Accessibility: Search Engine robots must be able to find your content. These reasons help the bots find your postings without a lot of muss or fuss.

1. Pinging
Most blog software sends out a “ping” when there is a new post. Instead of waiting for a search engine crawler to come across your site’s new content – either via a routine crawling or via a link – a notification is sent out to sites like pingomatic, technorati, and even google blog search. This notification tells the search engine robots to come and fetch some fresh (crunchy) content.

2. RSS feeds provide deep links to content
RSS Feeds are useful for so many, many things. They contain links to your latest postings, but also consider that they contain links right to the postings themselves. Even crawlers that aren’t that smart (you know who you are, little bots!) can figure out how to find a link in a list. That’s essentially all an RSS Feed is: A list of links in a predictable format. Hint: You subscribed to your feed in iGoogle, didn’t you?

3. Standard sitemap.xml provide deep links to content
If an RSS feed isn’t enough, use a sitemap.xml file to notify search engines about your site, including any new posts. A great thing about sitemap.xml files is that they can communicate additional information about a link, like how often a search engine robot should visit and what priority the page has in relation to your site.

4. Based on modern HTML design standards
Most blogging software was created or updated very recently, and doesn’t use outdated HTML methods like nested tables, frames, or other HTML methods that can cause a bot to pause.

Relevance: Once found, search engines must be able to see the importance of your content to your desired audience.

5. Fresh content, updated often
Nothing quite gets the attention of a search engine robot like fresh content. It encourages frequent repeat visits from both humans and robots alike!

6. Fresh comments, updated often
Of course, the blogosphere is a very social place. Googlebot is likely to come back often to posts that are evolving over time, with fresh new comments being added constantly.

7. Keyword Rich Categories, Tags, URLs
Invariably, some of your best keywords are likely to be used in the tags and categories on your blog. If you aren’t using keyword rich categories and tags, you really should be.

Popular: Google looks at what other sites link to your site, how important they are, and what anchortext is used.

8. RSS Feeds provide syndication
RSS Feeds can help your content and links get spread all around the internet. Provide an easy path to syndication for the possibility of links and, of course, human traffic.

9. Extra links from blog & RSS Feed directories
The first blog I ever started was for the possibility of a link from a blog directory. But RSS Feed directories exist too! Be sure to maximize the link possibilities by submitting to both.

10. Linking between bloggers / related sites
Blog rolls are links that blogger recommend to their audience. sometimes they have nice, descriptive text and even use XFN to explain relationships between bloggers. Some of your best human traffic can be attained through blogrolls.

11. Social bookmarking technologies built in
Blog posts are usually created with links directly to social bookmarking services like delicious.com, stumbleupon, and other social bookmarking sites. You’ve never made it easier for your audience to share your posting and give you a link!

12. Tagging / Categories with relevant words
Tags can create links to your blog by relevant pages on technorati and other blog search engines. These tag pages sometimes even have pagerank! They deliver keyword rich links and quality traffic.

13. Trackbacks (Conversations)
Trackbacks are conversations spanning several blogs. They are an excellent way to gain links (although often nofollowed these days), and traffic. Other blogs can be part of the conversation, thanks to the trackback system!

Tags: website design, seo, search engine optimization, denver web development, website development, denver web design

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1. JavaScript Menus
Search Engines do not follow links reliably in JavaScript, if at all.

2. Imagemaps
Search Engines cannot see the image, and so cannot classify the relevance or topic of the link. Lesser search engine robots do not even attempt to follow imagemap links.

3. Image Links / Rollover links
These links frequently contain JavaScript, but also are difficuly for search engines to classify.

4. JavaScript popups
Search Engines do not follow JavaScript reliably, and do not seem to like popups at all!

5. “Jump menus”
These pulldown menus are usually submitting a form. If the form target is sent GET requests, there is a chance that the links will be followed in some manner, but again – this isn’t reliable navigation for Search Engines.

6. NOSCRIPT embedded links
We were told that content in NOSCRIPT tags is for those visitors that have JavaScript off. But if you were told this means search engines, you were told wrong! This HTML tags has been abused by spammers early on, and search engines do not reliably follow navigation within these tags.

7. Frames – they’re rarely done in a search friendly manner
More on the “right way” in a later post. Frames are challenging for search engines, and we have recently seen Google penalizing framee-based sites, perhaps due to the usability challenges they can present.

8. Java
Java cannot be executed by search engines. Many early rollover effects relied on Java, but the navigation cannot be read by search engine robots.

9. Flash
Flash navigation cannot be followed by search engines. Splash pages can become a deadend for search engines, and alternatives to Flash navigation should always be given.
So what can you do to be sure that search engines will crawl your site? We’ll have answers in a future post, but a frequent supplement to websites that use the above techniques – meant almost entirely for search engines – is a set of footer links for seach engines to follow.

Tags: website development, denver web development, website design, seo, denver web design, search engine optimization

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I’m pleased an article on Google Hell being covered in the mainstream press. It’s a phenomenon known to main online businesses, tied heavily to changes in the Google algorthym. Some of the excellent points in the article:

• The criteria for Google’s Supplemental Index can be vague.
• “Grey-area” techniques are sometime necessary to compete on the internet with larger stores.
• Duplicate content penalties exist!
• Newly created sites are especially vulnerable to falling into the supplemental index.
• Buying links may now be a deciding factor in whether your site ends up in the supplemental results.

The article quotes Jim Boykin and Micheal Gray. Besides the great sources, it is refreshing that businesses are starting to see the importance of search engine marketing to the bottom line.

Tags: denver web design, denver web development, website design, seo, website development, search engine optimization

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Title tags are an important piece of real estate on your page. In properly structured HTML, it’s the first chance for you to tell human prospects and search engine visitors what your page is about. Depending on the search engine, page titles are someytimes shown prominently is results – your page is likely to be passed up if it doesn’t look relevant to the potential visitor’s search. Think about your page title as an advertisement for your website!
Since I’m feeling snarky today, here are three things NOT to do when creating your title tags:

1. “Welcome to our website”
It sounds like a friendly greeting for your human visitors, but it completely ignores the wonderful gift that a title tag can be. A title tag is a chance to tell both human and search engine visitors just how helpful your content is. Use this chance to target keywords that BRING and CONVERT traffic.

2. “Unititled Page”
If your web designer is using Dreamweaver, hope that they are properly caffeinated when they are working on your page. Otherwise, they may forget to change your HTML title tag from the default. Don’t expect quality traffic when you are one of the almost ONE MILLION pages that have “Untitled Page” as their title.

3. “Welcome to Adobe GoLive”
You can probably guess where this default page title came from. Check out the ONE MILLION crappy page titles. Oh, that’s neat: version 6 is out. I think we can see what they DIDN’T improve.

What SHOULD you do in your title tags? Keywords, focused sets of keywords. More on that in a later – and less snarky – posting.

Tags: search engine optimization, seo, denver web design, website development, denver web development, website design

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Over at Intrapromote, Erik noticed recently that a search for 2007 Ford Explorer is yielding some very confusing results. He noticed that one text link was getting a site into Google’s top 10 for this competitive keyword. No giant SEO campaign, no link popularity project, and no compelling, fresh content. Just a single link. Compare the power this link has – this lame site is being ranked above relevant content in yahoo auto’s, about.com and auto magazine. Surely this content is more helpful to potential visitors?!
And so, where is this illustrious link from? The Google DataCenter? Or perhaps Sergey Brin‘s blog? Nope. The link is from a page almost as lame: www.egateway.us/elist.html This link should also have no real weight, either. Erik points out that the egateway page has pretty much nothing but junk links pointing to it.

Didn’t Google tell us this wouldn’t work any more? That fresh, relevant content and popular, themed links are the only way to get to the top of Google? If Matt Cutts were dead, he’d roll over in his grave. Thankfully, he is alive and – hopefully – well. Matt, what the heck is going on here? Please wave your mighty spam wand at the site – Google only wants good sites in their SERPs, right? (But please tell us how to achieve the same result with RELEVANT content before you do!)

I’m interested to see Erik’s analysis, and will keep poking around in these links to see what the secret could be!

Tags: website design, search engine optimization, website development, seo

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1. Define your target market(s)

Every target market is going to have their own way of thinking, but you should also be sure to have a unique area of your site for each target market. You might want a section for investors, a page for community members, and another section for prospects.

2. What would they search for on the internet?

Think like your audience. What would they search for? Would they mispell a keyword? Would their terms be more sophisticated than the terms you use to describe yourselff around the office? Maybe they would be less sophisticated.

a. Brainstorm keyword phases
Now look at those phrases and try to think about any possible variations. Are there more descriptive variations needed to really pinpoint the right searchers? Maybe you need to be less specific to increase the potential traffic to your page.

Remember:
Less words in the phrase will help broaden your possible audience.
More words in the phrase will help target the best.

Would you get better prospects with a targeted phrase?

b. Look keyword phases competitors are targeting on their website

What are your competitors targeting? Look at competitors you know about, but also look at who is competing for spots 1-10 in Google. What are they targeting? What niche might they be leaving out?

c. Look at keyword phases competitors are targeting using their link partners

(We have an automated tool we use for this – email us at sales@hyperdogmedia.com for more information!)
3. Existing keyword phases you are being found for

What better way to figure out which keywords are already working in some way?

a. Web hosting visitor log files

If you don’t have decent stats, install Google Analytics ASAP. On most hosts, the free package awstats is available. Also free are webalizer and analog. Any of these will tell you what keywords your site is being found under.

b. Analytics and/or Paid campaigns
Look at existing analytics and paid campaigns. The keywords from your paid campaign can yield very valuable information. Keywords that result in clicks and convert into actual sales are like gold. These “converting keywords” are some of the best you can target.

4. Expand the list

a. Geographic

Especially if you are targeting local business, think about where you are. Are you in a certain metropolitan area? What cities are nearby? What smaller communities? Be sure to include local nicknames like “bay area”, “front range”, etc. What county and state are you in? Include any other pertinent information – are you on a major street or thoroughfare?

b. Thesaurus / Ontology
Use a thesaurus to increase possiblities for your list. Do not judge keywords just yet – keep an open mind. You’d be surprised what searchers type in!

The ontology or category in which your person-place-or-thing keywords exist can lead you to new possibilities. For example, a book has to do with publishing, printing, authors, etc. What “has to do with” your keyword phrases?

c. Incorrect spelling:typos, phonetic

Bad spelling and phonetic misunderstandings can also lead you in the direction of new keywords. In a recent conversation, an acquaintance told me he can see that his best prospects always spell a certain keyword incorrectly: It is for a disease that the propects have. Doctors never buy the product directly, but always know how to spell it!

d. Aggregate lists(like AOL’s leaked search data)

Giant lists of keywords can give insight into how visitors query a search engine. AOL released acontroversial amount of searches by their visitors. Third party sites like http://www.aolsearchdatabase.com/ allow you to look through the data. While it isn’t complete, it can yield valuable information about search behavior, and maybe about your keywords!

e. Google Suggest / Overture

Yahoo tells you what keywords visitors searched for a month or two ago. Visit their site at:

http://inventory.overture.com

Google offers some search numbers and keywords with their suggest tool, too:
http://labs.google.com/suggest

f. Survey of automated tools

(We have several automated tools and services we use for keyword research. Contact us at sales@hyperdogmedia.com for more information.)

g. Repeat the process

Did you get several new keywords? Now be sure to add on your geographic and other variations. Did your list just get MUCH bigger? Good!

5. Find the least competitive terms
Of course, it is always best to go after the least competitive keywords. To figure out which keywords have the best ratio of searches to competition, figure out the KEI. We have automated tools that figure this out, but try the manual method for a few of the keywords you think might be real gems:
a. KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index)

KEI = (# of monthly searches) / (# of exact results in Google)

Gather (# of monthly searches) from the overture tool above
(http://inventory.overture.com)

Gather (# of exact results in Google) by searching for the your “keyword phrase” in the titles of possible competitors:

allintitle:”keyword1 keyword2 keyword3″

b. Examine PPC bids

Looking at bids – especially in overture, but also with Google’s AdWords estimator tool – can tell you which keywords are the most competitive. So easy to see, and look – no math required!

This article contains many of the tips we give for keyword research. Have other tips? Leave a comment! We’d love to add your tip to the list!

Tags: Overture, keyword phrases, KEI, traffic, converting keywords, lists of keywords, keyword niches, awstats, convert, search engine optimization

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