Search engines produce web
links on their results pages by combing the Internet, looking for key words
that relate to a particular user's search. After noting which sites embrace
those key word concepts, as well as other characteristics of the websites,
search engines classify them for future searches. Depending on the value of the
content, the search engine will rank the site for that particular search on the
results page; this is called the page rank of the site. Page rank is not set in
stone and can improve with good SEO and popularity of the site (i.e. user
traffic). SEO provides webmasters and marketers the opportunity to equip their
sites so that they will come out on top for related search engine results. The
challenge with SEO is to make sure that you are targeting the right audience,
so that your site gets traffic from users who are actually interested in your
content and may later be turned into loyal customers/patients, etc.
To establish good SEO, it
is critical that you build on-page and off-page SEO in order to drive traffic
to a website and increase visibility. On-page SEO includes content, code, and
site architecture. Strive for well-written content that is concise and
comprehensive. Keep your site fresh and up to date, but also comprehensive. If
you are a site that offers articles or lengthy blog posts, consider posting
only 2-3 times per week, instead of every day. According to DiTesco, " Google,
is now looking for “fresh” content. Obviously, if you are talking about something
that is “hot” or trending, the more updated the information is, the better."
(1) Also, make sure that you are giving users what they want. Think about
answering their search question directly -- if you envision your website as the
top result in a search for a new medical procedure, make sure that the story
about that procedure is featured front and center on your site.
Make sure your code is
clean. Code is really just the signals that a programmer establishes to ensure
that a site is optimized for the search engines that crawl the web. Meta
tagging and keywords can help search engines find your info. As Erin Everhart
says on Mashable Tech, "People search in Google because they have a
question. Anticipate those questions — whether about the best style of yoga
pants or where to get the lowest mortgage rate. Your keywords and the content
on your pages should reflect the answers to those questions. Keyword research
is tedious, but it’s arguably the most important aspect of SEO." (2)
You also want to think
about the design of your website and the navigation path that you have set for
the user. Is your site navigation intuitive? Can the user easily find his or
her way from one page to another? User-ability can play a key factor in
capturing the attention of a user and not immediately boring your audience
(this would result in a high bounce rate for your page, if everyone who arrived
immediately left the site).
Off-page SEO ranking can
play a much bigger role in influencing the success of your website. Build links
into your content, highlighting keywords that will take the user to another
part of your site or to an external site of relevance (make sure that the link
opens in a new window, so the user does not leave your site in the process!)
Breadcrumb trails or anchoring text are other ways to show people where they've
been and to allow for the user to orient him/herself. Form relationships with
other like-minded organizations and host referral links to each other's
websites. If the other site has a good reputation, their referral will give
your site increased legitimacy and it will also improve your Google Page Rank.
If SEO is done right, it
can greatly improve your ROI; whatever that may be. SEO can generate a great
deal of revenue for websites that support a PPC (Paid Per Click) advertising
method. As stated in Payperclickuniverse.com, PPC ads are display or bid-based ads
that appear only on high ranking webpages or search results pages. PPC metrics
employ a quality score, determining which ads should appear. As advertises pay
for the placement, the ads are certain to appear instead of having to compete
with other search results, as can sometimes happen with SEO (3). Advertisers
pay the publisher (website owner) when the ad is "clicked." The more
a website leverages SEO, the more traffic will result. Advertisers will then be
attracted to sites that are well-built, with good user friendly interfaces, and
a high volume of traffic. A happy user is more apt to click on an ad and linger
on a site; therefore, revenue potential is high.
Social media is another
area of interactive marketing that should be directly tied to the SEO of a
website. Use your company's social media platform to help your website's page
rank, start a dialogue, and build trust with your audience. A recent article by
Ragan.com states that Google search (debatably the best and most popular search
engine out available) is now actually favoring social media activity --
"likes" and tweets -- over key words and other more traditional
aspects of SEO. (4) Social media can be the perfect place to tie together your
website, media coverage in the news, advertising campaigns, and blog posts or
reviews. Share these things with your audience and keep a close eye on your analytics
for your website. Trial and error is often the best approach when crafting a
message, as the audience is different for every brand. Test it out to see what works. Sometimes something as
simple as the time of day that you choose to post can slightly alter the
demographic of your viewers.
SEO is only one piece to
the larger puzzle of what is called "inbound marketing" for a brand
or company. If you take a look at this Infographic on hubspot.com, it is easy
to see the strong relationship between SEO for a website and the overall ROI for
a marketing strategy. The Infographic "helps inbound marketers understand
the entire inbound process from start to finish -- from getting found online,
to converting visitors into leads and customers, and then measuring the entire
funnel." (5)
After considering all of
the points made above, it is critical to remember that like most things on the
web, best practices for SEO are forever changing. It is important to update and
freshen up SEO periodically, staying abreast of the latest developments. As DiTesco
says on his iBlogZone, " SEO is
not dead as many would like you to believe, but it is constantly changing and
as new factors come into play, others go." (6)
This article is the part of a series of posts that I will make throughout my graduate studies in Marketing and Communications. With a focus on both healthcare and interactive marketing, I hope to gain a better understanding for effective health messaging--which I think plays a key role in a happy, healthy society. Please leave your comments or write to me: camorous@gmail.com.
References
(1, 6) Perez, Fransisco
(2012). The Best SEO Practices and Tips 2012. Retrieved from http://www.iblogzone.com/2012/01/best-seo-practices-tips-2012.html
(2) Everhart, Erin (2011).
6 Best Practices for Modern SEO. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2011/11/08/seo-best-practices/
(3)Pay Per Click Universe
(2012). Organic SEO and Paid Search: Friends or Foes? Retrieved from http://www.payperclickuniverse.com/pay-per-click-search-engines-articles/organic-seo-and-paid-search-friends-or-foes/
(4) Kramer, Shelley (2012).
Google favors Facebook shares, 'likes,' and comments more than keywords.
Retrieved from http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/45186.aspx
(5)Vaughan, Pamela (2012). How
Inbound Marketing Works, From Start to Finish [INFOGRAPHIC]. Retrieved from http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31271/Inbound-Marketing-From-Start-to-Finish-INFOGRAPHIC.aspx/
Common Craft (2011). What
is Search Engine Optimization/ SEO? Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF515-0Tduk
