Page Title Tag and Keyword Placement

I’m currently reading an excellent book by David Viney titled “Get to the Top on Google.” Now don’t let the title fool you, much of the emphasis on Google is for promotional purposes. However, David does state that since Google drives much of the web’s traffic, why not.

As I’m reading along on a chapter devoted to on-page optimization, I get to the subject of optimizing the page <title> tag. For those of you not aware. content placed within the HTML <title> tag provides information to the search engines that aid in ranking your pages properly.

Recipe for Success Online

The recipe to success with web sites is straightforward and common sense, yet we all too often disregard key ingredients.

• Findability
• Accessibility
• Usability
• Convertability
• Measurability

Start SEO Post Launch? I don’t think so…

I’ve heard this ideology before, but was just reminded again while viewing a presentation by a well respected web professional. It’s the idea that, when building a website, SEO is started at the time of launch and beyond into maintenance mode.

Ah, no…

Search engine optimization must be considered during the initial planning stages of a site (or even during the initial planning stages of a redesign). SEO factors into many aspect of a site’s creation, from the naming of the domain, files & folders, navigation labels to the coding, design and and layout of the pages/templates. SEO is a piece of the overall puzzle, a peer and beneficiary of usability, accessibility, information architecture, etc.

Search Engine Optimization as part of the Web Design Workflow

The standard web design workflow is presented below (Thanks to Kelly Goto for writing the book on this topic). I’ve embellished and added to the workflow with SEO tasks that should take place in conjunction to the web design tasks.

180 on Flash

In the past, I’ve communicated that Flash, while useful for creating rich web experiences, is the scorn for anyone looking to rank well based on content within Flash movies. Search Engine are just unable to crawl & index this content.

Well, as of July 1, 2008, things have changed.

Check out Vanessa Fox’s article on SearchEngineLand.com regarding Google & Adobe’s partnership to enhance the search algorithm to crawl & digest Flash content. Mark this date; everything has changed.

Google Improves Webmaster Documentation

As posted on SearchEngineLand.com, Google has just updated their webmaster and SEO documentation. Updates include the Robots.txt documentation, spam reporting tools and documentation, IP delivery /geolocation/cloaking documentation, Nofollow documentation, doorway page documentation and quality guidelines.

Resources

• Matt Cutt’s post with additional information
• Google’s Webmaster Central

Want to Improve Your SEO Skills? Learn Copywriting

Search Engine Optimization is full of its insight, techniques and tricks. Yes, there is plenty to learn in SEO, keyword research, on-page optimization, link management, etc. However, there’s one skill that is often overlooked: Online Copywriting.

Now, when I refer to copywriting, I’m not referring to the tried & true, old school approach. I’m referring to online copywriting. Online is different. As many of you already know, people do not initially read text on a web page; they scan. Like online advertisements, you have less than 15 seconds to grab ahold of your audiences attention before they’ll click that back button. That’s where copywriting comes in. You have to grab their attention and, most importantly, get them to do what you want them to do. Writing persuasive copy is a learned art form. And you must master it to be successful on th web.

Where to learn online copywriting: There are tons of resources online that will get you to where you want to be related to online copywriting. Simply Google the term and you’ll find an afternoon full of resources. For me personally, a resource that I have come to depend on is The Online Copywriter’s Handbook : Everything You Need to Know to Write Electronic Copy That Sells by Robert W. Bly. This offline resource is affordable and will have your copywriting skills improving shortly after the first chapter.

Make online copywriting a priority when improving your SEO skills.

The End of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Yes, I believe there will be an end to SEO, as we know it. However, it won’t happen overnight, let alone within the next couple of years. Here’s why…

There are too many “newbies”

SEO is hot. Really hot. Therefore, there’s a generation of new sites, or existing sites with new SEO awareness coming on board all the time. And with that need, there is plenty of existing SEO professionals and up-and-coming enthusiasts to handle the demand.

The Search Engines are still refining

The search engines, albeit improved, will continue to tweak their search algorithms to make many of the insider tricks of no value. The search engines want quality content, and quality links into that content. And in time, they will succeed.

SEO practices become standard

Due to the efforts of the search engines, and as many of the specialties within SEO are no longer valued, I believe we’ll see the specialty of SEO (for the most part) go away and become part of the website design and management workflow. SEO specialists, or their roles, will increasingly move in-house (yet there will always be the need for some external services).

So what can you do to be prepared? Like design, usability and accessibility, I believe SEO should be a discipline that is valued and practiced as part of the site development process (that means properly budgeted for, planning, development and management phases). Start by learning foundational SEO, then incorporate it as part of your daily activities.

The fact that the specialty of Search Engine Optimization will go away should not be cause for concern. Like much of the Web, it changes and morphs as time marches on. Be like a boy scout: be prepared.

Foundational Keywords Article

Sometimes it’s the most basic topics that can make the biggest impact.

Christine Churchill recently posted an article on Search Engine Land titled “Eight Keyword Research Mistakes That Are Costing You Money.” This is a must read for all new SEOs and a good refresher/reminder for all established practitioners.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Presentation

Just returned from presenting on SEO at the May Chicago Dreamweaver Meetup. The meeting was a success, as there was a good set of questions and discussions throughout the meeting. Anyone interested in web design in the Chicago area should consider joining this meetup.

The full presentation, along with video is available online at SlideShare.com. It’s also available below.

SEO vs. PPC or a Happy Couple?

Sphinn this article

PPC has been all the rage, with it’s fast return on results. Notice I said results, not investment. SEO has become popular again, likely due to the [wasted] dollars spent on PPC.

I see many blog posts, forum discussion thread, etc. touting one over the other. So the obvious question by those not focused on search engine marketing is “Which should I do?”

Why do we have to choose? It doesn’t seem appropriate.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the act of tuning your site and its content to be more search engine friendly (note I said friendly, not coercive). This, like usability and accessibility, should be part of the overall site and content project plan, as well as ongoing maintenance of the site. Search Engine Optimization ensures that the site is effectively and completely crawled, it’s content is tuned for the site user and is findable via various channels, including the search engines.

Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click (PPC) is the act of creating an ad, either textual or graphical (rich media) for the sake of promoting content. This content can be informational, commercial, or promotional in nature. Marketers are usually charged a per-click rate for each ad. The rate is determined by several factors, including competition for the keywords to trigger the ad, as well as the new Quality Score from Google.

So Which Should Be Used?

Both. Here’s why…