BIG Ideas from Integrated Advertising Network

Chances are you’ve heard of the term “Web 2.0,” and if online media, platforms or building websites is part of your business, you’re surely familiar with its definition and finding unique solutions for it. Web 2.0 has been a trendy term to describe how we’ve approached and thought of the web for the past several years. This idea facilitated information sharing and encouraged interaction and collaboration for user-generated content around user-centered design.

Now, with social media ever expanding and new technologies being built to support real-time information sharing, the web is evolving into ‘streams of media’ and data driven, tailored to every individual. As marketers and media professionals, we are being challenged and entering an increasing need to make the web a ‘live’ experience and in most cases resourceful and entertaining for users.

Chip Bayer recently wrote on this subject and some terms you’ll be hearing more of, moving away from and beyond the term “Web 2.0.” Read about it on Adweek.

For the last several months I have been learning SEO by optimizing for local search. At this scale, whether in your backyard, city or even regional, it has been a great way to become acclimated with SEO. It allows you to start with the basics while most often seeing your results, tweak as needed and compare how you rank against the local competitive landscape. For small businesses, localization should always be at the forefront and sets a good foundation for digging deeper down the road.

Throughout this time I’ve compiled my favorite tips in following some basic steps that should be a part of any site’s SEO process.

Goals: Why are you doing this, both you and your client? Set the expectations immediately. Don’t set them too low, but know your 3 page medical site isn’t going to beat out the Mayo clinic. Also, clearly define where you want to rank, with what terms and be sure that will make an impact.

Know where you’re at: If the site already exists, use the site command on Google, Bing and Yahoo to see if your client’s site is indexed. Also search by keywords within the main pages title tags to see if and where they rank on a page.
If not already, sign up with google analytics at a minimum and let it run for 2-4 weeks to set up a baseline for the site.

Keep researching: There is no one site to tell you everything. If you think you’ve found the answer you were seeking at the first resource, you haven’t. Always look for multiple sources to confirm tactics you want to implement. Also, research specifically. SEO has so many specific elements and steps so break down your research that way. If you use 10 different resources or site tools, so be it. Use the best for keyword, linking, analysis, etc.

Keyword Research: Start by brainstorming keywords that you think are most important. Don’t forget to ask the client, they should have insight too. Use many tools, especially suggestion tools and competitive keyword analysis tools. Look at the highest SERP sites and identify those words. Find out how they are used to catapult your own niche words and apply them uniquely to your own site.

Make SEO part of the Design: SEO can and should plan out the architecture, page names and be a part of the user interface. From wireframing, copywriting and the design itself, SEO elements need to be laid in at every step. If not planned together you’ll be backtracking and sacrificing one or the other in the end.

Implementation: Optimize all of the SEO related tags by going through the html or CMS depending. I’ve found a good checklist document is Google's Starter Guide.

NOTE: Each page is its own and treat it that way. Duplication only hurts. Each page of a site speaks to different content so should the optimization.

Title tag – Order matters. Remember to get the most important keywords out front
H1 – include the most relevant keywords for each page at a minimum
Body – tag each keyword throughout
Optimize URL architecture - if you are reducing pages use 301 redirects
Name your images – often forgotten but for important and highly searchable images name them appropriately
Linking – back linking is a great way to increase traffic using other high volume sites. Research competitor sites for links and use them.
Meta descriptions – modern search engines are great at scanning text and placing descriptions based on user queries. Always check them and improve if needed.
Business info – place name, address and phone on every page. Search engines can pick this out and is essential to local search.

Submit and Track:
• Add the client’s business and website to major search engine’s local listings: Yahoo local, Google Local, Bing Local, Ask City, CitySearch, Yelp
• Create a XML sitemap as it's the most easily read language for search engines. Submit it to Google and Bing webmaster tools.
• Take monthly screen shots of your SERP results. Check for new linking, always save your analytics and track your results in a spreadsheet.

You can build on this methodology for a higher level of SEO tactics and niches for ways to improve upon your site. Remember, both the updating and learning never stop as search engine rules and tactics never stop changing either.