Search Marketing Blog
Natural SEO - Not a One-Time Shot
Posted by Kent Schnepp on 10.04.2008One of the most amazing accomplishments of Man’s mind has been the ability to create vaccines that prevent against, and even eradicate, infectious life-debilitating diseases. Through the genius of Jonas Salk, for example, an individual can now receive the polio vaccination at a very early age, and never have to worry about protecting herself from the ravages of the disease.
Contrary to popular perception, however, Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is not a one-time “shot it the arm” for your Web site.
As more and more savvy marketers are realizing, in order to consistently achieve and maintain prominently positioned Natural search listings throughout the major engines, it is paramount that a concerted strategy be applied throughout the entire length of their online existence. Top performance requires continuous effort.
Time to Perform
Any professional search marketing firm with more than an ounce of integrity acknowledges that effective Natural optimization requires extensive research and expensive resources (with the most valuable of these resources being: time). Not only do typical SEO engagements require several months of initial research and analysis to lay the foundation for efficacious relevancy enhancement, but today’s search algorithms now place significant weight upon a multitude of criteria that requires substantial time to build into your Web site, such as high quality in-bound links and indexed optimized content.
Lay the Foundation
The research phase of any optimization engagement is the most important, given that the identification of your most valuable keyword phrases is accomplished during these first months. This crucial process reveals the targeted search terms which should be used to optimize all elements of your site. In addition, without effective keyword research, your team will not have an effective road map for enhancing your site structure, information architecture, on-page content or layout.
After the first months of in-depth research, a typical SEO engagement should progress into three defined phases. Each of the phases can take more than 6 to 12 months to implement, depending on the size and complexity of the Web site.
The SEO Trifecta
We at EngineWorks, implement a three-pronged approach in order to achieve the greatest performance within the Natural engines. This strategy, which we call the ÔSEO Trifecta’, consists of Site-Wide SEO, On-Page SEO, and Off-Page SEO.
Site-Wide SEO addresses the global site elements that affect the ability of search engines to rapidly index, and appropriately rank, your Web site. We provide professional recommendations and enhancements for your most critical global factors, including server issues, site structure, usability functions, URL design and structure, and overall site accessibility.
Upon completion of our Site-Wide SEO, we address important relevancy components contained on each page of your site. An emphasis is placed on optimized titles, descriptions, tags, and page content. Along with this professional instruction, we provide in-depth information pertaining to SEO best practices.
On-Page SEO is followed by aggressive Off-Page strategies designed to entice external sources to link to your site. Search engines evaluate the relevancy of pages linked to your site, and assign a significant amount of weight to relevant links within their ranking algorithms. In addition to improving rank within Natural search indexes, links from topically related sites can drive qualified traffic.
A Shot of Wisdom
The principal take-away from this e-mail is that the efficacious process above requires a substantial amount of time, and not just in terms of how long it takes to see indexing results within the engines. It is very important that you optimize as many pages on your site as possible. This can mean the optimization of hundreds of pages, which requires significant manpower. However, failure to optimize most, or all, of your pages will result in a compromised strategy for attracting eager customers to your site.
Even small sites need to embrace a multi-year approach to Natural SEO. Having only ten or 20 pages is, more than likely, not enough to establish authority within your space, especially if it is highly competitive. Therefore, small sites should add fresh optimized content and additional site pages at least every month to improve search engine results.
A Healthy Engagement
Finally, aside from the fact that it takes many months (if not, years) to establish relevant in-bound links consistent with search engine guidelines, your competitors are actively striving (each month) to out-perform your listings for your most important search phrases. Thus, the best way to stay ahead of the crowd is to continuously enhance the attractiveness of your site through a long-term SEO engagement.
It takes discipline and consistency to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The same can be said for your ability to acquire customers through your Web site. The best optimization medicine is not a one-time shot in the arm… but, rather monthly effort applied for the life of your site.
Defend Your Web! (and hard-earned links) - EngineWorks 12.05.2008 at 1:34 pm
[...] we have conveyed in previous EngineWorks blog posts, effective SEO requires a three-pronged approach: Site-Wide SEO, On-Page SEO, and Off-Page SEO. I like to think of our SEO process as being similar [...]