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There are millions and millions of websites out there, and then there is your new site or application. However, as most of us have troubles finding an old letter on our own computer, how can we find information on this global hard drive ? After all, this is the closest thing we get to a World Wide Anarchy. The main problem is not that search engines find too little, but that they find way too much. And it is hard to uncover the needle (your new site) in a list of millions. The other question is how to stay attractive in order to make search engines give you a better rating.
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| It all starts at the white table. |
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Before we start programming, there are a lot of things we do first. We come up with a programming guideline, we develop the database structure and the sitemap of your application. One of these activities is to find spots in your application to place the "containers" search engines are supposed to find and index. In addition to that we make sure that all pages are by default optimized and in accordance with all web standards.
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Unfortunately we have to charge you if you want more.
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We really hate to do that, but if you want us to do more than just the basics then we have to charge you for our work, although the rates are still very affordable. Our search engine optimization process includes the following:
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Benchmarking.
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To track your progress we first need to see where you are. If your website is like most, you'll start somewhere off the edge of the map. That doesn't bother us one bit - we like the challenge. For example, if you are a Wedding Event Planner in New York, we check to see how you rank in all the major search engines for New York Wedding Planners, New York Wedding Locations, New York Wedding Entertainment, etc. If you are aiming at all of the USA as your market, we will focus specifically on USA SEO. If the globe is your market, we look beyond the USA to the world.
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Competitive Research & Analysis.
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We look at your competitors to see what they're doing online including who is well optimized and who is not. You will be surprised about these results! We also use this opportunity to get to know more about your business. Because an important part of optimization involves connecting you with prospects through word matching, the more familiar we can get with the products, services, and language of your industry, the better off we are. Using our 'Wedding Planner' example, we look to see what other companies show up for these same searches and analyze the reasons for the success of the leaders in the space.
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| Technical Site Analysis. |
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Your site's technical structure including programming elements, page structures, link titling, dynamic content, and other variables, can stop search engines from properly indexing your site - or even stop them from seeing the site altogether. We use several practiced SEO techniques to analyze your site for these problems including search engine simulators. Because not all search engines are alike, we also check your site out the 'old fashioned' way - we run an experienced eye through the site and the site code.
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| Keyword Research and Analysis. |
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Search Optimization is partly a matching game (like getting married - hence the Wedding example). If most prospects search for "a Wedding Planner" and your site only says "Marriage Planner", that majority will never connect with you. Consider that example multiplied by the several dozen words and hundreds of combinations of words interested searchers might use to find you. Now you see why keywords and key phrases are vital to the success of your search optimization campaign and why it takes experience and professional software tools to put your site ahead of the rest.
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| Content Optimization and Specialty Writing. |
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Content may or may not be king when it comes to having a popular site (though if pressed, we would say that it is). But for search optimization and marketing, content is King and Queen - everything else plays a supporting role. This is also where we put that keyword research to work, incorporating the many carefully selected terms and phrases in appropriate balance on your site. Successfully embedding these terms while maintaining the flow and meaning of your site content is an art - which is why it's done by talented writers. In many cases it is necessary to create new passages, or even pages, of content to make proper use of the keyword research and produce optimum results.
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| Linking Strategies. |
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Google was the first search engine to consider how many sites link to you as an important measure of your site's value (and value of course adds to rank). If content is the "aim" behind search engine optimization, linking is the "power". You need both to succeed. In the years since Google started, it has modified its linking measures in several ways to take account of not just how many links you have but who is linking to you. Sound complex? It is. But you are in good hands with us.
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| Search Engine Submission. |
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Many companies sell on the idea that they submit your site to "hundreds" of search engines, as if that is valuable or difficult. It isn't either. In fact, four search engines make up over 90% of web searches (Google, Yahoo, AOL and Bing) and you don't typically even need to submit to those anymore. (Remember they're in the business of providing the best results which means they have learned to find you by 'crawling' the web instead of you having to contact them.) In fact, improper submissions or repeated submissions can hurt your site's ranking; no one likes their bell rung too many times or too hard.
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| Launch and Maintenance. |
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Once the search optimization is completed and the site is launched it should quickly move up in search ranking, and your site traffic will increase at the same time. This usually takes from 2-8 weeks, during which we monitor the ranking so that we can identify which key phrases and pages are performing best. But like everything else on the internet, search ranking is a dynamic phenomenon. The search engines frequently modify their algorithms and new competitors inevitably crop up. Site maintenance is required to keep you on top, during which we track changes and make modifications as we see your position shift.
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