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Collateral Benefits of Search Engine
Marketing
Many times a client only looks at the bottom line when it comes to the
performance they are getting for their investment into Search Engine
Marketing.
They often only look at the selected keyword phrases that they are
paying for, without fully realizing what other residual effects they are
receiving.
When a site gets properly optimized, (SEO) it is being transformed into
a thought-out navigational pattern to information. This is the same
pattern a search engine spider looks for. Don't forget, the easier you
make it for a spider to index your site, the better your chances are for
getting your site a higher placement in the search engine results page (SERP's).
While W3C validation is something all sites should strive for, it is not
required for better rankings. Does it help? Probably. Yahoo engineers
have stated that whether a site is W3C compliant or not makes no
difference to how it ranks. If it has relevant content, it will get
ranked.
Another element when optimizing a site is that through proper naming of
page titles, file names and placement of content make the site all the
more relevant to the spider. Although Google places less value on Meta
Tags, they are still used as part of the algorithm, and should not be
overlooked.
After the site has coded properly, the game then goes up to the next
level. Search Engine Marketing is used to drive traffic to the site
through various means. Press releases, articles, blogs, RSS/XML feeds,
Directory Submissions and User Groups all can bring targeted traffic to
a site.
Here is where the collateral benefits of SEM begin to appear. Let's say
that you have been doing a series of press releases where once a week,
you talk about a new color of widget. In each press release you also
list the other colors of widgets that you have for sale. Even after only
the first release gets sent, you've already created a valuable In-Bound
Link to your site for your Red Widget, but since you included the other
colors of the widgets as well, they all pick up IBL's as well.
An even greater demonstration of a collateral benefit is ranking for
keywords and phrases that you aren't targeting. Keeping to our widget
example, if your site copy talks about the different uses of widgets,
the available colors that they come in and the best way to preserve your
widget, you've just created a multitude of various phrases that your
site can get ranked on.
Example site copy:
We sell the highest-quality widget available. Our color selection ranges
from red to purple, black to white and can be used in your home or for
industrial needs. The widget is the most versatile tool on the market.
Pick one up today!
From this one paragraph, here are the possible phrases your site could
get ranked on:
- high quality widget
- red widget
- purple widget
- black widget
- white widget
- home widget
- industrial widget
- widget tool
- widget
This is only a tiny sampling of the potential your site has. Remember,
each page gets ranked on it's own, so that's why it is so important to
make sure every page you have on your site is optimized.
Even your contact/about page is critical because if you have a
brick-and-mortar business, by listing your street address, you help the
search engines geo target your site. Most search engines are already
trying to focus your search results regionally. While it's not a major
factor yet, it is something to be aware of.
In conclusion, the next time you start checking Google to see where your
site ranks for it's keyword phrases, don't forget about all of the
hidden keywords/phrases that are embedded in your site's copy. You would
be surprised at how many of those forgotten about terms end up at the
top of the pile....
-To your online success!
contact
webmaster@siteadvertising.org
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