Google Search Optimization 101
Search engine optimization is a very organic process: it takes time, clicks, shares, updated content, and an audience to actually cut through the literally millions of websites vying for the same spot. And as you’re probably aware, there’s a ton of competition for Google’s front page in just about any search. The more common your blog or business, the harder it is to obtain a top tier ranking. However, it’s more than possible to rise above the competition and onto the coveted front page. This article will give you a strong foundation to begin your conquest through the cruel and unusual landscape of the world wide web, Google’s algorithm, and the attention of your target audience. But first, let me briefly introduce myself, so you know who is yelling at you through a computer screen.
My name is Kevin Chevalier, currently, I'm a Marketing Coordinator with an engineering firm in Philadelphia. Previously, I was a Personal Website Consultant at a web hosting company. What that really means is that I was an account manager for our premium clients. Before I was promoted to that position, I was a Web Copywriter at the same company. As a copywriter, I learned the ins and outs of search engine optimized content and the dos and don’ts of Google’s crawlers (the robots who, following the ever-changing Google SEO algorithm, read and refer your site to search engine users), which I may refer to from time to time as Nazi-Robots. Lastly, before that job, I was the Marketing Coordinator for Philadelphia Virtual Academy (PVA) where I stumbled through the process of developing an online presence for a first-year online public school – the first of its kind as part of the School District of Philadelphia. The centerpiece of this operation was phillyvirtual.com, go ahead and check it out because I’ll be using it as an example throughout.
Some quick insight on PVA: our intention was to create a launchpad for daily activities at Philly Virtual complete with links to their online classrooms and the student portal, as well as developing SEO oriented content for Philadelphia area searches of “online education, high school online, virtual school, etc.” With phillyvirtual.com, I’ll explain how we succeeded and how we failed, so that you don’t make the same mistakes that we did.
1. Know what you’re trying to accomplish
Ask yourself that question. Are you trying to gain a following, provide a static advertisement for your customers, get to the top of Google searches, offer resources, generate advertising revenue, or all of the above? Once you know the answer, look at it from the angle of the consumer and know that they are only asking one question: What can it do for me?
The average consumer looks at a new webpage for well under a minute. It varies by industry, but you can bet on a 20 second or less average for your own home page. Sounds scary right? That’s why you need to tell the consumer what they want to know right there on the homepage – what you can do for them – and assume they have the most intense form of ADHD possible.
Believe in the Rule of 3:
1. This is what we can do for you
2. This is how we were successful in the past
3. This is why you should connect with us
That may seem like a lot to respond to in 20 seconds, but every answer doesn’t have to be so elaborate. For past success, a solid testimonial may do the job, or maybe a before/after photo for physical businesses. What we can do for you could be as bold a statement as, “Any automotive issue can be solved at Jake’s Car Care.” This answer could be reflected in a tagline. The hardest question to answer is the last question, why should the consumer connect with your service. What makes your blog, business, or community so much different than the thousands of competitors? When Joe Schmo comes across your website, why should he come back?
At Philly Virtual we did a bad job at answering the first two questions, but succeeded in demonstrating the third – ‘why should you connect with us?’ The students were able to utilize the website as a starting point for their school day. We provided the links they needed to access the online classrooms, their own personal student account, and the official school website. Then, right in the middle of the homepage we provided content that kept them up to date with school events, deadlines, and important education information, as well as some interesting articles that they might enjoy and share with their friends. Connecting our social media presence to the blog proved beneficial, as subscribers and followers increased almost immediately, and back-linking (links to your site from other websites – great for SEO), even if it was from our own accounts, created a multi-platform experience for our students, parents, and prospective students.
What this resulted in was a prime showing in Google searches for the school. You might be thinking, well, no duh. Well, it took us about six months to get there. Remember how I said that SEO was an organic process that takes time, case in point. There were articles from accredited news sources, the official school website – a branch off from the School District of Philadelphia’s official website, and a ton of schools around Philadelphia that were establishing themselves as virtual academies ahead of us for a while. And because of our many SEO miscues it took us that long.
Because people were searching for our website, finding it, and staying on it for longer than the industry average, Google’s Nazi-Robots eventually came around and started recognizing us as a credible website. However, we never reached the front page for searches like “Philadelphia online schools, top Philadelphia high schools,” and other similar searches. Some of the don’ts in the next section we were unaware of at the time and Google penalized us for it.
We could’ve done a better job connecting with prospective students and parents by outlining the benefits of an education with Philadelphia Virtual Academy. Instead we took a content approach, focusing on the articles on the homepage, leaving it up to the visitors to determine what it was, exactly, that we were doing – not good.
2. Don’t Cheat the System
I can’t emphasize enough that SEO takes time and that Google’s crawlers are actually Nazi-Robots. Think of the Google Algorithm as an unnecessarily tough bell curve, and the crawlers as the harshest grading teacher you’ve ever had in your life. There’s a million and one ways to cheat the system and none of them will work in the long run. Here are some of the SEO don’ts you want to steer clear of.
Keyword Stuffing (loading an unnecessary amount of keywords onto your website in hopes that it will raise your ranking for that search term):
Matt Cutts explained that keyword stuffing would result in a short increase, then a plateau, and finally a plummet. In the olden days, designers used to make keywords blend into the background of the website, so that the users couldn’t see them, but the bots could. Those bots resembled Wall-E. Today’s bots are more like Megatron, as far as complexity is concerned.
Meta Tagging (adding filler keywords into the coding of a site that only the Google robots can see):
Don’t do it! The option to add them is still offered on nearly every beginner web designing platform. The Nazi-Robots can already read your content and simply see these as cop-outs. At Philly Virtual this killed us. We were tagging every blog post fifty times over with the search terms we wanted to optimize for. This resulted in Google tanking us for those searches because not every single article offered relevant content to both the tags we entered and the search terms.
Buying Backlinks (purchasing links on other sites to direct consumers to your website):
Not too long ago this was common practice and a guaranteed instant increase in traffic. The same criticisms hold true to meta tagging. You’re better off connecting your website to social networks and getting organic backlinks, rather than acquiring hundreds of backlinks that will never be clicked on through a sketchy SEO company.
Complex Coding (the html or CSS coding of your website – the skeleton of your website… don’t give it scoliosis):
This is less of an SEO foul as the others, but more of a tightrope to be walked. The harder it is for the crawlers to navigate your site the more likely they are to penalize you. Stick with basic navigation, obvious internal clicks, and useful anchor links. Anything else is wasting your time, the consumer’s time, and possibly confusing the Google bots.
Guest Blogging (getting popular bloggers to post on your website):
Hiring guest bloggers does more for the website of the guest blogger than it does for your own. Excessive outwards linking is discounted in the Google algorithm. However, getting external links directed to website, that’s great. So go ahead and guest blog on other sites if they’ll have you.
Copied Content (stealing content from another website):
Just don’t do it. This should be obvious. Don’t steal content from other websites.
Again, SEO takes time. Developing a website that will benefit your target audience and provide useful, shareable content is far and away the best route. If you’re desperate for a quick traffic boost, the best way to make that happen is to utilize Google AdWords. Yes, you have to pay.
In the meantime there are some SEO do’s that you can start utilizing. For the most part, they consist of reversing the don’ts above.
Keyword Selectivity: Sometimes you need to pick and choose your battles.
If you’re a new shoe company, you’re not going to land in the top results for shoes… sorry. Research the keywords popular in your industry. Find a niche or two or three that you can optimize content towards. Maybe it’s specific styles of shoes, colors, or a geographic location. This requires research. Use the Google AdWords keyword tool to get an idea of the estimated traffic and then see how the competition fares. Also, look for thein the page descriptions of the Google search results. If your search terms are separated, the listings could simply be filler listings because no one has provided the specified content quite yet. Take advantage and provide that content.
Simple Coding & Internal Links: Keep It Simple Stupid.
The more intricate and complex your CSS coding, the harder it is for the crawlers to efficiently recognize and refer your website in searches. So keep the coding simple. Adding basic internal links to other pages on your site or concise anchor links will improve your site’s crawlability (made-up word, don’t care).
Reaching Out (Social Media, Guest Blogging, Blogging, Commenting):
Some have said that these external components are not worth the time and effort. What I would say is why wouldn’t you be everywhere? All of these are essentially free advertisements. Social media doesn’t have to be a drag, mind-numbing process from a business perspective. Turn it into your own personal account and interact with people, use hashtags and groups to connect with people of common interests. And the same goes for blogging, guest blogging and commenting on like-minded blogs/forums. Blogging is becoming the definition of SEO, but I’m sure an algorithm in the near future will downplay that notion. But the conversation online is real. Just think, you’re more likely to acquire a customer after connecting with them personally than having them find you in a Google search.
In Conclusion (finally, I know, I'm sorry):
Overall, search engine optimization is a fair experience. At Philly Virtual Academy, we ranked at the highest level possible for our own name even after committing several SEO penalties. This was due primarily in part to the sheer fact that we built a location that students could utilize on a daily basis.
Some of the things I wish we worked harder on would be keyword selection, optimizing content, and public relations. Keywords should be used about every 50 words or so, and it seemed like we either loaded the article or missed out on the appropriate terms. Also, we were a brand new school – a school like no other in the School District of Philadelphia – the only online public school in the area. That was our unique selling point. We didn’t take advantage of it by reaching out to the local papers, news stations, and blogs to tell our story. A few articles were written in the beginning, but that’s where it ended.
Bottom line: Build an experience that your target audience can utilize on a daily basis. Whether it’s a blog about black labs, an online gaming community, a static advertisement for your automotive shop, or a school district website, the end result should be a place where your consumers can find the information they’re looking for and benefit from each day, one way or another.
Here are some good resources to help you keep up with the ever-changing world of SEO:
Moz Blogs - Their Whiteboard Fridays are as helpful as they are visually appealing
Matt Cutts - Google's SEO guy
The official Google SEO Starter Guide
