How do you get higher rankings?

There are over 200 components that Google takes into consideration when they are ranking a site in the search results. Some of the more fundamental components are: Page Title, Meta Tags, Backlinks, Site Age, Page Content, Relevance, Keyword Prominence, Site Structure, Recency, and URL. Each of these components is important to an effective SEO strategy.

Each of the major search engines treats these components differently. So a website could rank very well on Google for a certain keyword and then not even be in the top 100 results on Yahoo or MSN. A good SEO strategy will focus on improving all components of a website rather than just focusing on one or two. This ensures the best long term improvement to traffic.

The Impact of SEO

The impact of SEO can be massive. A site can be getting 100 visits a day on page two of a search engine results, and then make it on to the first page of the search results and see 10 times that much traffic. SEO should not be considered a “quick fix” because it takes time to implement effective improvements and it takes a while for the search engines to completely crawl or index your changes.

For more information on SEO and it’s impact on your site call one of our Search Eninge Optimization experts at (503) 984-1546.

This is an example of a Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Click the image for a larger view.

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the method of improving the quality and volume of traffic to a web site. This is done through several marketing strategies that will make your site’s individual pages visible and relevant to both the search engines and internet users or customers viewing your site. Most often the higher a site is rated on the search results, the more users will visit that site. SEO can help you effectively set up systems in your web site that will enable you to receive a higher ranking.

Higher Ranking = More Customers

How is web site traffic increased? There are numerous tactics that when implemented will drastically increase the amount of customers drawn to your site.

First, content is key in search engine optimization. Content is what brings customers to your site and keeps them interested, content is what attracts search engine rankings. From a marketing point of view SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people are searching for. Various search engines, including Google, Yahoo!, and MSN, send out a spider to each URL submitted and inventory the content in that site. They then analyze and extract various information about that page. Things which they might evaluate are a site’s coding, content, presentation, structure, links to other websites, and relevancy.

Second, site design is essential to success. SEO looks into fixing possible problems with sites that could be preventing search engine indexing programs from fully spidering a site, ensuring that site content is easy to index by search engine robots, and making the site as user friendly as possible. High ranked web sites are most often simply designed, easy to navigate, visually attractive, and void of slow downloading graphics, animations, or flair. Search engine spiders and users are interested in content, clean, simple, and concise.

Third, a basic yet important search engine optimization skill is well written Meta Tags. Meta Tags done right will help search engines to better index your site making it easier for users to find you. In fact, Meta Tags are an essential part of attracting users to your Web page. Many search engines will simply overlook your website if you do not include Meta Tags or if you do not use them properly. Other important parts for optimizing search engine traffic include title tags and basic HTML tags. Essentially these give key words and specific details about your site. The more specific you advertise, the easier it is too attract customers searching for your keyword phrase.

These are just a few of the ways ePozition.com can help you bring in more traffic to your site. Search Engine Optimizing is a long process which requires hard work, continuous updating, improvements, and revising to create long term results. Let us help you benefit from our experience in SEO.

ePozition is dedicated to offering positive results.

10 SEO Questions ePozition can answer for you?

1. How will SEO help me?

SEO is ultimately going to bring more traffic and recognition to your web site from search engines and users alike.

Higher Ranking = More Customers

Over time the price you pay for online advertising will be astronomical compared to the gradual, reliable effects of smarter marketing. SEO can help you implement smarter marketing in a much more economical way.

2. Who are you marketing too?

SEO will help you determine your target market. If you don’t know who you are marketing towards hours of work and thousands of dollars can be totally wasted! Pin pointing exactly who your customers are is an essential part of successful internet marketing. The more seriously you examine your audience, the more you can target your content to meet their exact needs.

3. How do keywords help?

SEO can help you to determine keywords and key phrases that will bring in more direct traffic. Our goal is to make your site search-engine friendly. You could be losing many potential customers because the internet traffic is not recognizing your site. These keywords help to categorize your site under search engine directories, and place you with relevant sites.

4. Where do you use keywords and key phrases?

Essentially in SEO, the more often you use keywords in content and source codes the more search engines will recognize them. Using keywords in Meta Tags, HTML tags, title tags, descriptions, articles, designs, menus, content management systems, URLs, and shopping carts are all areas we will look at in order too optimize your search engine results. This is the tricky part. To keep your site in good standing, you need to be aware that many search engines frown upon “excessive” use of words simply to get ahead of competitors. “Black hat” techniques may produce immediate results, but are considered unethical and could essentially cause your site to be removed from directories. Aggressive SEO strategies can be implemented without resorting to these “black hat” tricks. “White hat” trends will produce results that last long term and permanently keep your site in good standing. The amount of time your site has been up and running is also a factor search engines consider in ranking sites. You wouldn’t want to be set back because of resorting to these unfavorable trends.

5. How does content effect search engine ranking and user satisfaction?

Search engine spiders look for clear, concise, well-organized content when indexing a website. SEO can help you make your site more user-friendly and easier for search engines to navigate through. Although this is not the only important factor spiders are searching for, it is definitely an imperative one. If spiders have difficulty locating information or recognizing keywords and phrases they may actually not be able to navigate through the entire site, therefore not giving you credit for information you may have on the site. They simply might not be able to get to it. SEO can help you avoid that problem by making sure your website content is plainly outlined. If search engines are not able to easily navigate your site, customers might not even be directed to it. SEO can also provide you with user-friendly, informative, clear, concise, simple websites that attract more customers and are usually void of any slow downloading graphics, animations, or irrelevant content.

6. How are Title Tags used in website optimization?

SEO is all about smart marketing. Many people don’t weigh in the importance of optimizing the contents of the title tag, and the role it can play in the ranking of your web site. In fact, it is one of the top three things search engines look for in ranking your website. When the correct key phrases and words are used in the Title Tags it can greatly increase the amount of customers directed to your site. There are many small factors such as this that SEO can help you utilize.

7. How do key words and descriptions in Meta Tags help?

Meta Tags can be used to give you more control of how search engines describe the information contained in your site. SEO can help you to determine how important of a role they play in increasing your web site ranking and how to make the most use of them.

8. How does site design affect the ranking of my website?

SEO can help you to get the most out of your web site by evaluating the site design and how search engines and search engine users are able to navigate through it. There are many steps you can take to make sure your site is more search engine and user-friendly which will result in better traffic.

9. How do I submit my site to search engines?

There are a lot of people who rely on the fact that the internet search engines will be able to find their site and index it without submission. However, if you are a new site or interested in a certain time frame it is best to go through the steps to submit your site to a search directory. SEO can help you through the step-by-step guidelines to doing it right the first time.

10. Once all of these steps are in affect, how do we continue to produce positive results?

The SEO strategy is a long and grueling process that requires knowledge, patience, perseverance, and hours of labor. We can do all of that work for you! There is always room for improvement, always ways to maximize results, and always strategies to implement. Continuing to work with your SEO consultant you will be able to enjoy long term, continuous positive results in a much more economical way than online advertising alone could ever provide. ePozition can help you to stay on top of your game and keep you informed!

To learn more about Search Engine Optimization contact one of our Search Engine Specialists at ePozition.com. Call (503) 984.1546.