SEO, It Never Ends

SEO is not a one time deal, a ‘set it and forget it’ procedure. Getting to the first page can take six months to a year; and its going to be an ongoing competitive struggle every month to stay there. Your competitors want the very same top-10 spots you do and they hire SEO professionals to help them get those positions.

SEO in a Nutshell

I’m frequently asked to define SEO. First of all, a lot more than Search Engine Optimization is required to market your products and services effectively on the Internet. Traffic is only part of the equation.

I firmly believe in SEO web design, where optimization of the site occurs on the design, code and content levels. I get excited about websites that are built right from the ground up, sites that rank well, sell well and build your company’s brand. Search engine optimization (SEO) as a Band Aid™ that is applied to a site with poor rankings, and little or no traffic, it is certainly better than nothing, it is not the optimal SEO strategy.

Your site should be designed to inform and enlighten, and it should persuade your visitors to take action. Keywords, back links, content development, social media, PPC… they’re just tools we employ to bring you more visitors who will increase your goal conversions.

» Design + Traffic + Conversion = Sales

SEO Tip: Don’t Use Too Much JavaScript

Searchbots are not designed to read, follow or index JavaScript code. If your website contains a few lines of text in the JavaScript code, chances are the searchbots will ignore the entire block of code along with your text.

JavaScript menus are the same as Flash menus; unreadable. The search engines will not follow your page links. It is best to avoid JavaScript menus entirely. If you feel you must have the multi-tier drop-downs, provide HTML text links in the footer or in the content of your home page. Some of the AJAX menu and billboard slideshow code now includes unordered lists of HTML links, and is advertised as being ‘search engine friendly’. If the links appear within JavaScript those lists are almost certainly being ignored by the searchbots.

Try to keep the use of JavaScript to a minimum. If the use of JavaScript is unavoidable consider creating an external JavaScript file and link to it.

SEO Tip: Choosing the Right Keywords

Keywords are the cornerstone of your search engine optimization. Getting them right can mean the difference between being a nobody on the Internet and coming up as the first site on Google.

Brand Keywords are associated with your company’s brand, or the product line your market. Many website owners will target a short tail keyword like ‘widgets’, where including the brand XYZ to create ‘xyz widgets’ would increase their visibility immediately.

Regional Keywords associate your location with a product or service you market. Targeting ‘vancouver widgets’ would be more effective than targeting ‘widgets’ alone, and a long tail term like ‘vancouver xyz widgets’ could yield even more traffic.

Demand/Supply Ratio We look for keywords with a high demand (heavily searched) and low supply (not promoted heavily by competitors’ sites as yet). This approach provides the most traffic over the shortest time frame.

» Hire a Vancouver Keyword Research Professional