell a product, then you need to be out there and in the top results of the terms that apply to the product you are trying to sell. If you can’t afford to be in the top 3 results for a paid term, then you need an SEO expert to get you in the top 3 natural listinigs. Number 1 are Google based local results. These are geo-based results and is the way that search is going, if it isn’t there already.

The Worst Logo EVER

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Yes, this really is the official logo for Check Point security software. It was created by the CEO’s 6-year-old daughter. So much for the need for slick Ad agencies…

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Search engine Algos’ change quicker than a stoplight.

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As an SEO/SEM expert like me can attest, one of the first things we do in the morning is to check the natural rankings of all the sites they work on. Why? Because as much as they know what the the “Big Three”( For those uninitiated-Google, Yahoo and MSN) require, want and need for optimal organic rankings, they still are not quite sure where the respective sites that they’re working on, are going to end up ranked each morning.

Part of this can certainly be attributed to each SE marketers’s belief in what they do, is what is needed. But the other part is that because search is so ingrained in what we do and is so profitable to each of the SE’s, they, the SE’s, constantly tweak and adjust and change alltogether their Algo.  They then look up out of the huddle to see what the other team is doing. Remember when you were a kid, or maybe you still are, and each team huddled up. Most huddled up, but some of us always looked up to maybe catch a glimpse of what the other team was getting ready to do?

The same thing goes on daily, hourly, weekly, in the SE wars. Why? Because search is so important in our daily lives and is so lucrative. Google is not the behemoth that they are because of all the tools they’ve rolled out over the last 3-4 years. It’s their core business of search. They do it well, they’ve done it best  and they are completely branded and part of our culture. few have done it so well.

Think about like this. How many companies have become a verb. I.e. “I Googled Tim and found out that he is actually a multi-millionaire…. ”

I remember when Google launched and the first thing I thought was, a) what a cool name, and b) what a light and simple landing page. But that was the beauty of the user interface. Almost like walking into a club with a simple facade. Doesn’t seem like much until they let you in the front door, and as soon as you get in, you look around and say., “My goodness, I had no idea”. The same thing holds true with Google. Who Knew?

It used to be that Microsoft was the big dog on the block. Well for those living under a rock. It’s Google now. And because Google calls the shots in regards to Search they can also redefine the search algoritham, and by doing that, they force the other 2 to do the same. Do you see where I’m going. By changing or tweaking, they force the others to do the same.

It’s the essence of competition. In order to be the best, you can’t stand pat, you have to continue to prove why you are the best, you have to be different but you always have to do it better. You are always scruitinzed and you’re always held to a high standard and expectation. So far Google has done that, but it sure can be frustrating to the  Naples Based Search engine marketers who are trying to figure out, just what are they doing over there in the huddle.