An Eye Opener For CEO's - SEO The Magical Tool In Disguise!

introduction

To some CEOs the term Search Engine Optimization (SEO) may mean very little. Perhaps your marketing department or webmaster may request a section of the budget be allocated to it. But how do you know the money will bring your company a tangible benefit?

As SEO matures it is proving to be an online marketing tactic that is accountable, traceable and if done correctly, profitable.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the art and science of modifying your website and other aspects of your online marketing to increase the rankings of your website in search engines.

Eg. www.google.com / www.yahoo.com

Before we explore the different methods SEO firms employ to increase a website's rankings, let's look at some internet facts.

• Approximately 70%-80% of internet traffic comes from search engines
• There were over 5.1 billion searches conducted in the U.S alone in 2005
• Google garnered 49% of those searches
• Online shopping during the holiday season grew 30% ($30.1 billion total spend) from 2004 to 2005
• 75%-80% of searchers will try a different search term before they go to page two of a search engine's results page.

As you can see the reasons to be listed on the first page of a search engine are very attractive. This article will cover some of the less technical aspects of SEO and what to consider when deciding to conduct an SEO campaign.

Keyword Research

This is one of the most important aspects of SEO. Knowing what consumers are typing into a search engine to find your product or service is essential. There are many tools to help you discover which keywords are profitable and help you decide which terms to optimize your website for.

Most SEO firms will guide you in determining the correct keyword terms. One of the easiest ways to discover keywords is to type your product or service into a search engine as if you were a consumer and analyze the websites that are listed in the top ten. Alternatively, you can choose to use tools such as Google's adwords suggestion tool, Miva or Overture. Just remember, what would your customer type into a search engine to find your product? If you are not listed under that keyword term then you may want to consider SEO.

Linking Strategies

A major contributing factor to higher search engine results is links to your website. Do not be fooled into thinking quantity is king here, quality is far better for rankings than volume. For example, if you sell lounge chairs and a webpage that is ranked number one in Google for "lounge chairs" links to your site, this will be much better than 100 websites linking to your site that have nothing to do with lounge chairs.

Likewise a site that uses the wording 'lounge chairs' in a link to your website will be superior than using just your domain name. Another way to build links to your website is to create unique content that is valued by readers. One of the methods to do this is to provide regularly updated content, online newsletters, blogs and podcasts. If you create information that is helpful, informative or a valuable resource, other site owners may link to it therefore increasing your rankings. Most SEO firms will make recommendations about the types of site you should approach for linking purposes.

Page Titles and Meta Data

Another aspect to consider when analyzing your website is the page titles and metadata that is displayed on your pages. Page titles are the names of the pages on your website like Home and About Us. If your company was to sell teapots in London, it would be more beneficial for your homepage to be named Teapots for sale London" as opposed to "Home".

Metadata are keywords that are added to the code of a webpage. Internet browsers do not display this information but search engine spiders use this data to learn more about the page it is crawling. Using keyword-rich metadata can assist in achieving higher rankings however, make sure extensive keyword research is conducted to find the keywords of most value. These are some of the basic aspects of Search Engine Optimization that can have a positive effect on search engine rankings.

Ultimately search engine optimization is an ongoing process. Rankings rise and fall with the ebb and flow of the internet. Competitors will change content and optimize their own website, search engines will change the algorithms that drive their results. SEO is a dynamic part of the online marketing mix and should not be ignored or underestimated as a lead generator. Every business needs a website, but what every CEO wants is to be on page one of Google. Why?

Because CEOs know that aggressive use of SEO can show a very real return on investment.