Search Engine Optimisation - Content Coding

'Content' Coding Optimisation

These are the parts of your coding which tell your computer what to display via your browser. And there are several key parts to take into account.

• Keywords in your text:
  
  The keywords you decide upon should also have a certain prominence and weight in the visible text of your site, its links and its images. This can also be checked using Web CEO.
  
  This is a fine art and a light-handed approach should be used.
  


• Relevancy:
  
  The one thing Web CEO cannot check is the relevancy of that text. Don't try and squeeze your 'keywords' in as often as possible, and sacrifice good plain English which makes sense. This is far more important than 'prominence' or 'weight'.
  


• 'Alt Tags' - Alternative Tags
  
  Provide 'Alt' tags for all images on your site. These were first introduced when modems were slow, and some people switched off the images in their browser to speed up their surfing.
  
  They provide a text description of an image, which not only gives an enhancement to your images, but it is also vital to 'Screen Reader' software, which is used by the visually impaired.
  
  Hover your mouse over an image on this site and a description of it should appear.
  


• Structured Text
  
  Have a clear structured layout for your text. Allow the search engines to find out what the main points are and what their importance is by using 'Header' tags. These can be ordered as 'Header1', 'Header2' etc.
  
  Use the list "<li>" tag when making bullet points. These further help to de-lineate what your content is about.
  


• Validate Your Coding
  
  All coding should adhere to the World Wide Web consortium guidelines. They invented HTML, and the developers of browser software use this when designing 'Internet Explorer', 'Firefox' etc.
  
  Having valid HTML code will mean your site works on as many platforms as possible. And if you use 'Style Sheets' you should also validate this. You can check both of these by clicking here ....
  
  

Search Engine Optimisation - Meta Tags

'Meta Tag' Optimisation'
The 'keywords' associated with your site allow other computers to assess their content. To effectively use these 'keywords' you have to consider the following:

• Which words reflect your site best


• How prominent are they in your 'Keywords', 'Description' and 'Title' tags


• What 'weight' do they have in these tags

• Keywords
  
  This should be a short list of words (about 20 or 30 max.) which people might use to search for your site.
  


• Title
  
  This is the title which appears at the very top of each web page. It should provide a summary of the page.
  
• Description
  
  This is a brief description of your web page, about 100 words or so long at the most.

Of course, not everyone has the time or inclination to be a coding expert so help is at hand, with many analysis tools available on and offline such as :

Web CEO

Submit Express

You can also use a site like 'AnyBrowser' to generate good 'Meta Tags' to use on your website.

Search Engine Optimisation - Intro

The internet is still essentially an information medium. And where web information is concerned the Search Engine rules.

It is impossible to have an effective web presence without being aware of Search Engine Optimisation.

So what do search engines want from your website? Well, search engines want to deliver as good a service as possible to their customers and delivering relevant results is what matters to them. In the main they judge your site on relevant content, useability, and popularity.

They guard their secrets very well, the algorithims that they use to judge your site are deeply complex and ever changing, but there are a few basic principles to follow.

The first of these is to understand how search engines see your site. And since computers don't have eyes, they have to read the coding behind your site. By 'right-clicking' on any web page and selecting 'view source', you can get an idea of what this coding looks like.

Parts of this code is used to layout the text and images that you see through your browser, and other parts provide information to other computers.

These are called 'Meta Tags' and are the first place to start when optimising your site. The main 'Meta Tags' to be concerned with are as follows:

• Title (a heading to be displayed in the browser)


• Keywords (words which relate to your website content)


• Description (a brief summary of your site and its purpose)

E-Marketing Tips - Assessments

So you've created your blog, uploaded your podcasts and you're paying Google for your sponsored links, and what difference is it making to your site?

Are visitors happy with your site, are they spending time (or money) there? How do you find out?

Well, there are two main ways of getting the information you desire :

• Ask your customers directly


• Observe what they do with your site

The simplest way to get information is to ask your customers what they like/dislike about your site. Add a simple feedback form on your website, or you can email them.

But a more effective way is to examine your website stats. And for this the best tool by far is Google Analytics. This allows you to view not only how many visitors you get, but where they come from; how long they spend on your site; what pages they dwell on; which pages make them leave; and how they got there in the first place.

Analytics is not currently available to everyone however, and there are other options:

Webalizer (usually available via cPanel)

Click Tracks
(software)

Web Trends

Stat Counter

Web Log Expert

There are lots of other tools available across the internet to help you track your marketing, try clicking here for a sample

E-Marketing Tips - Paid Strategies

Paid Strategies:

The advantages to paid strategies are that you can generally get a good idea of how much traffic your advertising is generating. It also easier to target specific customers or sectors. These include:


Sponsored Links:
This method allows you to place an advert on a search engine, whenever the appropriate search term is entered. The position of your advert is dictated by a bidding system, which judges the price by popularity of the search term and what other people are bidding.

Google Adwords

Overture


Site specific advertising:
You can place an advert or a link on high-traffic sites which would be relevant to your business. So if you are a hotel owner you could advertise on Expedia or the like.


Affiliate Marketing :
Affiliate Marketing is basically an electronic version of paying other websites to generate revenue on your behalf, or they can pay you. You find people who will direct customers to your site and give them a commission when/if a customer makes a transaction. You can also offer to use your site and direct potential clients to other websites.

So for instance, if you have a car hire company, then you could direct customers to a particular hotel website, and they would pay commission to you, or vice versa.

There are many models available and you should research this area in-depth before proceeding. But the main benefit is that you only pay when you have received a benefit from it.

SMS Marketing
Similar to email marketing you can use the ubiquitous text message to get in touch with your customers. This is good because of the personal relationship peopl have with their phones, and the fact that they tend to take them everywhere.

Websites such as
SMS 2 Email offer bulk text messaging services at reasonable prices.

There are guidelines and legal aspects on using these services for marketing and you should read the following...

Caveat: Always research paid advertising strategies. There are a lot of companies online offering these services, and not all are suitable for your business.

E-Marketing Tips - Free Promotion Methods

If the search engines fail you, or you can't wait the 6-8 weeks to get a listing, then there are many other options for promoting your business online. These fall into two main categories :

FREE Strategies

PAY Strategies

FREE Marketing:

As a rule FREE marketing strategies are a bit more vague in the results they produce, however, they can be effective and they are free so utilising some of the following methods should be considered.

Blogging

Producing your own 'Web Log' is not only fun. It can provide another way of letting people know more about your products or services. Blogs also get listed in Search Engines and this can form part of your 'Link Strategy'.

Blogs which offer useful advice, are entertaining, or are controversial usually perform the best.


Podcasting

Podcasting is similar to 'blogging' but you use sound files (mp3) instead of text. This is very important if you are involved in the music industry, or any kind of public performance or speaking. You could even just do a podcast offering advice or handy hints for any industry.


RSS Feeds

Really Simple Synidcation - Allows you to distribute your content around the globe easily. Any kind of infromation can be distributed this way, and once you have created it, you can offer it up to anyone who is interested.

You can also put other people's feeds on your site, and this provides extra content.


Google Videos

Google videos is the visual equivalent of podcasting and blogging. It allows you to upload movies you have made.


Email marketing

Email marketing can take many forms. From newsletters, to offers and general updates. It keeps your website fresh in the mind of people.


There is a modicum of 'netiquette' invovled with any form of email campaigns, and the DTI website has a good guide...

Linking Strategies:

Getting links into your website from other sites can mean valuable extra traffic. Not only that, but all the websites you have links on will be registered with the search engines as well. Which means your name will appear to be 'popular'.

You should however take care to list yourself on sites that are relative to the area you are working in. If you have listings in a lot of irrelevant sites the search engines may mark you down for this.

E-Marketing Tips - Part 1

The search engines are the first place to go when marketing your site. This is because the major engines still let you submit your site for free, and achieving a good ranking on Google can mean a large amount of traffic to your site, for little expense. As well as this, the process can take several weeks (or even months), so submitting your site as soon as it is launched is a good move.
Search engines want to deliver as good a service as possible to their customers and delivering relevant results is what matters to them. In the main they judge your site on relevant content, useability, and popularity.

Directories :
Getting into a directory can mean that the major search engines will pick you up without submitting, but it is vital to read the 'submission guidelines' before proceeding.

Some of these directory sites still use real people to edit the submissions, and because of this the search engines put a lot of stock in their opinions.

Open Directory Project
About.com
GoGuides.Org
Web-Beacon

WebSavvy
Gimpsy
WoW Search Engine and Directory Service

Search Engines:
The following is a list of search engines who still maintain free submission.

Google
All the Web
Gigablast
AltaVista
Lycos
Yahoo!