Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Definition

Search engine optimization is the process of structuring your Website architecture and content such that people searching for your product or service will see your Website placed high in organic search engine listings, with a clear and compelling message that induces click through to your site.

Search Engine Optimization Goal

The goal of search engine optimization is to significantly increase targeted traffic to your website by raising your Web position on the search engines to the top portion of the first page and presenting a compelling description.

Organic Search Engines

Google, MSN, and Yahoo Web Results are "organic" search engines. They index your site and use complex, proprietary, and secret algorithms to list pages as a result of searches. You don't pay to be listed "organically." Some people refer to these as "natural" search engines.

Benefits of Search Engine Optimization

• Higher listing on search engine results
• Higher credibility than paid advertisements
  • 80% click on organic vs 20% on advertisements
• More visitors
• More leads
• More sales
• More profit
• Years of payback for your initial SEO investment
• Free traffic from "organic" search engines like Google and MSN.

Process of Optimizing Websites for Search Engines

An interactive and collaborative process including the client, the Web designer and the Search Engine Optimizer (SEO). After agreeing upon a compelling layout expressing the client's message the SEO makes sure that keywords appear in all of the right places and are written for search engine success.

Rather than publishing, registering, and waiting months to see how the pages do on the Web, we test the pages with professional search engine optimization software packages which compare the characteristics of the page being optimized with pages that have achieved the highest positions on Google, MSN, Yahoo and other search engines. A rapid cycle of change, test, change, test is conducted until the page is a winner!

Upon client approval the Web designer includes the optimized pages in the site and registers with search engines.

Steps for Successful Search Engine Optimization

• Learn Client Objectives
• Get input, assets, ideas, suggestions from client
• Study competitors
• List initial keyword phrases
• Research keyword phrases for popularity and ability to win
• Select keywords for promotion
• Benchmark current site Web position and traffic
• Design multi-page entry page strategy
• Map keywords to multiple pages
• Design master page
• Write multiple pages
• Test with professional SEO software packages
• Optimize Home Page and other pages
  • <title>
  • Meta description
  • Meta keywords
  • Visible text description
  • <h1>, <h2> heads
  • First line of visible text
  • Other Visible text
  • Links
    • off page to other pages in site
    • off page to other sites
    • put search terms in link text and link URL
  • Image ALT tags
• Test
  • Use SEO software tools to evaluate page
    for success with Google, MSN, Yahoo and Ask.com
• Create or revise site map as needed
• Customer review and approval to post live
• Post Live
  • Web developer applies
• Provide path for Spiders to follow to pages
  • Create Google sitemap.xml
• Ready for submission and registration
  Few sites benefit from registration as search engines would rather find a link to your site on another site then spider yours
• Measure Web Position and Web traffic on monthly basis
• Celebrate success
• Fix, improve, expand on continuous basis

Selecting the right keywords

Knowing which keywords to emphasize is an art in itself. What good is it to place high on words that people don't use.

We use tools such as WordTracker and Overture Keyword Suggestion tool to target the right keywords.

Keywords must properly appear in:

• <title>
• Meta Keywords
• Meta Description
• Heads
• Paragraph text
• ALT tags for images
• Comments
• Links
• Filenames for Web pages (search_engine_optimization.htm, not sopt.htm)

A 50-words or longer descriptive paragraph is recommended, and if possible hundreds of words rich with keywords.

So that is how we are an SEO specialist located in Portland Oregon.

Contact Straight-On

Contact us to get our expert opinion on what is best for your site.
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call 503.516.6755, or use our online form to request a quote.

Clients

ArtFair Source Book Optimized by Straight-On.