Search Engine Marketing Articles
Make Your Website A Number 1 Hit
Search Engine Marketing Article
published by FPB Newsletter
Changing the design of your website does not have to be expensive or time consuming. Victoria Selman, founding director of SEMS Consultancy, reveals the secrets to maximising website appeal with the minimum of hassle.
The key to good website design is finding a balance between creating an attractive layout and ensuring that all the relevant content is easily accessible. Focus solely on the design and your site might be slow and unfriendly to search engines; overload it with text and confused browsers will switch off in droves.
Here are a few tips on finding the right balance.
Images
Use images sparingly as search engines read text not images. This means that, if your website has little text and a lot of graphics, you won’t be giving the engines a clear idea of what your site is about, which could affect your rankings. A way around this is to use ALT tags for each of the images on your web pages. ALT tags are essentially labels that appear when users hover their cursor over images, and they provide you with a way of explaining to the search engines what they represent.
It is also worth remembering that sites with lots of images can be very slow to load for the poor user.
Make text interesting
Search engines love content and, the more text you have on your page, the more easily they can categorise it. From a design point of view, however, less is more, as too much text can seem off-putting and can make the page look cluttered.
One way to find a balance between these two competing issues is to write copy broken up by bullet points and paragraphs.
Navigation menus
Website navigation using JavaScript drop-down menus can help to create an attractive website design. Unfortunately, they also make it difficult, and sometimes impossible, for search engines to ‘crawl’ (where they automatically search for text in web pages) the website properly. They can also create problems for users – many of whom turn JavaScript off to avoid burdensome pop-up adverts.
A solution to this problem is to use standard ‘rollovers’ (whereby the text or background of clickable links changes when you move the mouse over them) which search engines are able to crawl easily, to create a visually pleasing navigation menu.
Alternatively, if you really want to use JavaScript drop-down menus, you could also add text-based links to the bottom of your web pages to offer search engines another way to move around your site.
Frames
‘Frames’ are, essentially, web pages within web pages, allowing two (or more) different types of content to be displayed on screen at the same time. They are used so that parts of the site remain in view even when links are clicked – for instance, so that the navigation can still be seen while a news article loads.
Frames should, however, be avoided at all costs! They are not search engine friendly because the engines cannot read frame coding. If you want to achieve a high search engine ranking, you should try to avoid using framed pages.
DIY PR
Search Engine Marketing Article
published by:
Forum Of Private Businesses
Chamber Online
Your Marketing Manager
Victoria Selman, founding director of SEMS Consultancy, shares top tips on how to write punchy online press releases to promote your business.
Writing and distributing online press releases is a great way to attract potential customers to your website. This is because a matter of hours after you have distributed them across the internet, they could be picked up by major networks like Google and Yahoo! News and then start to appear in the natural results of the search engines.
Tip 1: Focus on a clear theme
Rather than talking about all sorts of issues in your press release pick a key topic that you want to draw people's attention to. This will ensure that your online press release is focused and clearly targeted rather than diluted by peripheral points.
Remember that once you have got your reader's attention they can always click on your website's link to find out more about the other products and services you offer.
Tip 2: Create a catchy headline
It is essential to write a catchy headline to grab your reader's attention and to encourage them to read your release. Plus, because press releases are normally only displayed for a short period of time, you need to get results fast.
Look at the following titles - which one grabs your attention the most?
"Diet Pills From Slimmers.com" or "Proven Secrets For Losing Weight Fast"
Tip 3: Format your press release correctly
A well formatted press release is more likely to get picked up by the various news and web site channels.
Write a headline in title case (capitalising every word apart from prepositions); a summary paragraph which outlines what your press release is about and then the main body of your press release, making sure that the first line contains your key points.
Tip 4: How to write your press release
The way you write your press release will determine how successfully you are able to maintain your reader's attention.
Try and keep your sentences short and snappy and write about three to four sentences per paragraph. Do try and include quotes or statistics if possible for extra impact.
By using these tips to help you write punchy press releases you should be able to drive targeted traffic your web site in no time.
Don’t Be A Spammer
Search Engine Marketing Article
published by .Net Magazine in the August 2005 edition
Victoria Selman explains why it’s better to work with search engines than against them.
With search engines being used about 3.5 billion times a day to access information online and with most users only looking at the top 20 results, the importance of being well positioned is clear. The trouble is that the desire for high rankings often leads to people trying to trick the search engines into placing their web sites high up on the results pages. But, if it’s cheeky spamming techniques you’re thinking of using to boost your rankings then think again.
Spamming is the use of any techniques that the search engines tell webmasters not to use in their rather lengthy guidelines. Using them may give you an initial short-term boost, but once they’ve been spotted by the search engines, they will get you penalised and possibly even banned. Here’s some of the worst offenders and the consequences of using them:
1: Trying to artificially boost your link popularity
All search engines place a lot of importance on the links pointing to your web site from other sites, when determining where to position you on their results pages. This is because they see a link to your site as a vote of confidence, as they figure that people link to good sites rather than bad ones.
This can encourage some webmasters to take part in unorthodox link building methods like using auto submission software or joining link farms as a way of increasing their link popularity.
However, Google in particular, has been known to penalise such web sites for engaging in methods to artificially boost their link popularity. It makes this very clear in its guidelines for webmasters saying, “Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’ ranking”.
Furthermore, it seems from Google’s patent application issued this March, that the search engine giant is also penalising sites that acquire links too rapidly. In the patent it writes that, “burst link growth may be a strong indicator of search engine spam”.
So what’s the answer? Well link popularity is still important but it’s all about having good quality links that are relevant to your site and that will benefit your visitors. Therefore, try submitting your site to relevant directories and trade links with sites in related areas to boost your link popularity. The key thing to remember is that quality is much more important than quantity.
The other important rule to remember is to avoid quick fix link schemes and automated link exchange software. If you don’t, chances are that Google will see your actions as spam and will respond accordingly.
Instead, focus on generating links to your site slowly and steadily by scheduling a time every week to focus on link building.
2: Keyword stuffing
One of the ways that search engines rank your site is by determining how relevant it is for a particular keyword. You can demonstrate your relevance to the search engines by writing copy that is rich in your chosen keywords. By writing text based around the keywords that you have chosen to focus on, you will enable the search engine spiders to identify how to classify your site.
However, using your keywords so often in your copy that the text sounds unnatural to anyone reading it is known as keyword stuffing and is frowned upon by the search engines. In its guidelines, Google hammers home this point by telling web site owners: “Don't load pages with irrelevant words”. Furthermore, search engines like Yahoo have editors who actively monitor their search results. If they (or a competitor who decides to report you) catch you stuffing your pages with keywords, you might find that your site gets banned.
Ultimately, not only will keyword stuffing alienate your visitors who will be put off by your artificial sounding content, but it will also damage your rankings in the long run.
3: Hidden links, redirects, doorway pages and cloaked content
In the eyes of the search engines, using hidden links, redirects, doorway pages and cloaked content are amongst the worst crimes a webmaster can commit. This is because these techniques are designed to be viewed by search engine robots, not real users, in order to trick the engines into giving their sites a higher ranking.
All the major search engines state their attitudes to these spamming techniques very clearly in their guidelines. Furthermore, the major search engines have developed spam filters that are designed to weed out web sites using these techniques and they penalise them by banning them from their results pages. This shows that it’s really not worth trying to trick the search engines in a bid to get higher rankings because in the end you’ll most likely end with no rankings at all.
Rather than spending time trying to trick the search engines in this way, you’d do much better to focus instead on creating web pages containing useful content and Meta tags that incorporate your keywords. In the long run this route, rather than spam techniques, will get you the high rankings you’re after.
So what’s the answer?
The consequences of getting your web site banned when trying to enhance its search engine ranking may make you feel that it’s just not worth trying to optimise in the first place. It takes a bit of effort, but with over 95 per cent of people finding web sites via search engines, you can’t afford not to try and get a good ranking if you want to be found by potential customers.
The answer is to keep your optimisation techniques simple and work with, rather than against, the search engines by adhering to the guidelines laid out by search giants such as Yahoo! and Google.
I Want To Be Top!
Search Engine Marketing Article
published by:
Forum of Private Businesses
Whats New In Marketing
SEMS Consultancy explains why it’s so important to get good search engine rankings and shares some tips to the top.
So you’ve launched your business and have a brand new website, but there’s one problem- you don’t have good search engine rankings. When a potential customer types your brand name into Google, your site is listed on the first page of results. That’s great for those who know the name of your business. However, it doesn’t help people doing generic searches for your product to find you. In fact when someone DOES type in your keyword search term, your site is so far down the results pages that no-one will ever find you.
Search Engine Optimisation
The problem is that there is so much competition for high rankings that unless you design your site with search engines in mind, you will never achieve the position you’re looking for. This design process is called “Search Engine Optimisation” and you can pay a professional to do it for you or if you have a smaller budget and are prepared to invest some time and effort, you can try and do it yourself. Here are some suggestions to help get you started- they’re just the tip of the iceberg but they’ll help point you in the right direction.
Identify The Right Keyword
It might seem obvious but the keyword that you choose to optimise your site for could make or break your rankings. For instance, you might think that your customers are searching for “handmade photo frames” but if you’re wrong then you won’t attract any traffic. You can use tools like the Yahoo! Search Marketing Selection Tool to identify which words people are using to find your product and how many times people search for particular terms each month.
Keyword Density
Once you’ve decided which keywords to use, you’ll need to incorporate them into your web page in a way that pleases the search engines. When someone enters a search term, the engine hunts through its database to find sites with matching keywords. Search engine optimisation experts believe that the search engines allocate higher rankings to websites which mention the keyword several times in their web pages. However, you need to strike a balance. If you repeat your keywords too often, the search engines might think that you are trying to “spam” them and will penalise you as a result. Try and mention your keywords about 10 times for every 300 words of text that you write.
Link Building
As well as looking at keyword density, search engines determine how relevant a site is for a search term based on the number of quality websites that link to yours. You can get links by submitting your website to directories focusing on your business category or by exchanging links with sites in similar fields to yours.
No Tricky Business
Many people try to achieve high rankings by trying to trick the search engines. You may even have come across paid services that promise high rankings through practices that have been designed to deceive the search engines. Beware- this is not worth doing. Although it might result in a short term boost to your rankings, the search engines will discover what you’re doing and will penalise you. It’s just not worth risking a permanent ban for the sake of temporary traffic.
Parting Comments
For top search engine rankings, analyse which keywords you want to focus on and then write web content containing those keywords. Then try to get other sites and directories to link to you so that you have an optimised site to help you stay ahead of the game.
Publishing These Search Engine Marketing Articles
We are happy for you to publish these articles on your websites, e-zines or magazines as long as you include the following resource box:
This article was written by Victoria Selman, the founding director of SEMS Consultancy- a search engine optimisation consultancy specialising in bespoke internet marketing solutions. SEMS Consultancy prides itself on offering a personal, reliable and cost effective service for those looking to establish or promote an existing online business.
Contact Us For A Free No Obligation Quotation If you are interested in using our search engine marketing services or in finding out more about us, please:
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