April 28th, 2006
Search engine visibility? It ain't witchcraft.
Everyone talks about search engine optimization, but they often do so in hushed, coveting tones. The topic has taken on a mystical aura, as though it’s a process that can only be done by modern-day wizards, alchemists and auto mechanics.
Show, don’t tell.
This stuff doesn’t exist yet.
Or does it?
In this edition of our Results newsletter we’re here to show you that optimizing your website for search engines is nothing magical, and that you can even do yourself when armed with the right knowledge and tools.
Search engine visibility can be addressed in a site-wide redesign that positions your content in a manner that will be devoured by search engines. If you are satisfied with the existing look-and-feel of your website, Alpine can do tune-up work that will completely restructure it in the eyes of search engines, while keeping visual changes to a minimum.
Even if you want to go for a completely new look, there are certain advanced design techniques that we use that will optimize your site in the eyes of the search engine bots that read and digest content as they crawl through your website.
Play by the rules, and you can put away your wallet.
The best part is, everything we do to your site to improve its visibility to search engines also improves its usability for your website visitors. We don’t engage in any crooked tactics that try to exploit search engines, and instead rely on great, solid website design to give you the best results possible.
Notice how we haven't mentioned any pay for placement options for search engines. Pay for placement is great if you have a bottomless credit card at your disposal, but since that is rarely the case, we use optimization strategies that increase the "organic" search visibility of your website. With organic search placement you can deliver the right stuff to search engines, and get high placement without needing to pay through the nose for it.
Find your voice so they can find you.
Once an optimized structure has been established, the real fun begins! The best way to be effective in search engine marketing is to tailor individual pages to specific search terms. This the bunker-buster of search engine marketing, a surgical strike of sorts, and it is far more effective than trying to launch an epic firestorm against a few generic keywords.
The nifty thing about Alpine’s Center Stage content management software is that it gives you these precision-guided munitions right out of the box, granting you fine-grained control over your search terms. If you dive into the Site Explorer tool you can easily set your keywords, descriptions and titles at an individual page level, anywhere on your site.
Listen to the advice of others.
The esteemed business writer Seth Godin has written a good lot about search engine marketing on his weblog. In Understanding the Funnel he discusses the searching habits of internet users, how they repeatedly refine their search terms to hone in on the specific product or service they’re looking for.
If you run a website that caters to bass fishing enthusiasts, Godin says a web visitor who finds your site after a search on “bass fishing lures” is much more valuable than a visitor who stumbles on your site after simply searching on “bass”, a term that could refer to the musical instrument or the fine British ale.
Like the Sirens of the Odyssey, tailor your message to your audience.
Overleaf Lodge
Searchable by air, sea and web.
If you refine your search terms to be as narrow as possible, to correlate with the unique search terms people would use to find your product or service, you dramatically increase the value of the leads you are generating through search engines.
Overleaf Lodge is one client of ours that has been particularly effective at using Center Stage to achieve great success in search engines. They have worked hard to tailor their individual pages towards specific search terms, and to ensure their content is as relevant as possible for the topic in question.
Don't take our word on it, however. See what Google has to say when you search on oregon coast spa or oregon coast hotel.
Go do the voodoo that you do so well.
Search engine marketing isn’t magic, and it certainly isn’t rocket science, like many outfits would like you to believe. Once you understand how search engines find, consume and rank your page, you can do it yourself when armed with the right tools. Alpine Center Stage has what you need to execute your entire search engine strategy, from chainsaw to sandpaper to everything in between.
For more advice on how to approach your search engine strategy, please check out our Free Search Engine Marketing Tips. If that leaves you hungry for more, give us a call toll-free at 1-888-246-4837. We’d love to chat about what we can do to help you become more visible on all the major search engines.
Team Alpine
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