Feb 25 2008
SEO: A Website’s Secret Weapon
Most business and website owners have heard of the term SEO, but what does it really mean? SEO, an acronym for Search Engine Optimization, is defined as the process for improving website traffic through various strategies, which are aimed at ranking your website higher in each of the major search engines most commonly used by Internet users.
In Lehman Terms: SEO helps bring you TRAFFIC! It’s your website’s secret weapon.
But, it’s not as easy as it sounds. There are many ”SEO Gurus” out there - some are actually capable of modifying your site to rank higher in the search engines, and some are there just to pull a scam. Watch out for companies that guarantee 1st page results, they are big phonies! Nothing is guaranteed in SEO.
Our teams recommend Concept Infoway, which is an Indian based company who have a proven track record in SEO. They are experienced and better yet, affordable. Mention that the SABAsearch guys sent you, and you’ll recieve a 10% discount! But, they are not the only vendor around, so if you do choose to venture off to find your own SEO developer, please make sure you do your research and comparisons.
So, what do you need to know about SEO to make sure you are on the right track? First, you need to know the basics:
What will an SEO developer do to your site?
An experienced SEO specialist will do a good job of seamlessly laying the SEO tricks on top of your current design, which will minimize the change experienced by the user. Some of the following tricks can be utilized by an experienced SEO specialist:
Tailored Content: An SEO specialist may recommend you redraft the static content on your site to be more targeted and “keyword” heavy. This is a creative art that has a contains fine line between reward and risk. Sites that are too keyword heavy and use keyword-stuffing techniques are demoted in search engine rankings (this is a way for search engines to regulate false websites). Make sure your SEO specialist is not using these “black hat” techniques.
Restructure your site: Your site may be a great dynamic site, but some of those dynamics may be prohibiting the search engine robots from indexing your entire site. This is because your site structure does not allow the robot to easily flow through your site without requiring to enter certain conditions. Keep your site easy flowing, and the robots will reward you!
Strategic Links: Every website has links that link users to different areas of the website, but are they being used properly? Your SEO expert should review the links and determine whether or not the “anchored text” is being utilized efficiently. The name of the link is key within this strategy!
Keyword Submission: Your SEO specialist will submit your targeted keywords to Google and Yahoo for a small fee. This fee is worth it and will drive a desired target market towards your website. Try to develop and submit keywords that may be searched by your potential consumers. Walk in their shoes and you will find your keyword answers!
URL Re-Writing: Highly experienced SEO specialists will recommend that you re-write each of your website URLS to be more keyword heavy. The url of your website will actually contain the title of the webpage, instead of just displaying a content key (i.e. asp?=363). If you have a large dynamic site containing pages that generate content based on certain criteria, you’ll definitely need to implement this strategy.
Recommended Content: Recommended content is not just for the Amazon.coms and the ebay.coms. This tactic is widely used by SEO specialists as well, which give them a unique opportunity to repeat a particular keyword or product multiple times via multiple links, which help index your site on Google and Yahoo for that particular content. If you’re doing this sort of stuff, you’re in the elite SEO website class 
Other Strategies: There are an ever changing laundry list of strategies that can be utilized to make your site a strong SEO site. Make sure your vendor has the resources available to keep up with the everchanging search engine rules.
What will it cost? This depends on your website. Generally, a small website should cost anywhere from $1000 - $2000 dollars for SEO, with a potential re-occuring yearly fee. A larger website with many dynamics could cost around $10,000 for SEO, but your returns will be well worth it if performed correctly.
IS SEO right for your website? Does a human need air to breathe? YES. SEO is something that can provide strong ROI, with little manual effort. It is quite costly, but if you care to have your website be an integral part of your business, SEO is a MUST.
SEO can be a confusing are for many, and we understand that. Please feel free to contact us at Support@SABAsearch.com or Rikin Shah of Concept Infoway at Rikin@conceptinfoway.net for more information on this topic. We would be glad to help out.
I’ve found that SEO is a very hard thing to pin down. Like the SABA guys mentioned, its an ever changing thing you must keep up with, as the search engines are always changing their rules.
My suggestion is that if you are serious about making your website a strong point of your business, hire a SEO manager for your website. I have done so, and it makes my life a lot easier knowing they are handling this part of the website maintanence. I am being charged around $400/year and I intially paid about $2500 to get my site optimized, but I am receiving almost 30% more hits, which has been constant.