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Search Engine Optimization Overview
 Search Engine Optimization is the act of modifying a website to perform optimally in search engine results pages. Search Engine Optimization is referred to as SEO, pronounced SEE-OH. Search engine results pages are often referred to as SERPS.
The main objective of SEO is to have your website interpreted by the search engines in such a way that you intend to represent your product or service to your market. The resulting successful interpretation of your website's content will place your information high in SERPS for relevent information queries.
Search engines are in the business of providing accurate relevant results. You are in the business of providing accurate relevant information. It is a great partnership, when done correctly.
There are two different aproaches to website optimization, the first is termed "black hat", the second is just Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. Telaverus Inc. is in the business of providing our clients with a long lasting website presence that will outlast the trends of the day.
Black Hat SEO is a term given to the deceptive practice of search engine optimization, where the sole purpose is to trick search engines into visiting their site at any cost for any result set, just to profit from selling advertising or affiliate programs. We liken black hat SEO to snake-oil salesmen in the 1920's.
If anyone is promissing you number one ranking on Google, they are selling you a false bill of goods. It is not possible for anyone to gaurantee this.
Search engine optimization is an ongoing discipline that requires informed analysis and task execution for your websites long and short term objectives.
Beyond the basics, there are six major areas to consider in search engine optimization:
- Choosing Your Domain Name
- Website Content
- Keyword Density
- Links For Optimization
- Search Engines
- Web Log Analysis
Choosing Your Domain Name
Don't spend too much time choosing your domain name. Most existing businesses want their businessname.com, however, if you are starting a new business, don't worry about crafting a domain name for search engines. Just choose a name that appeals to people in the real world using tried and true marketing principles.
Keyword domain names like foo-widget-place.com not only look silly but don't help you much with the search engines today.
Website Content
The most important aspect of your website design process is that you tell your visitors what you want them to know. Speak naturally in your copy and keep it simple.
Try to make your site consist mainly of naturally written text focused on your product or services. If you are selling Mississauga Website Design services, call it that whenever you reference what you are offering, in other words, don't suddenly refer to it as Mississauga Web Development services. This isn't spamming the search engines, you are just simply being consistent in your message, which helps your visitors.
There isn't much need for too much flash or Java Script on your website either. Big sites like Ford or GM have a lot of pull to their sites already, so they can afford to ignore the basic rules of website design. Most small to medium businesses who don't have a large Internet presence need all the help they can get.
If you are going to use flash, make sure your site loads in 4 seconds at the most and use Flash professional 8, as it has built in functionality for search engine optimization.
Keyword Density
Keywords at the top of your document in the form of meta-tags are required to complete your web page design. Keyword analysis, in our opinion, should be considered throughout the development life-cycle, however, completed at the end of the project.
This allows you to pull out the keywords that are actually in your copy. If you have written naturally and remained consistent with your definitions of products and services, then keyword density should ocur naturally.
You want to create a natural document. If your keywords don't say what you want then your copy is not saying what you want. Re-write your copy to tell the story of your products and services the way you want it to be seen by the visitor.
At Telaverus Inc. we have optimized many websites, often clients want us to stuff keywords into their meta tags that don't even appear in the document. Our reply is often; "Why don't you rewrite the web page so that it says what you want?".
We understand the misconception that keywords can trick the search engines into bringing visitors. This stems from the not too distant past where search engines were not too smart. Today, Google are the standard in search engine technology. Therefore Google are the ones to consider when your intentions are to build a website to last.
Granted, we would sell a lot more websites if we told you we knew all of the tricks to get you famous online. However, consider the statement "when your intentions are to build a website to last". The latter is what we are selling at Telaverus Inc., as it is our intention to last.
Links For Optimization
There are three kinds of links for your website:
- Inbound Links
- Outbound Links
- Insite or Crosslink Links
Inbound Links
Inbound links are the best thing for your site. They help define your sites relevance on the Internet. Do not place a great deal of importance on thousands of inbound links to your site. It is quality, not quantity when it comes to site linking.
Exchanging links with others is okay if done correctly. Telaverus Inc. advises all of our maintenance plan clients to confirm any link exchanges with us prior to the exchange. We do this as a value added SEO (Search Engine Optimization) service. It helps ensure your inbound links don't end up in a "bad neighborhood" after all your, and our, hard work on developing a clean and well optimized website.
Outbound Links
Outbound links are an important part of the Internet. Outbound links are the glue that binds the Internet together. Use Outbound links sparingly, keep them relevant to the topic on your page, and make sure you are linking to a good site in a "good neighborhood", preferably an authority site on the topic you wish to expand on.
Don't link for the sake of linking. Try to provide the viewer with some value and only link to another one of your sites if there is nothing that can provide better relevance than what you have to offer.
Insite or Crosslink Links
Insite links are why you are online in the first place. You want to provide your visitor with the information they came for. If you have an oportunity to further define something on a page that is relevant and informative to the topic at hand, take it in the way of a link to your own content on your website.
Share the wealth of information on your site with the rest of your site. If any areas are weak, add a page to support the others. If you have a page about Mississauga Website Design, write a webpage about the Mississauga Website Design industry, then provide some statistics about website design in Mississauga. We have not completed this example as it is hypothetical, however, you will see examples of crosslinks throughout telaverus.com.
Search Engines
The Search Engine industry's desire to provide precise relevant content to the user is what's driving the whole website optimization buzz. The funny thing is that the search engines are the easiest part of the whole search engine optimization game. All you have to do is submit your home page link to Google, Yahoo, Altavista, HotBot and the ODP. Once you have done this, leave it for several months and check to see how your listing is doing, if you are not there after six months, re-submit.
Your content will determine your placement in the search engine, nothing else. So provide the content, the right way, and the search engines will find you. There is a saying in the search engine optimization industry, it is; "Content is King". It's simple, but true.
Web Log Analysis
Web Logs are created by most hosting servers and are included for free with most hosting service plans. The logs contain a wealth of information about the way your website is being visited. This information in the right hands can turn a mediocre website into a popular authority site.
The basic concept is; from the analysis of your logs you can determine what search terms are bringing visitors to your pages. You can then improve the content of those pages to support or sell to the search term. This can be a complex undertaking for some, Telaverus Inc. provide this detailed analysis and support to our Website Optimization and Website Maintenance clients.
Search Engine Optimization Conclusion
If you are doing your job of updating your site regularly, maintaining naturally written content on a daily basis, acquiring natural links of interest to your site, staying out of "bad neighborhoods" and away from "black hat" techniques, your site will grow and age naturally.
The key thing to remember with search engine optimization is to be who you are, where you are, all of the time. This approach combined with the right website design company behind you will yield you the results you desire sooner than any campaign crafted to spoof or spam the search engines.
Telaverus Inc. is in the business of providing search engine optimization strategies and solutions to clients in Mississauga and the GTA. Contact us today and let us help put you on the path to online success for your business.
Telaverus Inc. ™
Website Design in Mississauga
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416-768-8969
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Mississauga, Ontario Canada
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design@telaverus.com
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