Getting Found by Search Engines
The leading search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, use robots to find pages for search results. Pages that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted because they are found automatically. Some search engines, notably Yahoo!, operate a paid submission service that guarantee crawling for either a set fee or cost per click. Such programs usually guarantee inclusion in the database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search results. Yahoo's paid inclusion program has drawn criticism from advertisers and competitors. Two major directories, the Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory Project both require manual submission and human editorial review. Google offers Google Webmaster Tools, for which an XML Sitemap feed can be created and submitted for free to ensure that all pages are found, especially pages that aren't discoverable by automatically following links.
At Green Bird Media we engage in two aspects of SEO:
- We provide the correct infrastructure and code for Google
- We provide extra enhancements so your site is more Google-friendly
LTCIS and TeamNet were two companies that spent significant amounts of their advertising budgets on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Even so, their natural search engine ranking and customer conversion were both challenged. We redesigned their websites and they received several immediate benefits:
- Higher search engine ranking with CSS & XHTML strict coding
- Higher conversion rates of customers who visited the site
- Higher click-through rates as people visited more pages
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a complex set of steps to improve the number of website visitors from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results for targeted keywords. As a marketing strategy for increasing a site's relevance, SEO includes researching the terms people search for. SEO efforts may involve a website's coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully indexing a site.
Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems, URLs, and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.
The steps below are part of the best practices for today's SEO campaigns:
- Link building
- Content building
- Blogging
- Comment blogging
- Social media campaigns: Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc.
- Directory listings
- Keyword research
What is Search Engine-Friendly (SEF)?
Search Engine-Friendly is the condition of your website before you engage in any Search Engine Marketing (SEM). The search engine-friendly enhancements below are not typical of all websites but are a set of tools we have added to our websites for clients who are planning an SEO campaign. By making your website SEF you will get more value from your search marketing efforts.
- 301 & Canonical Redirect
- Cloud Tags
- Enhanced Footer
- Feedburner
- Glossary for Auto-Linking
- Google Analytics Embedded
- htacess Modification
- Meta Description Module
- Meta Tag Module
- No-follow Menu Tags
- Page Title Module
- PathAuto
- RSS Feed
- Social Bookmarking
- Statistics
- Taxonomy
- XML Sitemap
