Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

1. Unique content on a page: this must be content written by the business that is not found on other websites or just been copied from them and placed wtihin your small business website.

2. Inbound links from other sites: these are text links that are pointing to your site from other sites that are relevant to your business. Do not share a link back to their site, it does nothing for your SEO and can actually hurt it. Think of a link from another site to yours as a vote for your site.

3. The code on your site: this includes your URL String, Title Tag and your Meta Data.

 

NOTE: A Small Business Web Design with alot of Flash animation, although it looks cool, can hurt your rankings.

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CEO/Lead Designer Blue Wave Design Studio www.bluewavedesignstudio.com

At the core these are the key things to remember bwds - the tactics are pretty readily available, but as with most things the trick comes down to the implementation.  Some will handle it better than others, some will search out the necessary knowledge and do it themselves, while some will make the decision to outsource the ongoing maintenance work involved.  That question is decidedly more important than individual tactics I`d say.

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chuck fuller

Chuck... that`s exactly what I have been thinking. The rules of these SEO type elements shift a bit from year to year as search engines improve/become harder to trick.

I am currently in the middle of hiring a SEO copywriter for some of those reasons. It’s very difficult for me to read and stay on top of these little, unknown SEO rules. I have also decided I am NOT good enough in the writer department to compel sales through writing. I think I will leave that to the professional and decide to run my business instead of work my business.

I think it really is about writing good content rich information for viewer to find and read. I say find and read because I tend to believe they do not have the same results. Visitors find you through a search engine reading your site. Visitors read your site only if the imagery, content, and story is captivating. I am trying to hunt two animals (search engines & people) with one spear (I would use a gun, but I feel like my technology level doesn’t rise to that level).


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

I have learned alot of what I know from one of our great engineers Tansy Obryant who is amazing at keeping on top of the industry and trends within the search engines in reguards to SEO.

Vincent, take a look at her blog if you want.

www.seo-table.com

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CEO/Lead Designer Blue Wave Design Studio www.bluewavedesignstudio.com

I used to try to master SEO too. Then I realised that the more I tried the worse I ranked.

So my secret recipe is: don`t try.

Just do what you do best and make sure your marketing efforts are not too heavily reliant on the unpredictable rule-changing search engines.


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Get Your Name in ".com" at the International Internet Authority

Nobody really knows what the search engines are using as rules for analyzing a site, excepting those who program the engines. That`s their product, after all, so it`s proprietary information. We can only make educated guesses, based on watching the effect of using different search phrases and so forth.

If you think about it, being found in a search engine is a lot like having a book found in a bookstore. It`s not the same as having the book found in a liberry (or library, for those who speak English). A bookstore is under pressure to keep books within a certain age bracket, and newer books tend to take precedence.

But having your book found is only part of the deal. The ultimate point of having a book at all is to have people read it, hopefully all the way through. No amount of flash (no pun intended) is going to work if the word of mouth gets around that the book just isn`t interesting. So too, with Web sites.

Awhile back I got interested in what makes for an interesting site. There was some discussion, but it didn`t really go anywhere. It`s like asking what makes an interesting book. Ultimately, know your audience, then write to that audience. Make the story interesting, but that comes from having talent as a writer.

In today`s "do-it-yourself" world, everyone believes they can do anything. Worse, society tends to make us feel we SHOULD be able to do everything! If you believe it, you`ll write your own content and hopefully be satisfied with the results. If you don`t believe it, then you`ll delegate, and hire someone with talent. But to delegate is a whole other set of discussion threads.

Another thought involves how you can have your book (site) found, and it can have fascinating content. But if the words are printed in blue against bright red pages, nobody`s going to read it. So the visual contrast and appeal of the content and site actually does matter.

CraigL... Once again you have hit a lot of hot spots of this topic. I tend to think exactly the same way. As I have said, I am looking for an experience SEO and copywriter, which may sound contrary to the idea that a good “book” is simply a good “book.” We must also remember that a good book could be packaged ineffectively.

Therefore the reason for an SEO writer is to reduce the chances of making amateur mistakes. I think my “book” is of great value to the right market. I also think my weakness is keeping up on all the basic design rules.

In my life as a musician, then a graphic designer, the only rule was to break rules… so long as everyone enjoyed the rule being broke… and that’s the hard part. It takes experimentation. I don’t have time for experiments just to gain basic knowledge.

So I think there is some benefit to having SEO employed on your site. But most of all, it’s about content.


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

Although it`s often useful to experimentally break a rule, I`ve more often found it better to go back and examine why the rule was developed in the first place. To just break something for the sake of breaking it or to be different usually isn`t all that great. In many cases also, the rule evolved over many generations or countless other people having tried it different ways and failed.

Sure, innovation often comes from taking another look at a traditional habit, or common practice. But that`s not the same as arbitrarily breaking a rule for no particular reason. There`s a major difference between whimsical and experimental.

Vincent`s point about wanting a solid interaction between what a mathematical search engine will find and what a human being will find interesting is exactly the reason for having a professional writer. And let`s not forget that an excellent science-fiction writer may not at all be capable of producing a fine romance novel. Nor does a technical writer always produce the same output as a marketing and advertising writer.