When it comes to search engine optimization strategy, there are
basically two camps - those who
view search engines as
adversaries to be conquered at any cost and those who regard
search engines as partners in their online
marketing efforts. Long-time
readers of my articles probably already have a good idea of
which camp I fall into; however, I believe both approaches can
be effective optimization methods.
Adversarial Optimization Methods
Service providers who have this "adversarial" philosophy will tell
their prospects that the formulation of a search engine
optimization strategy is much like a high-stakes game of chess.
It's an "us vs. them," "winner-take-all," and "every man for
himself" mentality. It's also rooted largely in technology - under
this philosophy, success is defined as unraveling the latest search
engine algorithm to find new optimization methods and exploiting
its technical aspects for immediate benefit.
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The underlying premise of this search engine optimization strategy
is that you must use optimization methods that trick the search
engines into showing a website predominantly in the results since
the site isn't currently offering attributes that the search
engines consider valuable. The primary benefits of this approach
are that it doesn't require much work on the part of the client and
that results can be realized more rapidly. These qualities both
stem from the fact that there isn't a large amount of additional
content needed, nor are there many wholesale changes to make to the
website when using such optimization methods.
. In a perfect world, no one would violate search engine policies to try get a better listing. They'd respect the terms set out by the search engines. It's not a perfect world. And especially not when it comes to the highly competitive search engine optimization industry. Prime example; 1) Here is a quote taken from a "search engine optimization" website;
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While this is not the methodology that I recommend, it is a valid
- albeit potentially volatile - search engine optimization
strategy.
Partnership Optimization Methods
Those who view search engines as partners have a very different
search engine optimization strategy. These service providers
embrace the idea that the attributes and optimization methods that
give a website high rankings in search engines are, by and large,
the same ones that make the site more valuable to website visitors
and potential customers.
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This theory makes sense. Every search engine needs to return
results that their users find to be the most relevant and useful.
If search engine R&D people operated in a vacuum, they would
probably find their market share rapidly diminished while they
lamented about how "people are stupid". This means that each of the
major search engines spend endless research dollars to determine
exactly what it is that search engine users find valuable, and each
has a high stake in the results of the research. No search engine
marketing or web design firm has the resources or motivation to
conduct studies of this magnitude. It is, therefore, highly
advantageous to use the findings of these studies, deduced from
common algorithm traits of multiple search engines, to improve your
search engine optimization strategy and website.
For most websites, the majority of traffic comes via search engines. SEO (search engine optimization)
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I consistently hear from companies who are puzzled as to why their
expensive, cutting-edge website is perpetually outranked by a site
of perceived inferior quality - "our website is better than theirs"
or "we are a much bigger company" are common remarks.
Beauty is, as always, in the eye
of the beholder. The sites that consistently rank highly are
almost always using optimization methods that offer something of
value to people who entered the search query. Search engines
care as much about the size of a company or how much it spent on
its website about as much as they care about what you had for
breakfast this morning (I had blueberry muffins, but Google
hasn't called to ask).
Performance Domain from BuyDomains. to Begin Your Search Promoting Your Online Business Of all the strategies you use to promote your business online, the most important by far is search engine marketing. Search engine marketing (SEM) is a term that encompasses both paying for a prominent position in search engines and directories, as well as going through a process called search engine optimization to ensure that your site becomes visible through natural or "organic" means.
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The advantages to the "partnership" search engine optimization
strategy are numerous. Rather than chase the ever-changing
technical attributes that can get you short-term results, you
instead use optimization methods that leverage your company's
knowledge of your industry to create something useful for the
searcher. You can improve your website and offer the information
and products that prospects are seeking, even if those prospects
are in the earliest stages of the buying cycle. In general, you
will not have to watch your rankings swing wildly based upon new
spam filters and algorithm shifts, and thus will enjoy a higher
level of predictability when it comes to your website (although
with search engines, there are never any guarantees). Since you
aren't constantly forced to re-address your site's search engine
optimization methods, you'll have more time to focus on other
online marketing areas that need attention, such as the website's
conversion rate, an e-newsletter, or online PR.
Conclusion
It's a fact that websites rise and fall in the rankings all the
time. The only real constant is that the sites of TRUE value, the
ones that offer something relevant and important to the searcher,
are generally always near the top - even after the latest algorithm
shift has sent the "adversarial" crowd into a frenzy of activity as
they attempt to reformulate their search engine optimization
strategy.
Tips on Search Engine Positioning (Part II) We continue with our series on Search Engines and this month, we focus on Search Engine Optimization. Search engine optimization, also known as search engine placement and positioning, is the process of improving and enhancing a website's internal elements (such as titles, meta tags, textual content) and external factors (such as link and click popularity) to achieve high search engine rankings.
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While it may take a little extra effort, I like to think of the
relationship with search engines as a "partnership" in a real
sense. We use optimization methods that apply the attributes search
engines have deemed to be valuable to a website, which improves
both the website and the website's search engine rankings. The
search engines, in turn, send highly-targeted visitors who have
shown an interest in your industry, products, or services. Sure, it
may seem that we get more out of the deal, but the engines don't
complain. They haven't even acknowledged our partnership.
Notebooks Scott Buresh is the chief executive officer of
Medium Blue
Search Engine Marketing. He has contributed content to many
publications including Building Your Business with Google For
Dummies (Wiley, 2004), Search Engine Guide, MarketingProfs,
SEO Today, WebProNews, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, ISEDB.com, and
ZDNet. Medium Blue, an
Atlanta search engine optimization company,
serves local and national clients, including Boston Scientific,
DuPont, and Georgia-Pacific. To receive search engine marketing
articles and news each month, register for Medium Blue's email
newsletter, Out of the Blue.
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