The Biggest One-Man Agency on the Planet, Janet.

Branding, Web design, & Search Engine Optimization
in NORTH CAROLINA

WHAT IS SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMZIATION (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of planning, designing and constructing a website based on the known variables the major search engines use in ranking the relevancy of your site against a keyword term or phrase.

HOW CAN SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMZIATION (SEO) AFFECT MY BUSINESS?

Search Engine Optimization can bring more visitors to your website. These visitors will be "qualified" visitors, meaning that they are coming to your site based on an interest in the products or services you sell. We know this because they will have found your site based on entering in a search for the products or services you sell.

WHAT IS INVOLVED WITH OPTIMZING A WEBSITE?

The first step in optimizing any site is to determine the most profitable keywords to optimize the site for. I do this through either my Keyword Analysis or Keyword Research services. From there, if you already have a website, I perform and on-site technical optimization of your existing pages. Finally, we start in on building new, original content and creating fresh new links from important, relevant sites pointing back to your site. This process is explained in more detail in My SEO Process section.

HOW LONG DOES SEO TAKE TO KICK-IN?

Search Engine Optimization can be a slow process because we have to wait for the search engine's to update their databases each time we make a change. Fortunately, we can speed that process along by letting the search engine's know each time we make important changes. After I've gotten a site ready for prime time, the first thing I do is submit a site-map indexing all of a site's relevant pages, directly to the major search engines. I've seen improvement in rankings in as little as 30 days using this method.

WHAT FACTORS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO RANKING WELL WITH THE SEARCH ENGINE'S

In a nutshell, the search engine's are interested in 1) CONTENT that's relevant to a user's search and 2) the POPULARITY of your content, based on how many other sites link to it. For a more technical, granular explanation, please see my article The Top 20 Factors to Improve Your Site's Ranking With Google.

CAN I GET A GUARANTEE OF A #1 RANKING ON GOOGLE USING AN SEO EXPERT?

No more than you can expect to ever get a guarantee of 100 new leads from that print ad or 20 new sales from that mailer, SEO does not come with a guarantee. Unfortunately, less ethical marketers are using guarantees to lure customers into useless service agreements. But don't take my word for it - read this article from Google on what to expect from search engine optimization.

WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL ROI ASSOCIATED WITH SEO?

The highest ROI I've personally seen from SEO is when I was working as VP of Marketing at Reignmaker Communications where my ROI for our SEO efforts consistently topped 400%.

 

 

Definitions to Common SEO and Web Site Design Terminology

Keyword
Definition : A word with particular importance to the theme of a site. For example if a web site provides information about Formula 1 racing then important keywords would be 'Ferrari', 'Monaco', 'Schumacher' etc... SEO use : SEO is the process of optimizing web pages for keywords and key phrases so that they rank highly in the results returned for search queries.

Key Phrases
Definition : A group of keywords put together make a key phrase. SEO use : SEO is the process of optimizing web pages for keywords and key phrases so that they rank highly in the results returned for search queries.

Keyword Density
Definition : The number of times a specific keyword appears on a page compared to the number of words on a page. SEO use : Higher the keyword density better your chances of ranking ahead for that keyword.
Keyword Research/ Keyword Analysis
Definition : The process of analyzing a subject area or web site with the goal of identifying keywords that best describe the subject area/web site. SEO use : Identifying keywords that have low listing but high search frequency can help you optimize your pages better.
Keyword Stuffing / Keyword Spamming
Definition : The process of stuffing a web page with keywords related or not related to the theme of the web site in a high amount as an attempt to influence/trick the search engines SEO use : While not necessarily a violation of search engine Terms of Service, at least when the words are visible to humans, it detracts from the impact of a page (it looks like spam). It is also possible that search engines may discount the importance of large blocks of text that do not conform to grammatical structures (i.e. lists of disconnected keywords).

Link Farm
Definition : A link farm is a group of separate, highly interlinked websites for the purposes of inflating link popularity (or PR). SEO use : Engaging in a link farm is a violation of the Terms Of Service of most search engines and could be grounds for banning.
Link Popularity
Definition : The popularity of your web site in the eyes of the search engine, based on the quality and quantity of links to and from your web site. SEO use : More the link popularity better your ranking.

Mirror
Definition : In SEO parlance, a mirror is a near identical duplicate website (or page). Mirrors are commonly used in an effort to target different keywords/key phrases. SEO use : Using mirrors is a violation of the Terms Of Service of most search engines and could be grounds for banning.
Meta Tags
Definition : Meta Description Content, Keywords and Title are used in the head section of websites. There are 50 or 60 other tags but these are the 3 most commonly used. Their purpose is to provide extra information about the web page i.e. metadata. The most influential tags for search engine ranking are the Keywords tag and the Description tag. SEO use : They are very important when it comes to listing your site in Search engines.
Natural Links
Definition : Links pointing to a web site created because someone found the web site useful and decided to link to it i.e. linked to it naturally. SEO use : These types of link are very powerful in the link popularity stakes as they identify a web site that is worth linking to and therefore has a better chance of being a quality resource of information. To increase your chances of earning natural links make sure your web site has a lot of quality content that is better than the competition.

Off-Page Factors/Elements
Definition : Elements that are outside the direct control of the web site developer and are influential in determining search engine ranking. SEO use : Search engines are relying more and more on these elements when determining ranking because they are more resistant to spamming / abuse.

On-Page Factors/Elements
Definition : Elements that are within direct control of the web site developer and are influential in determining search engine ranking. SEO use : These elements are prone to keyword spamming and other similar forms of abuse so the search engines do not look to them as much as off-page elements when determining ranking.

OutBound Links
Definition : Links within a web site that are pointing to outside sites. SEO use : Do not affect link popularity but care must be taken not to link to a web site that may get you banned

One-way Links
Definition : Links to a web site that are not reciprocated i.e. no link exists to the web site that is doing the linking. SEO use : These type of links are powerful in building link popularity.

Natural Links
Definition : Google's proprietary measure of link popularity for web pages. Google offers a PR viewer on their Toolbar. SEO use : Google claims that PR of a site plays a vital role in its ranking.

Query
Definition : A search for a word or term in a search engine
.
Ranking
Definition : The position within search engine results that a web site reaches for a particular search phrase.

Anchor text
Definition : The visible text for a hyperlink.
SEO use : What anchor text appears in links pointing to your web site is really important in the process of Search Engine Optimization. e.g. if your web site is about network monitoring the anchor text 'Network monitoring site' will help your rankings more than the anchor text 'Some site about something'.
A Unique Visitor
Definition : A new computer or person connecting to your Website.
SEO use : The number of unique visitors to a page increases the page popularity.
Algorithm
Definition : The formula used by Search Engines to determine how any web page will rank in its search results.
SEO use : Understanding a Search Engines algorithm helps you rank better in its search results.
Bot
Definition : Abbreviation for robot (also called a spider). It refers to software programs that scan the web.
SEO use : The way a Search Engines bot looks at your webpage affects your webpages ranking.
Back Link
Definition : Any link on another page that points to the subject page. Also called inbound links or IBLs. SEO use : The number of IBLs to a page increases its popularity with the Search Engines.

Blind Traffic
Definition : Lesser quality traffic to a web site gained by misleading promotions or by spamming search engines. SEO use : Identifying sites from which you get blind traffic can help you save money spent on misleading promotions.
Clustering
Definition : Phenomenon in which a Search Engine lists two or more pages of a web site for a search query. SEO use : More the number of your pages listed for a search query, better your chances for getting clicked.
Cloaking
Definition : An unethical SEO practice. It involves a different version of a web page being presented to each search engine spider. Each different version of the web page is optimized for the search engine spider it is presented to (i.e. exploiting its weaknesses). SEO use : You can be penalized heavily by the search engines for doing it, so don't do it.
Doorway Page
Definition : A doorway page exists solely for the purpose of driving traffic to another page. They are usually designed and optimized to target one specific key phrase. Doorway pages rarely are written for human visitors. SEO use : Using doorway pages is a violation of the Terms Of Service of most search engines and could be grounds for banning.
Directory
Definition : A directory is a web site that contains a categorized listing of links from around the web. SEO use : Search Engines use information stored in the directories to rate pages.

Ethical SEO
Definition : It is SEO executed without resorting to underhand or illegal activities that may cause your web site to get blacklisted by the search engines. SEO use : UnEthical SEOs can get your sites banned from a search engine forever.

Filter Words
Definition : Words such as; is, am, an, for, do, was and the. Words that search engines consider irrelevant as keywords. SEO use : Using less of these words in your websites helps increase the keyword density of your original
Gateway Page
Definition : A gateway or doorway page exists solely for the purpose of driving traffic to another page. They are usually designed and optimized to target one specific key phrase. Doorway pages rarely are written for human visitors. SEO use : Using doorway pages is a violation of the Terms Of Service of most search engines and could be grounds for banning.
Google Dance
Definition : "Google dance" is an unofficial term coined to refer to the period when Google is performing the update to its index. Definition : While the update is in progress, search results for each of Google's nine data centers are different. This can cause fluctuations in your ranking in google.

Hits
Definition : Requests made to your Web site server. SEO use : The more the hits the more popular you are.

IBL(InBound Links)
Definition : Any link on another page that points to the subject page. SEO use : The number of IBLs to a page increases its popularity with the Search Engines.

Reciprocal Links
Definition : A reciprocal link occurs when a web site links to a site and in turn the linked-to site links back to the linking site i.e. the link is reciprocated by both parties. SEO use : They aid in driving traffic to a web site and in some cases also add to site's link popularity .

Robot
Definition :
It refers to software programs that scan the web also called spider or bot. It is important that your web site is indexable by a spider otherwise it may not visit some pages. A common method used to ensure that it indexes all the most important web pages is to include a site map on your site. SEO use : The way a Search Engines bot looks at your webpage affects your webpages ranking.

Robots.txt
Definition : Robots.txt is a file which well behaved spiders read to determine which parts of a website they may visit. SEO use : You can specify what pages to index or what search engine spiders are allowed to index the web site e.g. you can specify that Google's spider is allowed but not Yahoo's spider. Useful to stop a web site from being indexed by accident if it is still under construction of if you want certain areas of the web site to be hidden from the spider.
Search Engine
Definition : A database of information retrieved from indexing web pages from all over the web. SEO use : Example : Google, Yahoo, MSN
Search Engine Optimization
Definition : The process of modifying a web site's content, structure and link popularity to maximize the chances of a higher ranking within search engine results.

SERPS
Definition : Acronym for Search Engine Result PageS SEO use : The higher your website ranks in SERPS for your keywords the more the visitors your website will attract.
Spider
Definition : It refers to software programs that scan the web.It is important that your web site is indexable by a spider otherwise it may not visit some pages. A common method used to ensure that it indexes all the most important web pages is to include a site map on your site. SEO use : The way a Search Engines bot looks at your webpage affects your webpages ranking.

Site Map
Definition : A special page on a web site that contains a tree-like representation of the link structure of the site. SEO use : It allows a search engine spider to index all the most important pages of the site with ease because it can access them all from one page. A link to the site map should be clearly accessible/indexable from the home page at least.

Stop Words
Definition : Words such as; is, am, an, for, do, was and the. Words that search engines consider irrelevant as keywords. SEO use : Using less of these words in your websites helps increase the keyword density of your original keyword.

Spam
Definition : In the SEO vernacular, this refers to manipulation techniques that violate search engines Terms of Service and are designed to achieve higher rankings for a web page. SEO use : Spam could be ground for banning .

TITLE Tag
Definition : The TITLE tag is used to specify what text appears at the top of a browser window when visiting a web page. It also appears as the link text when your web site appears in search engine results. SEO use : Title Tags influence rankings to a good extent, so spending time on them is worth it .Ensure that the right text is in it (i.e. include keywords / key phrases relevant to the web page).

TITLE Text/Attribute
Definition : Text that be attached to any HTML tag and appears when the mouse is positioned over the relevant tag content. SEO use : If used properly it can influence Search Engine Ranking. Example : It works on a similar principle to the ALT Text/Attribute. Example: TITLE="website example">A Website

UnEthical SEO
Definition : The opposite to Ethical SEO. It involves employing underhand or illegal activities to increase search engine ranking. SEO use : UnEthical SEOs can get your sites banned from a search engine forever.