The Matterhorn Marketing Minute

Internet Marketing Overview Part I - Search Engine Optimization

June 29th, 2007 by Pat

Part one in a series giving top-level overviews and information on the components of Internet Marketing.

Search Engine Optimization - SEO
Search Engine Optimization is a process with the intent to improve the volume and quality of traffic driven to your website via natural, or “organic”, search. Pay Per Click, or PPC, driven traffic is not a component of SEO.

There are a number of factors which influence the success of any SEO campaign. The following is a sampling of the more important factors.
On Page Factors

• Search Engine Friendly Design
• Sound Information Architecture and Navigation
• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) Based Layouts Recommended
• No Frames or Use of Flash Introductions
• Avoid JavaScript or Image Maps in Navigation Schemes
• Good Internal Linking Structure
• Text Links Within the Page Body Copy
• Keywords Within Anchor Text
• Correct Usage of Coded Page Elements
• Page Titles and Descriptions
• H1, H2, H3 Tags
• Technical Components
• Correct Use of 301 Redirects and Robots.txt
• Site Maps
• HTML SiteMaps for Humans - Like a Table of Contents
• XML SiteMaps for Bots - SiteMaps Protocol http://www.sitemaps.org

Off Page Factors

• In Bound Links
• Not All Links Are Created Equal!
• Look For Topical Hubs, Authority Sites
• One Way Links
• Algorithms Can Detect Link Exchanges - While reciprocal links will not harm your rankings, they are no longer as valuable as before. Instead of spending hours sending and responding to emails about “I saw your site. I like your site. Let’s link!”, look for potential one way, higher authority links.
• Anchor Text is VERY Important
• Link Sources
• Large Directory Sites (Yahoo! DMOZ, Business.com)
• Niche Directory Sites (cabins.com, raftinfo.com)
• Resources and Sites that Contain Information to Which Your Site is Relevant.

If you are considering investing in an SEO campaign for your company, there are some pros and cons to consider.

Pros

• Profound Impact When Correctly Implemented
• High ROI
• Residual Effects from Laying the Groundwork

Cons

• Anyone Can Say the Are An SEO
• No Guarantees - Be Wary of Any SEO That Guarantees Rankings
• With New Sites, Lag Time in Seeing Overall Impact
• Design Elements Must Be in Place to Maximize

When choosing an SEO ask for references, ask about the tactics they intend to utilize and insist on thorough keyword research. Basing an SEO campaign on assumed ‘best’ keywords is a recipe for disappointment.

Download Presentation
This is part of a recent presentation regarding Internet Marketing and the Travel and Tourism Industry. To download the complete presentation, please use the links below

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