SEO Basics Episode 1 Keword Research | Foremost Media

SEO Basics Episode 1 Key Word Research | Foremost Media


Tune in and watch the Foremost Media team as we break down the steps involved in getting your site to rank well on the search engines. In this episode we discuss keyword research. Key word research is one of the first steps in the search engine optimization process and is often overlooked by webmasters. Jon Ballard breaks down some of the keyword basics and provides links to several tools used by our professional Search Engine Marketers to do Keyword Research.

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Need Links? Give them something for free!

I ran across an interesting website today that listed the top 100 US domains with the most unique back links.  As any good SEO guy would tell you back links are one of the key factors in ranking well on the search engines so it got me thinking what are some of these websites doing to get so many unique back links?  As you look at the list the answer is quite clear- GIVE WEBMASTERS SOMETHING THEY CAN USE!

Coming in first is Google Maps- This surprised me.  I though for sure it would be just plain old Google but I guess when you think about it Google has done a great job of making their maps easy to import right into a website and it's unusual these days to find a site that doesn't have a Google Map on the contact us page.

In the number 6 position was Wordpress-  Wordpress is one of the best FREE blog software tools. 

Number 10 Youtube.com -  Free video hosting with the ability to embed the videos onto a website (When you embed the videos you create a back link to Youtube)

Number 57 on the list - ezinearticles.com really stuck out in my mind as well.  This site offers articles on a wide variety of content that webmasters can put into their website as long as they link back to ezinearticles.com.  Apparently they do because the back links to this site are off the chart.

Check out the list for yourself.  It's clear to me that if you really want to build a lot of great back links offering free tools or content is where it's at. 

So I know what your thinking..."I'm a wedding photographer, how can I build a bunch of good back links I don't have anything to give away?"  Let's think outside the box a bit here.  How about a page on your site where you have a bunch of photos that anyone can download and use as long as they gave you credit in the form of a link below the photo(Free Wedding Stock Photos).  Next time you shoot a wedding take some pictures of the cake, the buffet line, the decorations etc.  Wouldn't you love some back links from a catering company, a cake decorating company a DJ???  All of these types of companies could benefit from some fee stock photos for their website and in return you could build some great links.  You may not be in the top 100 but some good related back links will make a great deal of difference in your search engine rankings. 

In the words of Jim Rohn:  “Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.”

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Analyzing the value of a paid web banner ad

Every so often I get a call or an email from a client that has just been approached by a publisher or marketing website trying to sell them the banner add.  The jist of the question is something like this:

Do you think this site would be worth advertising on? It runs about $500/yr. with first page placement.  www.websitenamehere.com  He’s telling me that they’ve had 14,000 hits, 3,000 per year, which doesn’t include members.

The first thing I do is check a site like http://www.compete.com/ for some more meaningful and realistic traffic levels.  Hits really mean nothing to a marketer and are are typically used by a webmaster that either doesn't know any better or is trying to make his site look better then it really is.  Basically a hit is registered any time a file is requested on a website.  A typical HTML home page with 3 pictures on it and 1 video on it could easily log 5 hits (3 Photos+1 Video +1HTML file=5 Hits) when viewed by a web surfer.    A site like Compete.com will give you a better estimate of Unique Visitors Per Month- which I will use below in the analyzation process.

So I check out Compete.com and see that the site in question averages about 800 visitors per month.


That's 9,600 visits per year so you are paying 5.2 cents per visitor just for them to see your add.

If you get a 5% click through rate- (That's probably on the high side) That's 480 visitors or over $1.00/Click.

So now the question is would I be willing to pay $1.04/Click for leads from this site?????

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The Facts on Search Engine Optimization

The primary benefit of search engine optimization (SEO) is widely known as a prime placement on a search engine’s first result page. Companies across the globe are manipulating their website in order to achieve the elusive status of a first page appearance. There are many things that a company should be aware of in the SEO process. First, it will necessitate change and a significant amount of time. Along with this, keywords will be chosen and links will be earned. Above all, your company should set realistic goals for your search engine optimization.


Change

In order for SEO to be effective, you web page will change; it may be as simple as minor wording adjustments or it may be a complete overhaul. The HTML code on your site must be changed so that search engine spiders can easily scan your site. Along with this, the keywords for which you want to be known must appear throughout your web pages. If you are a small site competing against large sites with various blogs, communities, archives, and forums, your site will most likely require significant change in order to compete.

Time

SEO does not garner immediate results for your website. It should be seen as an ongoing marathon, instead of a ½ mile sprint. A search engine has to first find and index your website. Older, more established sites are rewarded a higher ranking because of their long-standing success. New sites require much more time, sometimes even years, to rank well in big search engines. On the other hand, some sites may only require relatively quick fixes to appear on the first page. Be persistent and continually work toward optimization success.

Keywords

In order to attract your target customer to your site, your keywords should be chosen specifically and deliberately. Although common words may appear on your list, it is also important to target the keywords to the best products/services/information on your site. For example, the website of a cosmetic dentist will contain keywords of elective dental treatments rather than general dental provisions. In this way, you are attracting your target audience to your site rather than those that are looking for something else entirely. It will often take time to find the best keywords.

Links

The right backlinks are crucial to your placement on Google’s results pages. Generally you are looking for links to your site from related websites. Your keywords should appear in the link text. If you only have links that were simple to get, it is likely that their influence will be minimal to Google or another major search engine. Create a high-quality, dynamic, attractive website in order to obtain good links. After all, if your content is bland and dull, no one will find it linkworthy.

Goals

Successful search engine optimization involves setting realistic goals. First of all, the objective is to draw your target audience to your website based on the keywords they have entered into the search engine. You need not lure just anyone to the site; the goal is the draw potential buyers to the site. Additionally, your goal should be to increase your sales based on the SEO efforts.

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Google announces new features

"We introduced a new way to view search results for sites with lots of images. Each result will now include a strip of images from the website, so you can get a better preview of what each page has to offer. [...]


This week, we released a new version of Goggles with translation capabilities built in. To use it, point your phone's camera at a foreign word or phrase and use the 'region of interest button' to draw a box around specific words."

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