From: Michael Lawford
Hi there,
Something regarding SEO has been puzzling me for quite some time now. It seems to me that even though search engine algorithms are constantly changing, the methods we use are staying more or less the same. As far as I know it is a simple(ish) process of:
1. Keyword selection
2. Meta tag optimization
3. Link popularity establishment
Surely there must be other elements to the whole process? It seems like there is really no need for doorway or hallway pages anymore. To me the best route is that of pay-per-click optimization. What do you think?
Best Regards,
Michael
Jill’s Response
Hi Michael, and thanks for your question.
Well, you’ve got a good start to your search engine optimization methods, but you’ve forgotten the most critical element to the whole process. That is, utilizing your keyword phrases within the body copy on the page. Without that, all your keyword selection, Meta tag optimization and even link popularity building will be for nothing. As to doorway pages, you’re quite right; there’s no need for those anymore (nor was there ever any need, in my opinion).
To me, search engine optimization (SEO) has always been about making your site the best it can be. Adding doorway pages that are only there for the search engines does nothing to enhance your site. Creating great, visible copy that explains exactly what your site and your business are all about enhances your site tremendously.
Let me tell you about the SEO process I go through with my clients, and hopefully this will help you with your own SEO campaigns.
The first thing I do when starting a new SEO campaign is find out the goals for the site and the optimization in general. For instance, is the goal simply to drive more targeted traffic to the site or is it to get people to sign up for a newsletter? Is the goal to get someone to make a purchase online, or is it to entice people to call or email for more information? Usually, the goals will be a combination of things. Very often different pages within the site will have different goals, and these need to be kept in mind throughout the SEO process. This information will also help us figure out how much rewriting or editing of the copy will be necessary to reach those goals.
With the end goals in mind, the next step is to compile a brainstormed keyword phrase list. At this point, we ask the company to send a list of the phrases that they feel are important to their site. It’s important to also go through the existing site pages and pull out any keywords that appear naturally within the copy, and add these to the list. With list in hand, it’s time for some heavy-duty keyword research over at WordTracker. Plug your keyword phrases into WordTracker and see what comes up. Very often you’ll find that keywords the company thought were important are not actually searched upon by real people. Luckily, WordTracker will give you alternate suggestions to test. Eventually, you will be armed with WordTracker list of actually searched upon, highly targeted and relevant keyword phrases. Send this off to your client, whose job it will be to weed out irrelevant phrases from the list and rank the relevant ones in order of importance to their business.
Once this new “short list” is compiled, it’s time to brainstorm with the client on which two or three phrases to focus on within the copy of each page of the site. The home page of the site should usually focus on the main two or three phrases that encompass the general theme of the site. Inner pages should each focus on two or three more specific phrases. If the pages already have some copy to work with (say 150 – 250 words or more), take a look at the existing words on each page and see which two or three keyword phrases in your short list will fit best with the current copy.
If pages of the site don’t have much copy to begin with, or if there is no specific focus on any given page, a rewrite from scratch will be necessary.
Once the keyword phrases are chosen for each page of the site, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty and start utilizing them within the copy. If you’re rewriting from scratch, be sure your copywriter understands which keywords need to be used, what the goals of the site are, and who the target market is. Obviously this information will affect how they write the copy, so the more they know, the more accurate your copy will turn out. If you’re lucky enough to be able to edit in the necessary keywords, that’s your next step. Once your copy is finished and approved, you should now have a number of pages focusing on two or three keyword phrases each, and the real fun begins! You’re now ready to optimize the actual HTML code.
Optimizing the HTML code includes creating Title tags, Meta description tags, Meta keyword tags, headings, image alt tags, and hyperlinks. All of these are important factors in helping the search engine spiders to properly classify your site. Rather than go into detail on how to perform all of these tasks, I’ll direct you to some of my previous articles. You can also search through the archives at Rank Write for even more specific info.
When your code is optimized, it’s finally time to upload your new pages to your server and submit them to the search engines. More info on this process can be found in my article entitled “Submitting to the Spidering Search Engines”. At this point it’s also time to perform your directory submissions or directory change requests. Some experts recommend that you do these before all the other work, so that you can start getting rankings right away. However, I prefer to wait until the copy changes have been made and uploaded. The newly focused copy helps the directory reviewers to more easily understand what your site is all about, and they’ll be less apt to edit your submitted description. If you submit before your site’s copy is using your specific keyword phrases within the copy, the reviewer may feel these keywords don’t belong within your directory description. More info on directory submissions can be found here and here. (Both of these articles are slightly out of date; however, the general information on creating descriptions, etc., is still accurate.)
Now it’s time to begin your link-building campaign. As with directory submissions, I prefer to wait until the site is in perfect condition before starting to request links. The better your site is, the more likely others will be willing to link to it. Link building can be done in a quick burst, but should also be an ongoing process. You should always be on the lookout for sites that are a good fit with yours and contact them about exchanging links. For more info on link popularity and its effect on search engine rankings, please read this article.
At this point, the only thing left to do is wait for your rankings to roll in! If you’ve paid for inclusion with the search engines and directories that offer this, you’ll start to see results within a week or two. If the rankings aren’t as high as you’d like them to be, I don’t recommend changing anything for at least three to six months. You’ll need to give your link-building campaign time to kick in, as well as simply give your new site time to age in the engine’s database.
That’s all there is to it! Pretty simple, eh? Did I miss anything? Do you have another process? With thousands of SEO firms out there, I’m sure everyone has their own tried and true methods. The one I’ve outlined here has served me well, and I’m sure you’ll find it will do the same for you if performed correctly. However, there’s always more than one way to skin the SEO cat, so if your method differs a bit, don’t worry about it if it’s working for you!
Jill Whalen of High Rankings is an internationally recognized search engine optimization consultant and host of the free weekly High Rankings Advisor search engine marketing newsletter.
She specializes in search engine optimization, SEO consultations and seminars. Jill’s handbook, “The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines” teaches business owners how and where to place relevant keyword phrases on their Web sites so that they make sense to users and gain high rankings in the major search engines
