As you begin to optimize your Web site based on a comprehensive SEO strategy, clearly defined goals and a phased action plan, you will undoubtedly run into challenges. Integrating strategically sound copywriting with optimal layout, design and functionality can sometimes seem like the proverbial mixing of oil and water. Yet the results are clearly worth the effort.

The real key is to remember that you’re creating content to be viewed by human beings, not robots; your pages should never read as though they were written for a search engine. Users come first. If you should encounter a conflict between copywriting and your SEO goals, let the copy set the direction, and look for other ways to achieve the optimization objectives. There’s usually more than one good way to improve your rankings. What’s more – all the traffic in the world won’t help you generate any new business if your website’s visitor-to-lead conversion rate is 0%. 0% of ten times the traffic is still 0. Better to find a balance — perhaps opting for a strategy that may draw 20% less traffic, but converts at a 50% higher rate — you’d still be much better off than the other way around.

While “organic” (unpaid) searches are usually the most cost-effective form of long-term Internet marketing, building dramatic results can take time, typically a matter of some months. By far the fastest way to start attracting traffic immediately is a Pay-Per-Click campaign. Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) services are the two leading PPC providers. MSN’s search engine currently uses Yahoo’s paid ads, but will be rolling out their own PPC program in the near future.

The PPC business model is very straightforward: advertisers place bids on specific search terms, then pay that bid amount only when a searcher clicks on their ad(s). Think of it as a very highly targeted form of paid advertising. Complete control is one major advantage of a PPC campaign, allowing for quick placement, immediate returns, precise tracking and copy testing, and specific ROI measurement. But be aware that it’s a two-sided coin: because your competitors also have the same ability to measure their own activities and results, PPC campaigns usually require active management and close monitoring to be most effective. Some PPC programs (such as Google’s AdWords) also take into account the clickthrough rate (CTR) of your ads. Thus, the ability to create an ad that is more compelling and attracts more users to click on it will actually help your ads to be positioned higher and will even cost you less per visitor than the cost to your competitors.  This is another way a SEO professional can actually save you money and dramatically increase traffic to your site. Continue reading>>

One of the most important aspects of a successful SEO effort is the overall structure of your site itself. The search engines need to be able to crawl the site effectively; even minor errors in code or overly-difficult navigation can thwart the spiders and leave important pages excluded from the final results. And the design and internal mapping of the site can affect ranking in a variety of ways, from subtle to dramatic.

Armed with your list of keywords, it’s important to place them properly to deliver visitors to the best landing pages for their particular search. Different keywords can have different effects depending on where your visitors are in the buying process, whether they’re gathering information, comparing alternatives, or actively deciding where to buy. By mapping the relevant search terms and phrases to the right pages, you can match visitors’ arrival points to their intentions, all with the goal of maximizing the return from the increased traffic generated by the search engines.

Campaign tracking software allows you to measure your results precisely to learn what pages are being viewed most often (and which are being ignored), how often searchers visit before buying, and how long the conversion process lasts.

For most searches, your home page is not the best landing page. Many visitors are best directed to interior pages where they can immediately find the specific information they seek.

A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS: THE IMPORTANCE OF LINKS.

In addition to evaluating and ranking keywords, search engines place varying degrees of importance on the links between Websites. The vast majority of web pages in most search engine databases have been found via other Web pages that the search engine has already indexed. The more active links that exist to a particular page, the better its chance of achieving a superior ranking. Having your site listed in various online directories, for example, is one way to create a measurable effect on your site’s appearance in search results. Why? Well it’s a popularity contest of sorts. If other, well-established and well-trusted websites link to your site, they are in essence vouching for your site, or voting on its behalf. Your site looks better and more relevant simply by being associated with other respected sites.

Did you know: Yahoo! will return a list of pages linking to a given site? The search command is linkdomain:example.com.

YOUR BEST PROSPECTS ARE SEARCHING FOR YOU!

You’ve built a great Website. It’s strategically sound, professionally designed, and quickly meets the needs of various types of site visitors. Congratulations! Now what?

A recent Forrester Research report estimates that 80% of overall Web site visits begin in a search engine or directory service. Why is this so significant? Because it means your prospects are no longer waiting for you to find and sell to them. Instead, they are finding you, and your competitors, instantly via Google, Yahoo!, MSN and other search engines. In this new environment, by the time your phone rings, or you receive an online inquiry, your prospect has often already decided that yours may be the best company for them. Their business is now yours to lose. This concept is so important that it needs repeating. Today’s consumers buy, they do not wait to be sold!