Planning, Developing, and Promoting Successful Small Business Websites

Table of Contents

Search engine optimization (SEO) should be a long-term priority for any site that hopes to be successful. SEO can offer a higher return on investment than nearly any other marketing strategy if implemented correctly. SEO should be viewed in the long-term to correctly reap the available benefits. Placing high in the search engine ranking positions (SERPs) is a great way to attract first time visitors. Placement in the search engines can determine the “reach” of your online marketing strategy.

Search engine optimization is a game of numbers. In a very literal sense, optimizing a site for high SERPs is like gambling. Higher payouts come from higher odds, and if a site opts to bet high they will eventually get burned. To further the analogy of gambling, there are certain rules that apply to SEO. When found in violation of these rules search engine optimizers (SEOs) will be “kicked out” or penalized. The engines are much like a casino as they are very touchy about people trying to manipulate their systems. Sergey Brin, a cofounder of Google was once quoted as saying he regarded SEO’s about the same way that a mother bear regarded someone poking at her cub with a stick. The bottom line is that as with every industry there are many website owners who don’t play by the rules, or hire someone (many times unknowingly) that will not play by the rules.

Search engine optimization is an ongoing battle between those who wish to benefit from obtaining high volumes of search engine traffic (website owners & SEO’s), and those who wish to provide the most relevant results for their users (search engines). The stakes in this battle are being raised all the time as the number of users online which in the U.S. alone approaches 100 million with over 60% of those users spending some 48 BILLION dollars per year for online shopping (Greenspan, 2002, cyberatlas.com). With such high stakes up for grab, website owners are willing to take greater risks to test the limits of the search engine rules. The engines are willing to up the ante as well since their primary purpose is to provide relevant results for users. There are many more rules in the past few years as to what is acceptable practice in SEO. Rule number one being: Spam is the enemy of the search engines.

Spam is very loosely defined as anything that is not useful to the user of a site, and manipulates the variables of the search engine’s algorithm for higher placement and more website traffic. Spam is the archenemy of the search engines as it serves as the stumbling block for engines achieving this goal of providing users with the most relevant information. It has been said many times in the world of SEO that “content is king.” Building a site with information that is useful and desired by users of your site is the most surefire SEO strategy that there is. Of course there are legitimate ways to increase website odds of obtaining higher SERPs. A site owner that takes the time to understand the basics of how search engine technology works, and builds their site accordingly will suffer no loss of sleep, and do quite well in the high stakes game of SEO.

Appendices
(All in a single document) Appendix 1-1: Overture Search Term
Research Tool

Appendix 1-2: Wordtracker Search Query Research Tool

Appendix 1-3: Google Sets Website Theme Research Tool

Appendix 1-4: Reach/ Acquire/ Convert/ Retain

Chart Appendix 2-5: Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth Information Architecture Flowchart

Appendix 2-6: Search Engine Themes Pyramid Information Architecture Example

Appendix 2-7: Webpage Download Time by File Size Chart

Appendix 2-8: Expected Locations for Common E-commerce Elements

Appendix 2-9: Website Usability Checklist

Appendix 2-10: Text Vs.Code Ratio/ Content Near the Top of Souce Code Examples

Appendix 3-11: Overture Bid Price Tool

Appendix 3-12: Webalizer Website Visitor Tracking Tool

Appendix 3-13: AW STATS Website Visitor Tracking Tool Appendix

3-14: Clicktracks Website Statistics
Analysis Tool

References
Author Notes

Additional Bonus:
101 Free Search Engine Optimization Tips

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Planning, Developing, and Promoting Successful Small Business Websites Table of Contents

Planning, Developing, and Promoting a Successful Small Business Website

Small Business Website Marketing Page 38

Search Engine Optimization Introduction

Planning, Developing, and Promoting Successful Small Business Websites

Table of Contents

Small Business Website Marketing
Page 38