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Search Engine Optimization
(cont'd)
Firms
promising to get me #1 rankings in 10,000 search engines for $99.95
can help. I alternate between tooth-grinding and hysterical
laughter when I see these ads. First, there aren't 10,000 search
engines. Actually, there are probably 10-20 you should really worry
about. Getting listed in the other thousand or so is largely a waste
of time. Second, no one can guarantee any ranking in any search
engine for a specific keyword. Period. And finally, the price is
less than half the cost to get an express submission in a single
directory (Yahoo). Chances are anyone trying to get you to spend the
$99.95 is operating a 'link farm' where they list dozens, or
hundreds, of sites. While they won't hurt your ranking, they won't
help, either. To learn more about how to choose an SEO firm, check
out Google's article:
http://www.google.com/intl/mr/webmasters/seo.html.
Firms charging me more money and guaranteeing a #1 ranking on
Google can help. This is the latest SEO scam. I can get you a
number one ranking on Google, too, as long as I get to pick the
keyword or can get you ranked under a fairly unique company name.
But no one, and I mean no one can guarantee a #1 rank under a
specific keyword. Even Google says so.
Forget the myths -- if an offer seems too good to be true, it is.
The truth is that search engines are now almost savvy enough to read
your pages like a human being would, so anything that will drive
away a typical site visitor will also probably reduce your ranking.
Things that will increase your search engine ranking include:
-
Well-written content
-
Good, clean HTML code
-
Useful, relevant TITLE tags
-
Useful, relevant DESCRIPTION tags
-
Relevant, appropriate links from other web sites
There
are some basic steps that, well executed, will do more to increase
your page rank than an ocean of snake oil.
The SEO Campaign Process
A typical SEO campaign starts with keyword analysis, and then
emphasizes insuring your site doesn't impede search engine bots and
follows up with ongoing link and traffic analysis. If you like
pretty pictures, here's one:
