Three SEO Myths Explored

Posted by Harold on February 1, 2011

Three SEO Myths You Should Know

The subject of Search Engine Optimization (aka SEO) is one of much debate. Some of the information found on the web is valid, other pieces were valid in the past but are no longer valid and still other information was never true to begin with.

Here are three common SEO myths:

1. It’s impossible to outrank a web page with a Google PageRank higher than your own.

As “PageRank” is specific only to Google, it won’t affect your search engine rankings at Yahoo or Bing. Even on Google, the PageRank indicator only plays a minor role in determining search engine placement and is certainly not a critical factor.

If you do a few searches on Google you will find this to be true. Within a few minutes you’ll likely find a page, with a lower Google PR, outranking a page with a higher one.

That should put this myth to rest.

2. SEO is a one-time activity… you simply “set it and forget it!”

It would be great if this were true but it’s not. Effective Search Engine Optimization requires ongoing work (and maintenance) and if you discontinue your efforts, you’ll find your rankings slip over time.

This is especially true when it comes to link building. The search engines monitor your inbound links and if they come to a sudden halt, they assume your page is losing its relevance.

3. Each page should have a keyword density of 3-5%
This may have been true in the past but it’s not any more. You should see that your targeted keyword phrases appear somewhere on your page but you don’t need a calculator.

Instead, you should concentrate on writing content that will be found valuable by your visitors. After all, the search engine robots aren’t likely to buy any of the products/services you have to offer.

Tags: Search Enigine Optimization, SEO

Posted in: SEO Marketing

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Optimizing Your Google Places Listing

Posted by Harold on January 25, 2011

Getting The Most Out of Google Places

While there is much more to optimizing your Google Places listing than first meets the eye, these five tips will give you a “leg up” on your competition:

1. Fill out every field completely.

There are about 20 fields to fill out when completing your Place Page listing. I recommend that you fill out each and every field as skipping even one can negatively affect the ranking of your Places Page.

As a general rule you’ll find the more complete your listing is, the better it will rank for the keyword phrases you are targeting.

2. Utilize every category available to you.

Google only requires you to use one category for your listing but will allow you to use up to five. You can get your Place Page ranked for more terms if you include the keyword phrases you are targeting in the category names.

Warning: Don’t take this to mean that you can stuff your categories with multiple keyword phrases. I have seen this practice done but it is dangerous and may result in penalties from Google.

3. You can add up to ten photos — add all ten!

Google allows you to use up to ten photos and I encourage you to use every one of them. If you really want to enhance the benefit they bring, consider uploading the images to Panoramio or Flickr and geo-tagging the images with your business address.

4. You’re allotted five videos — don’t forget to use them too.

Yes, it’s a bit harder to create videos than it is photos, but this is actually good news. How, you ask?

Well, you’ll find that many businesses don’t include a video in their listing and those that do rarely add all five. As I said in tip #1, the more complete your listing is, the easier it is to rank well for the terms you’re targeting.

5. Build as many citations as possible.

A citation is an online reference for your business and services. Google uses them to validate that your business truly exists and that it offers the type of services you list on your Places page.

It’s extremely important that your citations closely match the information found on your Places page. As you can control the citations you create, it’s best if the information matches your Places Page information EXACTLY!

You can create your own citations at directories like the Yellow Pages, Super Pages, CitySearch, Insider Pages, Yahoo Local, Localize and a number of others.

Tags: Google Places

Posted in: Google Places

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Using Google Analytics

Posted by Harold on January 19, 2011

One of my favorite tools to help me understand how and where my website traffic is coming from is Google Analytics. Google analytics is a free tracking tool that can be added to just about any website. It gives the site owner the ability to view the following:

How visitor find their site (organic listings, PPC, links from other sites, etc…)
How long a visitor stays on the site
What pages a visitor click too
Track conversions and sales
The exit page (the page the visitor leaves from)
The total traffic volume for any given period
Build custom reports
And, well, a ton of other cool stuff. Too much to list here

On the very basic side of things,Google Analytics lets you monitor the traffic to your site and where it is coming from. This alone is enough to improve the SEO structure of the site and optimize any PPC advertising you are doing. It also leads to new advertising opportunities as you gain a better understanding of who you customers are and their online habits.

If you do not have Google Analytics installed on your site currently, I highly suggest you make it a priority.

Tags: Google Analytics

Posted in: Google Analytics

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Isn’t My Web Designer Supposed To SEO My Site?

Posted by Harold on December 18, 2010

This post isn’t likely to make me many friends from those in the Web Design community but you know what they say… “sometimes, the truth hurts.”

The problem is that the “left hand” generally has no idea what the “right hand” is doing and as a result, important details are left undone. In this case, the left hand represents the web designer and the right hand represents the client.

Most client’s assume that their web designer will be SEO’ing their website. Most web designers’ assume that the client will hire a specialist to handle the Search Engine Optimization tasks.

Do you see where this is going?

After the web designer has finished their part, they put the site live. The client reviews the work, marvels at the beauty, and makes the final payment. The problem is that the site has not been SEO’d at all and the client is completely unaware of this fact.

I’ve seen sites that have been live for years that still have “meta titles” that read, “Untitled Document.” This is a sure sign that no SEO work has even been done and the site’s traffic rankings are usually hideous.

Now, I’m not blaming the web designers of the world because I don’t think it’s their place to SEO the sites they build in the first place. I do, however, believe that they should communicate that fact with their clients. Some web designers perform basic SEO to the sites they are building and some outsource the work to a SEO Consultant.

Regardless of what is done in terms of SEO, the topic should be discussed with the client. This way, the client will understand what it is they’re paying for and will know to look for a SEO Consultant if that work isn’t being performed.

Posted in: Good Web Design - Bad SEO

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