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Using Tags on Your Web Pages

December 23rd, 2010

I recently read an article from a former librarian who began using tags at the bottom of his pages to help users.  While his intentions were good, listing a bunch of keywords at the bottom of every page can also be seen as spam by the search engines.

While tags can certainly be used to help your readers find related information about what they are reading, they can also be overused or abused by some… either intentionally or unintentionally.

Using a CMS system like WordPress can certainly make it easier to tag your post but you really need a plan when doing this so as not to overdue it.

I once had a client that had so many “tags” on his WordPress blog that it began to have a seriously negative effect.  Once we researched and determined the best keywords and phrases, we then limited the number of tags on his site and he started to move back up in the rankings.

Remember, the search engines are just trying to give their users the best, most relevant content to meet the searchers needs.  The problem is that there are many people trying to figure out a way to “cheat the system” to get better rankings.  That in turn forces the search engines to make changes to stop the “spammers” from winning.

Unfortunately, that generally means that once the engines determine something is bad, it’s bad for everyone (the good guys and the bad).

Keep this in mind… you should always test and try everything that you think will be helpful to your readers or users first.  Provide them with unique, original content that reads well and offers something of value to them.  Ask yourself, would you be doing this even if there were no search engines?  If you answer yes then more than likely it will be OK with the engines as well.

Whatever you do, do it in moderation!  Today’s hottest ranking tactic could be tomorrows biggest spam penalty.

Good Luck and Good Rankings!

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Optimizing Local Search for Companies with Multiple Locations

November 16th, 2010

One of my former students, Bill Valentine of Mitra Creative, recently asked me a question regarding the importance of local search.  He mentioned that soon after he got a client set up in Google Places they were #1 for one of their keywords and they now think he is a genius!

Bill’s question was in regards to companies with multiple locations;  “… what about businesses with more than one location? I have another client now that has three offices.”

First of all… congrats to you Bill on your initial success for your client! When it comes to clients with multiple locations the process is pretty much the same.

When working with companies that have multiple locations, be sure to list each of the locations under the same Google/Bing account and be sure to list each of the clients physical addresses for each location.  It’s also important that each location has it’s own local phone number and not some main corporate number or an 800 number.  Remember that P.O. boxes are not considered an addresses so don’t use them.

Be sure to also include all relevant categories the client belongs in and to use keywords in the company description.  Make sure the description sounds natural and not stuffed with keywords for the sake of ramming it down the search engines throats.

In addition, it is important to create citations for each of the locations around the web.  Citations are basically listings of your business, its address(es) and associated local phone numbers on places like Internet Yellow Pages, Local Listing sites (like Yelp, CitySearch, HotFrog, etc) or other local directories specific to the clients market.  Be sure to fill out the company profiles as completely as possible on these sites to gain the most traction.

Using something like Universal Business Listings (UBL.org) can help standardize your listings across the web.  Being consistent with your company name, address, phone number and more is extremely important towards building trust with the search engines.  Don’t try spamming the engines by stuffing keywords into your company name either.

Lastly, be sure to list the addresses of all the individual location of your client on the main website.  A simple text listing for each location is one way.  However, using microformats is a better way to go in today’s world as the engines are starting to move more in that direction.  Try a tool like this one: http://microformats.org/code/hcard/creator to help you create the microformat code which you can then place on your website.

Following these basic guidelines for clients with multiple locations can yield great success in Local Search for each of the markets your client is located in.  Continued success to you all.

Steve Scott - Owner of the Tampa SEO Training Academy

Steve Scott
Tampa SEO Training Academy

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Posted in Local Search, SEO Tips

Why Web Designers are like Interior Decorators

September 3rd, 2009

I often say to students, clients, and prospects that a web designer is a lot like an interior decorator. The interior decorator will make your home look great and help you pick out beautiful furniture, create a color palette to paint your walls, and select all the accessories to make your house a home. In much the same way, a web designer can develop your website so it looks great and includes all the bells and whistles.

However, you would never talk to an interior decorator before you spoke with an architect or a contractor, would you? A Search Marketer is the “architect” you need to speak with before you design your website. They can help you not only design your site correctly but also help you develop your online strategy and build your brand.

Remember, it’s not that the web designer is doing anything wrong or trying to hurt your chances at getting found. It’s just that most web designers and programmers do not have the knowledge or the level of understanding regarding many critical SEO aspects and can inadvertently cause your site to do poorly in the Search Engines.

So here’s a small bit of advice… don’t make the same mistake so many others do when it comes to their website. Talk to a reputable SEO company or get yourself educated before you decide to design or redesign a website for your business.

Steve Scott
Owner and Head Trainer
Tampa SEO Training Academy

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Build Relationships for SEO Success

September 26th, 2008

No matter what industry you’re in, build relationships.

I’m referring to real, honest, long standing relationships built on a foundation of trust. Surround yourself with the very best in your industry.

No one can be the “best” at everything. No one can know everything. But with these relationships, you can pool your resources and keep yourself informed. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. By combining your strengths with others, you can help to offset your weaknesses.

But, be sure to build these relationships honestly and make absolutely sure that they’re real. Otherwise, there will be no foundation at all if they aren’t.

Social media sites such as Linked In, MySpace, & FaceBook are great places to start finding people in your industry. Make sure to establish a business account separate from your personal one.

Once you’ve established an account search for groups and people related to your industry and request to be their friend. Then make contact. Introduce yourself, and be active in the community you are a part of.

Social media sites like these may not pass to much in the way of page rank or link juice to your site but rather brand you and your business.

If done correctly you should see an increase in traffic to your site. You can see this through your analytics.

If you would like to receive more SEO Tips more often then check out www.tampa-seo.com and sign up for our SEO tip of the day.

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K.I.S.S. – Keep your website simple for the search engines.

September 19th, 2008

The search engines love simplicity, so give it to them.

Two ways you can do this is by using CSS (cascading style sheets) or by creating a simplified version of your site with out all the bells and whistles.

CSS is a great way to get rid of unwanted code bloat. Code bloat is when you use inline and on page styling instead of putting it in an external style sheet. If your web site has too much in the way of code bloat then you may loose points from an SEO standpoint.

There are more than 60 things to do on each page of your site to fully optimize it. Code bloat is one of these elements. Reducing code bloat can increase your page load time, help you to better read and modify the code, keep your code more organized and help your rankings in the search engines.

More than likely code bloat is not that big of a deal from an SEO standpoint. It probably holds about as much weight as the keyword meta tag does.

However, if you have a competitive site that needs to rank for competitive keywords, you want to make sure you hit as many of those 60 on-site page elements as possible.

Remember, every little bit helps.

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Posted in SEO Tips