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SEO – Search Engine Optimization
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Before we go about the task of optimizing our domain, firstly it’s important to understand how the process
works. Google is undoubtedly the most important search engine on the internet today and currently accounts for approximately 50% - 60% of all search traffic. So when
optimizing your site you must target Google with your optimization techniques. As do most search engines, Google employ an algorithm that consists of many tiny intricacies that determine the relevance of a page in relation to the search term entered. No one outside of Google knows every aspect of the algorithm, as it’s a closely guarded secret. Furthermore, every now and then Google tweak the code to “improve” the search results produced and to keep Search Engine
Optimizers ‘on their toes’.
That said, we are aware of most of the important factors that determine search positions and if these factors are put into place, high-ranking search results can and will be achieved.
First, you need to create a list of desirable keywords and keyword expressions, making sure that they accurately describe your product. Let’s say you have a site that sells ‘security and surveillance cameras’. The word ‘camera’ on its own can describe literally thousands of different products and will attract millions of search hits. However, much of this traffic is not relevant. Furthermore, because it’s so vague, the word ‘camera’ on its own is very hard to
optimize. The trick is to be more specific, the more specific you are with your search terms the easier they will be to
optimize. However, go too vague and your search terms will not attract much traffic.
If you try to optimize a page for keywords like "camera" or "security", you will quickly discover that the competition for these search expressions is very high. Even if you were to achieve a good search engine position for one of the very competitive keywords, the amount of effort required to maintain the ranking is prohibitive. You may think that the large amount of traffic generated is worth the effort but generally speaking, it's not...
The reason for this is that general search terms do not convert. Meaning the traffic generated will use up a lot of bandwidth but will not result in many sales. If you sell CCTV cameras,
optimizing your site for the keyword "cameras" is not a good idea. Not only is it very hard to
optimize a page for this expression but also a large percentage of the people who search using the expression “cameras” are looking for traditional still picture cameras. Consequently the traffic levels produced maybe very high but the resulting sales will be next to non-existent.
For SEO purposes you should target ‘second level expressions’, two and three word expressions that accurately and honestly describe what your site is all about. Lets say you are trying to sell wireless CCTV cameras; your ‘second level expressions’ may include the following:
wireless camera
security camera
surveillance camera
covert camera
surveillance equipment
wireless cctv
video surveillance
cctv equipment
spy camera
pinhole camera
cctv camera
surveillance system
Remember, the more specific the search term the easier the expression will be to
optimize. Furthermore, the more specific the search term the better qualified the traffic will be and the better your conversion rates will be.
We have already covered finding search terms in the previous PPC and CPC Chapter. The difference with PPC/CPC search terms is you can be as diverse and targeted as you like because if very few people search using the term you have lost very little and it won’t cost you any money. However, if you are too diverse and targeted with your SEO search terms you can end up doing a lot of work for very little gain. Try to find some middle ground and target high traffic, meaningful two and three word expressions.
Remember there are some excellent utilities to help you with your keyword analysis.
Rapid Keyword will automatically check competitor’s sites for meta tag entries which is a sure sign they are targeting the expression. This software will also analyze a list of expressions and give you search statistics so you can see how often the expression is
used.
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