Strategic Search Engine Optimization   

In order to go from just an "idea", to having your company Web site available to anyone with an Internet browser requires a lot of planning and forethought. Give us a call and we will schedule an appointment to help you develop a strategic plan. For your initial introduction to the planning of your Internet presence, here are the major milestones or tasks that need to be completed to get you from here to there.

Search engine optimization can be difficult and confusing. Knowing this we decided to put together some tips to help you with the process. They cover everything you need to know about optimizing your web pages for the search engines quickly and easily. Unfortunately for some of you there are some site design/set up issues that can make it very difficult for the search engines to list your web pages no matter how well you optimize and submit them. We list them here, before you get into all the optimization tips, to hopefully save you from trying to list a site that that will be very difficult to get listed. Almost everything can be fixed or worked with one way or another before you submit. The most common problems are:

Sites that use Frames, Dynamic URLs, Flash, Image Maps for navigation and using JavaScript for navigation. If you are not technically savvy and just want to find someone who is professional, experienced, honest and ethical to manage your Web site's Search Engine Optimization campaign, click on Strategic Internet Interactive Marketing . However, if you are familiar with HTML and web design concepts, you may want to keep reading, and we encourage you to take us up on our offer to provide you with a free Web site analysis and SEO quote. Or explore our options for managing your Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign with Google Adwords or Yahoo/Overture Sponsored Search.

Optimizing for the Correct Keywords

To get listed correctly in the search engines each page of your site that you want listed needs to be optimized to the best of your ability. Since the keywords that you decide to target will be used throughout the optimization process choosing the right keywords is essential. You must choose the keywords or keyword phrases that your prospects use when searching for your products or services.

Since the keywords you choose to optimize your pages with are so important we have put together some tips to help you make sure that you make the right choices. You should utilize these tips when selecting keywords for each page that you plan to submit to the search engines.

Try to think like your target audience. What would they search for when looking for the page you are optimizing? It is very easy to fall in the trap of coming up with a short list of what YOU would search for, but what about everyone else? They will not necessarily use the same keywords as you. You should try to come up with as many keyword phrases as you can think of that relate to the page you are optimizing. Try asking a few friends and family what they would search for when searching for a site like yours.

Check out your competition for ideas. Do a search using keywords that you already know you want to target and click through on the top sites that come up. Once on the site view the source HTML code and view the keywords they have in their meta tags - this should give you many more ideas! Make sure to only use keywords that relate to YOUR site or page. To view the HTML code simply click the 'View' at the top of your web browser then select 'Source', or 'Page Source'.

You should develop a list of keyword phrases, following the tips on this page, for each page that you optimize for the search engines

Optimizing Your Title Tag

Think "specific keyword phrases" not "keywords". Why? Due to the extreme amount of competition for general terms in the search engines, if your keyword phrases are too general it is very unlikely you will rank well in the search engines. You stand a far better chance to rank well for specific phrases where there is less competition. The resulting traffic, since it is more highly targeted, should also be much higher quality too!

Without question the title tag of your page is the single most important factor to consider when optimizing your web page for the search engines. This is because most engines & directories place a high level of importance on keywords that are found in your title tag. The title tag is also what the search engines usually use for the title of your listing in the search results.

What it looks like:
Here's the title tag of this page:
<TITLE> Your Title Tag - learn to optimize your title tag </TITLE >

Tag tips: Where it belongs:

The correct placement for the title tag is the first line between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags within the HTML the makes up your page.

Tag limits:

We recommend that your title tag be between 50-80 characters long - including spaces! The length that the different search engines accept varies, but as long as you keep within this limit you should be ok.

We recommend that you include 1-2 of your most important keyword phrases in the title tag, BUT be careful not to just list keywords. If you just list keywords you risk being viewed as a spamming the engines which can ultimately lead to you being blacklisted by the search engines. Your title tag should include your keyword phrases while remaining as close to a readable sentence as possible to avoid any problems. Make your title enticing! Don't forget that even if you get that #1 listing in the search engines your listing still needs to say something that makes the surfer want to click-through and visit your site.

Since the length of your title tag could be a little long for some engines we suggest placing the keywords at the beginning of the tag when possible so that you do not risk having them cut off. Each page of your site should have it's own title tag with it's own keywords that related to the page that it appears on.

We will conduct comprehensive and objective research of your business Web site to find the best keywords and keyword phrases from a customer's perspective. We'll even include a variety of suggestions of what you need to do to achieve higher listings on the major search engines.

Please include your name, phone number, best time to call, (If you would like one of us to call you) and your main Web site address (URL). If you have a list of keywords or keyword phrases you would like us to analyze, please include them as well.

We will email your FREE SEO analysis with an all-inclusive quote within five (5) business days. Our minimum projects start at $2499 ($300 of this goes to directly to Express Submission Fees). We will optimize your Web site with a minimum of fifteen (15) keywords and/or keyword phrases on the major search engines including: Google, Yahoo, Altavista, All the Web, AOL (Open Directory), Hotbot, MSN, Ask Jeeves, Iwon, Overture (unpaid listings), Direct Hit, Lycos, Netscape, Xuppa (formerly Bay 9), Kanoodle (unpaid), FindWhat (unpaid), Ah-Ha (supplemental listings, About.com and more.

Our Guarantee is quite simple. You only pay for results. We value first page results (1 - 10) at $125 and second page results (11 - 20) at $85 each.

Contact us at support@strategic-internet.com or send us a
Strategic Positioning Email Quote Request

Summary

Search Engine Optimization is the act of making a Web site come up higher in the search results of major search engines. Each major search engine has a unique way of determining the importance of a given Web site Some search engines focus on the content or verbiage. Some review Meta Tags to identify who and what a web site's business is. Most engines use a combination of Meta Tags, content, link popularity, click popularity and longevity to determine a sites ranking.

The procedure of Web site optimization ensures that a Web site has all of the necessary ranking criteria to appeal to the individual search engines needs.