SEO, yo! an introduction…pt 1
// February 13th, 2009 // Comments Off // Everything Else
While I am a confessed novice when it comes to most of these latest trendy phrases, I’ve decided to try and explain what it means to me here, then try to offer my evaluation of the ecology of how SEO and Web 2.0 are related. This is obviously a vast subject that is alive with information. I don’t feel like one post could do it justice, so I hope to accomplish more with multiple posts on this subject.
SEO -
Search Engine Optimization, period… How do we find things on the internet/web? Search engines, of course,.. well, mostly. With most internet browsers making their automatic homepages that of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft or some other variant, it’s hard to discount how people move around in the vastness of the internet world.
One of my favorite quotes sums it up nicely:
What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it. -Herbert Alexander Simon, economist, Nobel laureate (1916-2001)
The Internet = Information in my eyes…and it creates a “…poverty of attention” and the best way to “allocate” that attention, at least via the web, is to use search engines. Most people that have used the internet know this. Some type it into the address bar of the browser, some go to their favorite search engine, usually a home page, but if you use the internet, you know what a search engine is all about.
Well, that was lengthy! If you have a website, chances are you want people to view it. For online business, this links to thier ‘bottom line’, or otherwise their profit. With the really high ROI (Return on Investment) involved with creating a website, businesses are increasingly turning to the web for profit. Ever wonder why Google.com is so rich and had such a record breaking IPO? Because their reach is virtually unmatched on the web. And if you want to be seen by the average web surfing consumer, then ranking high on google is a no-brainer. And when I say, “ranking,” I mean showing up ‘organically’ in the search results. An ‘organic ranking’ is the natural order of websites that are listed when you perform a search on a search engine such as google, not the sponsored links or ads you usually see.
So knowing that having a high ranking in a search engine is valuable, mostly because it will make ‘your’ website become more visible to the world, is the first step in understanding SEO – Search Engine Optimization. And knowing how to make sure your website will rank well in search engines is definitely a big step in getting visitors to your site. Having the skills to make a website rise high in ‘organic rankings’ can also earn you a lot of money. Conversely, having someone to get your website to rise high in ‘organic rankings’ can cost you a lot of money.
Luckily, there are many things you can do for FREE with a little planning and a lot of initial hard work.
Planning
If you have a website and need to retool or are a new website owner and have no clue on how to get people to see it without spending unsightly amounts in passing out the website address, then follow me.
Planning, especially when considering SEO, is one of the single most important time savers when it comes to getting what you want out of your website. Here are a few questions to ask yourself.
- Who will find my site valuable?
- Does my website have a regional, national, or international appeal?
- Am I trying to make money from my site?
- What makes me stand out from the rest of the websites that are similar to mine?
Knowing you want to make money from your site, puts it in a whole different world when it comes to SEO. Whether you want to put ’sponsored links’ on your site so that google pays you or if you want to sell products with your own shopping cart software, or making sure potential donors have a chance to do their due diligence before giving your organization money, having a good SEO plan is definitely key in being successful in bringing your presence to the masses.
4. What makes me stand out from the rest of the websites that are similar to mine?
It’s always about selling yourself, right? So why are you so great? Why do I want to visit your site? Think of your website as a version of yourself or business online. Or, even simpler, a personals ad. You want to be attractive, not deceptive. So maybe a personals ad isn’t the greatest example, at least in the deceptive part, but I digress…
Knowing what makes you stand out helps to shape your story (people love stories, I promise). By defining what makes you special, you not only have a good marketing spiel to bring to the table, but it makes your site have more, what I like to call, integrity. Knowing who you are and exactly why you want to be online directs your goals for your website. And being honest with your site visitors builds a brand and trust. People will like you and what you stand for, even if your website isn’t the prettiest.
To be continued…
Seeing as how SEO is such a huge topic, I thought breaking up into digestable parts. Here, I discussed, albeit briefly, the planning. In future posts I am going to dissect out some simple principles in optimizing your website: keywords, meta, h1 tags as well as content, while talking about keyword density, easy navigation, etc. Then, I plan on talking about funneling and conversion rates….eventually leading to online marketing campaigns, blogs/social media and building community and loyalty to your site.
…while also compiling from source(this is where I brag some more) and I can install and do basic configurations for Apache, MySQL, and PHP using vi, gedit…whatever text program. So fun, so fun….and sooooo much light with my new LAMP.
