GENERAL OUTLINE - SEO Freddie Cerva I have been active and professionally working on the internet for the last 16 years. My SEO knowledge is helping many of my client's websites rank well on the search engines. Besides working with website developers on new websites I also fix and clean up existing websites as a profession, my knowledge has been cultivated over many years of dealing with many complex website and search engine optimization issues. SOME INTERNAL WEBSITE ISSUES THAT ARE SEEN TO:- Each website has its own structure and is accordingly made search engine friendly. We only employ ethical search engine optimization methods. Below is a short list of some common issues that are dealt with, however their might be a range of other issues that also have to be taken care of which differs between websites. 1. We establish the strengths and weaknesses of your website. Most websites have internal weaknesses, when these weaknesses are fixed ("cleaned up") will automatically improve the chances of your website’s search engine rankings. 2. Fix technical problems / weaknesses that could affect search engine rankings. 3. Strengthen internal linking between web pages. 4. Strengthen the theme of the website – this is crucial to rankings. 5. We look at and where necessary rename image files in the website. More and more people are using image searches to locate websites – we endeavor to get your website to rank for image searches because we have found a definite correlation between image and normal web search results and rankings. 6. We optimize internal links so as to anchor targeted web pages for certain search phrases. 7. All meta tags of the web pages are individually optimized for the content on the pages. 8. Keyword densities of the pages are seen to. 9. Content duplication issues are seen to – if this factor is not seen to, a website can become penalized by search engines. 10. We plan and implement a sitemap strategy for the website. 11. Where needed the text on pages might have to rewritten and or edited to accommodate search engine optimization. This is done with consultation and approval with the client. 12. A STEPPED FINE TUNING APPROACH: After the website is made search engine friendly and ready we wait for Google to index it, we then analyze the search results and where needed make changes. This is done and repeated continually until we reach optimal onsite optimization levels. SOME EXTERNAL WEBSITE ISSUES THAT ARE SEEN TO:- There are many external threats that could affect a website’s rankings. Below is a short list of some common external issues that are dealt with, however this is different for each website. 1. We look for other websites that are copying your website content. If this is found a strategy is set in motion to eliminate this threat. Google has a very strict policy as far as duplicate content is concerned and websites that are guilty of this or is unknowingly being copied are penalized. 2. Some clients unknowingly place the same website on various domain names, if this is the case with your website this duplication threat has to be eliminated. 3. Google has a tendency to double index a website with the “WWW” and “without the WWW” this in itself is a threat and has to be seen to. 4. Competition website analysis – we have to determine what your competitors are doing so that we can plan and implement strategies on how to be better than them in the search engines. 5. The above issues are just a few – each website is treated individually and all issues are addressed. EXTERNAL OFF-SITE SEO • Besides the on-site SEO issues and factors outlined above – off-site SEO factors are over the long term the most important as far as the whole SEO program is concerned. • Provided your website is technically and SEO correct the off-site or external SEO will determine where your website will rank. • Ultimately the websites in Google are having a constant “election for president” The website with the most “QUALITY” votes will win. • External linking strategies have become something of a science, it is no longer a matter of Website A linking to Website B and vice versa anymore. Reciprocal and one-way linking has now become more involved. Here are just a couple of factors that have to be managed constantly:- • Link ratios between incoming reciprocal links and outgoing non-reciprocal links. • The above link ratios also have to be factored with the amount of one-way inbound links to the website. • The type of websites linking to your website is also a factor. • The type of websites that your website is linking to is a factor. • The type of websites that your website is exchanging links with is a factor. • The link text/phrases used in links pointing to your website is a factor. • The list of factors that determine the quality of votes/links to your website has become very complex. • To achieve the above “VOTING” we implement an onsite link system in a “folder”/”directory” on your website. This link system has to be managed and controlled 7 days a week 365 days a year. • All new links have to go thru a aging period before they cont as votes – it is no longer easy to get a link today and it will count as a vote tomorrow. Links can take up to +/-1 to 3 months before they count for something. • Over time we have to develop your website into a HUB then progress it into an AUTHORITY website. (This is achieved with a dedicated and continuous linking strategy. TARGETING THE SEO TOWARDS THE CLIENT’S TARGET MARKET Google is very specific to Geographical Location when it comes to, name servers, hosting locations, domain extensions, content, website linking neighborhoods, etc. All these factors and many more have to be set in place to in order to target the client’s market(s). Example Google.com versus Google.co.uk has different search results – the same goes for MSN and Yahoo but Google is more strict as far as Geo Location issues are concerned. ONGOING SEO Why is SEO is a never ending process:- 1. Search engines are forever without notice changing search algorithms. 2. Example Google.com has different search results to Google.co.uk 3. As a website moves up in the rankings the competition works harder to knock your website down, this becomes an “online war” that is never ending. 4. The SEO has to continually be in touch with changing search engine trends and cater for them. WHY IS SEO IS NO LONGER ONLY SEO ????? SEO without a strong knowledge and foundation in online marketing belongs to the past. Our 16 years experience in online marketing together with our expertise in SEO makes the perfect combination to optimize websites with the client’s product and/or service in mind. We also make suggestions on how to improve consumer response when and where needed so that all online efforts benefit the seo and overhaul marketing strategy. The ultimate goal of SEO is to improve your online visibility, business and/or responses/enquiries. We also manage a network our own support websites. SUPPORT NETWORKS Where needed we can integrate our client’s websites into this network or use some of our holding websites to improve external SEO for our clients. Some examples A couple of months ago we started a work in progress network for Dubai. We have place holder websites in a network that is under construction. This network is purely for the purpose of acting as a support to websites in the UAE. There are 28 domains being set up in this network. Please note that currently none of these holding sites have any off-site optimization – this will only go into action when a solid Dubai client base is established. See some examples below:- 1. Search Phrase “dubai hotel bookings” in google.com www.dubaihotelbookings.org page 1 in Google.com 2. Search Phrase “dubai property sales” in google.com www.dubaipropertysales.org page 1 in Google.com 3. Search Phrase “dubai property” in google.co.uk www.dubaiproperty.org.uk page 4 in Google.co.uk 4. Search Phrase “property for sale in dubai” in google.com www.propertyforsaleindubai.org page 4 in Google.com 5. Search Phrase “property for sale in dubai” in google.com www.dubaipropertypro.compage 6 in Google.com 6. www.dubaitoolbar.com Live but a work in progress. 7. www.dxblive.com/ Search Engine 8. www.azdubai.com under construction 9. www.dubaipropertytoolbar.com under construction 10. www.uaetoolbar.com under construction 11. www.emiratestoolbar.com under construction WHAT THE CLIENT MUST EXPECT 1. A new domain name is suppressed by Google (sandbox effect) for about 6 – 9 months. During this time all SEO efforts outlined in this document have to implemented. 2. If it is an established domain name and older than 9 to 12 months it is easier, provided that the website does not have a bad history of unethical seo activity. 3. During the link building process the website will drastically move up and down in the rankings – When many links are exchanged or added Google tends to drop the site in the rankings while the links age and brings the site back and normally higher in the rankings. You can call this effect the “YO YO” effect. 4. As the website starts ranking in the top 50 the upwards movement is slower because the competition starts panicking when they see a new domain running towards page one in Google. The war heats up when we get to page 3 and a full scale assault normally starts when the site starts touching the top 15, this becomes even worse when the site starts moving onto page one and back to page 2 and the back to page 1. When the site starts achieving a ranking in the top 8 it becomes somewhat stable and could start jumping between position 1 and 8. The climbing process to a top 5 ranking is a major process because one has to become better than the long established top ranking sites. 5. We don’t rest until the goal is achieved THEN the hardest and most stressful phase sets in, this is to keep the site in top rankings. 6. SEO = Looking thru the picture, not at it - As a marketing consultant who also does search engine optimization (SEO) you have to see the other dimension - Nothing is what you see - spend time, effort and your God given talent to develop the ability to see what others can't.
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