Archive for November, 2008

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An SEO is Not a Link Builder

Thursday, November 6th, 2008
…And a Link Builder is Not an SEO
Most SEO’s agree that there are three components to higher search results; 1) good content, 2) onsite optimization and 3) quality link building.  However, in my opinion, most SEO’s are not link builders and most link builders are not SEOs.  I believe it boils down to two different personality types.
SEOs and web developers tend to be more creative and analytical in nature. Their function is to build exciting, interactive, captivating websites to draw in the site visitor. Many of these professionals will even optimize these sites, having enough professional knowledge to understand that a good website is more than just an attractive design. While most people who are seeking an effective website for their business will more or less understand what a web developer is, their grasp on what an SEO is might be slightly more hazy.
By definition, an SEO company will go through the process of modifying a website’s content, and structure to maximize the chances of a higher ranking within search engine results. Firms that practice SEO can vary greatly; some have a highly specialized focus, while others take a more general approach. Optimizing a web site for search engines can require looking at so many different contributing factors and elements that many SEO professionals consider themselves to be in the broad field of "website optimization".
Some of the services that an SEO may offer to a client might include keyword research, optimizing website content, and reviewing a website’s meta tags, directory structure, headings and alt text for images. A brief look at these services, as well as those of a web developer, all show similar characteristics: analysis and creativity. There is some trial and error to these services in order to find the right balance in search engine optimization.
While some SEO services may offer link building as part of their portfolio, link builders who focus exclusively on getting link juice for their client’s website are a different breed from SEOs; many SEO companies in fact avoid link building altogether because it does not fit in with the expertise and strengths of the company. Link building professionals are typically more sales and marketing in their approach to link building, and with good reason. Link building is more of a proactive approach to internet marketing. Many link building professionals rely on cold calling  and emailing organizations in pursuit of the link; not a common personality trait of a web developer or SEO. 
For link building, it is a constant hunt or pursuit for the best link juice out there. They are constantly looking for better, more effective links for their client’s website. They get a great thrill when they find a link resource with great promise. They live to "close the deal" as it were, obtaining a resource to call their own; most certainly not something a typical web developer strives for. Their joy comes from great code, while link builders thrill in the chase and capture.
This is the reason that so many SEO companies outsource their link building services to those companies that focus exclusively on link building. Link building is hard work. There is no magic shortcut to getting good links. And though purchasing links might get you some good juice, depending solely on link buying is not the answer. Link building is all about time, because trustworthy links, usually cannot be bought.

SEO companies most certainly have their place in good website promotion, most certainly, but to secure the best link building, it’s best to leave it to the expertise and passion of those who live for links.

[tags] link building, buy links, SEO, higher search rankings, SEO companies, link building service [/tags]

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Posted in Link Building, On-Site SEO | 101 Comments »

Meta Tags Enhance Your Link Building Efforts

Monday, November 3rd, 2008
Meta TagsMeta tags can help improve your placement in search engines and can increase quality traffic to your web site.  Unfortunately, unless your website developer has a fundamental knowledge of search engine optimization, or you have an SEO professional review your site, many websites lack some of the fundamentals needed to enhance your site and increase traffic.
Even those who have a basic understanding of the importance of meta tags may not do everything required to optimize your site. Creating effective meta tags is a lot of work. However, the long term payoff is well worth it, especially in your link building efforts. Even with the most effective link building campaign, if your meta tags are not well-written for your specific web page, you can undermine your link building efforts. Search engine optimization success relies on these two factors to work together for ultimate effectiveness.

So what does your website meta tags need to have in order to garner the best results? Below are a few tips and guidelines for your website:

Title Tag.  Each page should have its own title tag.  Try to use 5 to 8 small to medium sized words and include one complete incidence of your keyword phrase.   This is important to all three of the major search engines and is what normally shows up in the listings displayed on the search results. Title tags for all of your webpages are extremely important. Make sure each is unique to the page on which it appears.
 
Meta Description.  Start this tag with an incidence of your keyword phrase and then produce a short 15 – 18 word sentence clearly describing your web page. Keep in mind that the description tag is often viewed as the description for any rankings you achieve so it is best to make it as alluring as possible to potential site visitors.
 
Meta Keyword.  Keyword tags have long been considered ineffective and no longer have any importance on Google; however Yahoo does still consider the keyword tag so include it. The keyword tag should start with the main keyword phrase. The maximum size of a keyword tag should be 250 characters, using commas to separate each phrase. Only use keywords that appear on that web page. As with title tags, this is important!
 
Keywords in URL.  Create keyword-based filenames that closely represent the content within the file. Search engines tend to reward keyword-based filenames a small amount – perhaps enough to push past your competition. It’s worth the extra effort.
 
Headings.  Heading 1 and 2 tags should be applied on every page where appropriate to embolden the relevance of the page. In other words, use the page’s keyword phrase within a Heading 1 tag to further enhance the visibility of the keyword phrase on the page.
 
Alt text for images.  Don’t forget to provide appropriate ALT text for each image on your website. Adding an incidence of the keyword phrase or a portion of the keyword phrase is totally appropriate which can add slightly more credibility to your page score when the search engines index the page. 

While meta tags are no guarantee that your site will make it to the top of search engine results, they do serve as a way to offer the website owner the ability to control how pages are described on search engines. Quality link building is quite simply one of the most important activities you can undertake to get higher search engine rankings but with inferior meta tags, your website is working against itself to achieve these rankings.

[tags] meta tags, SEO, search engine optimization, link building [/tags]

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Posted in On-Site SEO, The Basics, Tips | 21 Comments »

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