Praxis Communications, Inc.

OPTIMIZING FOR IMPROVED SEARCH ENGINE RANKING
Challenge:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a hot topic today, and it’s only going to get hotter as more and more buyers and specifiers use search engines almost exclusively to find what they’re looking for. Every company wants its site to be ranked high on page one of the search engine results page, but this is getting harder by the minute. While nobody outside the engine programmers knows for certain, there has been much written in the trade press about how the engines’ algorithms favor certain types of content – particularly non-commercial editorial. But since this changes frequently, web developers are left to use a variety of techniques that have proven successful. In any case, there’s no guarantee that today’s #1 ranking won’t be a #20 ranking next month. So, what is one to do?

Solution:
The key to successful SEO is to understand how searchers search, and how the engines are built to accommodate them. The kind and amount of keyword-rich text is critical; link popularity is very important; the importance of the specificity of a search string (term) that a user might employ to drill down to a reasonable result can’t be overstated.

Make sure your index page has plenty of keyword-rich content that describes your product or service in terms your audience will use to find you. Include an About Us page that helps the engine programmers and crawlers index your category properly. Add additional content links at the bottom of each page that describe your product and service. Supplement your site with lots of editorial copy that is relevant to a searcher’s interests (Google particularly favors non-commercial, editorial content). If possible, improve your link popularity by increasing the number of links to your site from outside sources, such as reps, distributors, trade associations, publication buyers’ guides, etc. Consider hosting several satellite sites with different URLs with specific content that link in to your site. Increase the amount of public relations to your trade media – news items in the electronic media will show more high-level results linking to your site, either directly or indirectly.

Getting it done:
  1. Evaluate your current site, and create a roadmap for new keyword-rich content.
  2. Add an About Us page, internal links, and editorial content to improve the overall value of your site in the eyes of the crawlers.
  3. Develop several satellite sites using unique URLs with specific content that links back to your main site; ask your associations and channels to provide links from their sites back to yours; participate in paid directories, keyword buys and sponsorships, as your budget permits.
  4. Write and distribute more public relations such as news releases, articles and case studies.
  5. Measure your progress monthly using keyword reporting software; adjust as needed.
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