Search engine optimization begins with knowing your audience.
Understanding your audience may seem like an obvious statement. If you sell pickles, you know your audience enjoys pickles. However, knowing your audience goes deeper than simply knowing that what you sell or what you have to say, is important to them.
Recently I have been asked to analyze two different websites. Both of these websites sells something people love to buy. However, there are several problems that need to be addressed. Exploring how to optimize their site for search engine traffic will help to weed out the problems they need to address.
Let's consider the first site, we'll justs call it Site A. Site A is about a delicious food that people enjoy as a snack. However, the first thing you see when you get to their website is not about their product, but rather a totally different subject, product distribution.
There is nothing wrong with inviting people to join them in distributing their product. What is needed is a separate section of their site, or a separate site altogether, where people can learn about becoming a vendor or distributor.
Poor search engine optimization will drive the wrong audience to your site. It will also leave the search engines clueless as to what your site is about. Knowing good the good bad and ugly parts of this search engine optimization puzzle will help you to avoid poor SEO.
What people are typing into the search engines for site A is something like this:
Cranberry Gum Drops, and although site A sells this product, the main theme of their site seems to be how to become a distributor for their product.
If I was looking to buy the product and was unable to actually find it on the website, I think I'd be a little frustrated. It goes without saying that you don't want to frustrate your customers.
What's the solution? Site A needs to use keywords on their site that target the audience they want coming to visit their site. They are looking for distributors, not thirsty consumers. So the keywords they need to use would target people seeking a distributorship, not people wanting to eat their product.
To be continued...
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Good SEO and SEO Scams
Sometimes you just have to say no. I have a potential client wanting me to help them rank well for a very competitive market. After doing my research I realized that it could take a year to accomplish this goal. In fact, there are simply no guarantees in the SEO world. I do not want to make any promises on something that far in advance. Too many variables here.
What I can do for this client is help him see where he is throwing money away. He is paying for someone to do PPC for him and yet this person will not give him any statisitics. He doesn't know what people are clicking on most, he has no idea how his site is converting, nothing. He just feeds this guy money and has to have faith that it's helping his business profits grow.
Sadly, this sort of thing happens quite often. My interest in starting a search engine optimization business came from a friend being scammed from an seo company. He was paying $80.00 a month for 10 keyword phrases. When I did the research I found that 9 of those keyword phrases had less than 10 searches on average a month. One keyword had almost 400 searches from Google.
Selecting keywords that people do not use to locate your business is obviously a waste of time. However, most businesses that hire someone to help them with search engine optimization have no idea what makes a good seo company and what is a bad seo company.
You can read more about search engine optimization by visiting my ReddingSEO.com website.
Until next time,
Chrisi Darrington
What I can do for this client is help him see where he is throwing money away. He is paying for someone to do PPC for him and yet this person will not give him any statisitics. He doesn't know what people are clicking on most, he has no idea how his site is converting, nothing. He just feeds this guy money and has to have faith that it's helping his business profits grow.
Sadly, this sort of thing happens quite often. My interest in starting a search engine optimization business came from a friend being scammed from an seo company. He was paying $80.00 a month for 10 keyword phrases. When I did the research I found that 9 of those keyword phrases had less than 10 searches on average a month. One keyword had almost 400 searches from Google.
Selecting keywords that people do not use to locate your business is obviously a waste of time. However, most businesses that hire someone to help them with search engine optimization have no idea what makes a good seo company and what is a bad seo company.
You can read more about search engine optimization by visiting my ReddingSEO.com website.
Until next time,
Chrisi Darrington
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Yahoo Lists Redding SEO
Today is December 11th and Reddingseo.com is now listed in Yahoo and MSN. My site is now listed in all three of the top search engines. Google is giving it the most attention and Google is the top dog of search engines. It is where you want to gain the most attention.
Yahoo - Listed number 4 for "Redding SEO", 34 for "redding search engine optimization"
MSN - Currently listed. Which means they know my site exists.
As time goes on I'll be posting updates on how my site goes up the results ladder. It takes time to build enough respect in the eyes of the search engines to gain a top listing. This time will vary between sites, the keyword phrases that are being targeted and the techniques used to gain visibility.
That's it for today, I'll be back soon,
Chrisi Darrington
Yahoo - Listed number 4 for "Redding SEO", 34 for "redding search engine optimization"
MSN - Currently listed. Which means they know my site exists.
As time goes on I'll be posting updates on how my site goes up the results ladder. It takes time to build enough respect in the eyes of the search engines to gain a top listing. This time will vary between sites, the keyword phrases that are being targeted and the techniques used to gain visibility.
That's it for today, I'll be back soon,
Chrisi Darrington
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
SEO Google 6 Days
Last night I visited Google and typed in Reddingseo.com to see if I was listed. And yes, there I was, all bright, shiny and linked. The next thing I did was type into the search box, "Redding search engine optimization". This is the main keyword phrase that I want my site to be listed under. And yep, my site is also in the results for that keyword term.
So, on day 6, my site is listed as number 13 in the results. Not bad for a brand new site.
Today, December 10th, just 7 days after placing my new website online, I see my site is listed NUMBER ONE in Google for the search term, Redding SEO! I didn't think to look for it yesterday under that search term, but hey, 7 days is pretty awesome.
I'll keep you posted on the other search engines. Right now I must go.
Until next time,
Chrisi Darrington
So, on day 6, my site is listed as number 13 in the results. Not bad for a brand new site.
Today, December 10th, just 7 days after placing my new website online, I see my site is listed NUMBER ONE in Google for the search term, Redding SEO! I didn't think to look for it yesterday under that search term, but hey, 7 days is pretty awesome.
I'll keep you posted on the other search engines. Right now I must go.
Until next time,
Chrisi Darrington
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Google Loves Me - ReddingSEO.com
An additional search term I'm going to target is Redding search engine optimization services. Currently this search term is located at number 17 in Google. Let's see how long it takes for my site to be listed number one for for Redding search engine optimization services as well.
The main reason why these search terms are so valuable is due to the local traffic I will receive. Most business that offer some type of service to their community do not realize the amount of traffic they are missing because their websites are not optimized properly in the search engines.
Although my services are that of which I can provide all over the US, I am starting out here in my home town. And my goal is to encourage you to also consider building your online presence through proper search engine optimization for your business locally.
Best Wishes and Until Next Time,
Chrisi Darrington
The main reason why these search terms are so valuable is due to the local traffic I will receive. Most business that offer some type of service to their community do not realize the amount of traffic they are missing because their websites are not optimized properly in the search engines.
Although my services are that of which I can provide all over the US, I am starting out here in my home town. And my goal is to encourage you to also consider building your online presence through proper search engine optimization for your business locally.
Best Wishes and Until Next Time,
Chrisi Darrington
Redding search engine optimization - my first assignment
What the one thing any new business has to do? In my mind it's gain trust. Trust is gained over time and in the case of www.reddingseo.com it will be by proving we can do exactly what I say I can do. I do have a team that is working with me, but the heart of this issue rests on my sholders.
I will admit it's a little scary. But I can do it. Let me tell you about my first assignment. It's a test actually.
My brother-in-law is working with me on this one. He's well known in our area and he's picked out my first challenge. His friend owns 4 different businesses online. Sadly, he's paid a lot of money to have his site gain visibility through search engines that has never panned out.
I have to admit that this is not only disturbing to me, it's very confusing. Sometimes SEO is complex and extremely challenging. There will be times that I will have to say, "No, I cannot put your site on the first page in Google for that keyword search phrase".
It's a sad answer, but it is the truth. Why is it confusing? I guess because if you know anything about search engine optimization, you should know better than to make promises you can't keep. The second reason is because I can already tell that whoever this guy paid to help get his site traffic did not even come close to doing the first thing that MUST be done when helping someone gain more traffic.
What is this most important thing?
It all starts at the foundation of SEO. The website. Before you begin any type of SEO, you must first fix the website. This was not done.
The good news is, I can do it. And this is where I'll be starting. So, let me put my first assignment right here online where everyone can follow it.
The website subject is Beef Stix. The URL is: http://countryboymeatstix.com My job is to get this site on the first page for the keyword search term, beef stix. I'm going to work on getting that site within the first 5 results.
However, the site is very far from being optimized. Google has no clue that this site should be listed within the beef stix catagory. Why? Because it appears to be more about being a distributor and not really about beef stix at all.
So, that's my first chore. To help get that site noticed. Bookmark this blog if you'd like to follow along and see how I do with this first challenge. I'm giving myself 30 days to get this site listed within those first five results using the keyword phrase, beef stix.
Till nextime...
Chrisi Darrington
Redding Search Engine Optimization
I will admit it's a little scary. But I can do it. Let me tell you about my first assignment. It's a test actually.
My brother-in-law is working with me on this one. He's well known in our area and he's picked out my first challenge. His friend owns 4 different businesses online. Sadly, he's paid a lot of money to have his site gain visibility through search engines that has never panned out.
I have to admit that this is not only disturbing to me, it's very confusing. Sometimes SEO is complex and extremely challenging. There will be times that I will have to say, "No, I cannot put your site on the first page in Google for that keyword search phrase".
It's a sad answer, but it is the truth. Why is it confusing? I guess because if you know anything about search engine optimization, you should know better than to make promises you can't keep. The second reason is because I can already tell that whoever this guy paid to help get his site traffic did not even come close to doing the first thing that MUST be done when helping someone gain more traffic.
What is this most important thing?
It all starts at the foundation of SEO. The website. Before you begin any type of SEO, you must first fix the website. This was not done.
The good news is, I can do it. And this is where I'll be starting. So, let me put my first assignment right here online where everyone can follow it.
The website subject is Beef Stix. The URL is: http://countryboymeatstix.com My job is to get this site on the first page for the keyword search term, beef stix. I'm going to work on getting that site within the first 5 results.
However, the site is very far from being optimized. Google has no clue that this site should be listed within the beef stix catagory. Why? Because it appears to be more about being a distributor and not really about beef stix at all.
So, that's my first chore. To help get that site noticed. Bookmark this blog if you'd like to follow along and see how I do with this first challenge. I'm giving myself 30 days to get this site listed within those first five results using the keyword phrase, beef stix.
Till nextime...
Chrisi Darrington
Redding Search Engine Optimization
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