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The WHY of Search Engine Optimization
By Ben Kemp (c) 2009

There are many articles written on the HOW of SEO, covering the
many and varied aspects of the art of improving your site's
position in search engine ranking pages (SERPs). While most
people have heard the term "search engine optimization" and
have a vague appreciation (or apprehension) of the hoped-for
outcome, surprisingly few people seem to really understand WHY
it is absolutely essential.

That includes a depressing number of website designers, some of
whom actually tell their clients that SEO is a waste of time and
money, and that it's quite unnecessary these days because Google
is smarter than ever before... Au contraire - it becomes more
and more critical every day, as website numbers expand
exponentially! Lack of knowledge is not confined to website
designers, it also includes a number of wanna-be SEO firms who
make outrageous claims about their special relationship and
affinity with Google etc, but have little idea of what it takes
to consistently succeed in attaining Top 30 rankings.

Be very aware that in most cases website design is taught as an
Art, not as a Business discipline. Website designers are rarely
taught anything about search engine optimization, and few are
interested in mastering the skills required to produce optimal
results. That's all very fine and dandy - but it leaves a lot of
website owners desperately disappointed in mediocre results!
You've probably heard the analogy about building a shop in the
middle of a forest too, I bet? Seriously, it really does not
matter how beautiful the site is - if no one finds it, then it's
just a gorgeous waste of virtual space.

Content is Still King

Regardless of the various conflicting opinions, Google
conspiracy theories and misinformation, it comes down to a
very simple concept - content quality, and accurate content
classification.

Content is where many sites fail dismally! The sites that thrive
are those with well written, well organized original,
interesting and useful content. Don't copy other peoples stuff.
Aside from being illegal, at best it immediately downgrades you
to second best... As a general rule, from an SEO perspective,
bear in mind the most fundamental issue - Google loathes
duplicate content!

Classification

There are literally millions of websites, each competing for
viewers in a particular niche. Reasons for their existence vary
across the A to Z spectrum - advertising, entertainment, comedy,
educational, humour, informational, music, news, promotional,
sports, wine, video, zoos... you get the picture, right?

In the world of books we have the Dewey decimal classification
system. Every published work is assigned an ISBN number, and
libraries classify all books under a rigid hierarchical subject
classification system. It's not perfect, but it works pretty
well because every one uses and understands it! Erudite people
write insightful book reviews, which are sometimes included in
advertising and promotions. Hold this thought, it's relevant to
a following section. You want to find a book on a particular
topic, or by a specific author, you do a search and Eureka!
You've found it, there's a list, even! The best books are
reviewed multiple times, and take pride of place in the "best
sellers" rack.

Relevancy Ranking

Using different terminology, search engines are trying hard to
do the same thing - to give their searchers the most accurate
list possible, containing exactly what they want, so they can
pick and choose from it! Unfortunately, there is no Dewey
classification system on the web. The closest thing to a
hierarchical subject listing is the Open Directory, Yahoo, or
one of the thousands of other web directories - all of which are
inconsistently organized into completely different illogical
structures!

So, here we have Google and other search engines trying
valiantly to index and categorize the billions of pages on
millions of websites, in hundreds of countries in a multiplicity
of languages. Then, they have to calculate each page's
relevance to specific search queries...

Are You Helping or Hindering?

That's where YOU come into the picture... It's a big, big task -
have you made any effort at all to help Google to help you? Or
is your website fuzzy and unfocused, with no clear statement of
content or purpose? In most cases, sites are constructed with
vague intentions to do SEO as an optional extra sometime in the
future... What, you want Google to do everything for you?

Done Any Homework?

Do you have any idea how your primary audience searches for the
information, products or services you offer? Do the pages on
your site describe your content using terms your clients use?
Because that's the only way Google can match searchers with
relevant content! What? You actually forgot to do any market
research before launching the site? You have no accurate,
researched, hard data on the keywords your potential clients
would use? You asked your friends at work for ideas? Absolutely
incredible!

Let us pretend you're looking for clients for your small bed &
breakfast business in Christchurch, New Zealand. You are
optimistic that potential customers in New Zealand, Australia
and the UK will be able to find your website amongst the
millions of competing B&B pages on the web, be convinced by your
persuasive advertising copy and elegant pictures... you'd also
like them to come and book directly with you, to avoid hefty
commission payments on the dozens of B&B Advertising Directory
sites who also want you to pay to advertise! Dream on!

So You Want Google To Work For You?

You'd really like Google et al to help connect your potential
clients to your business via Search Engine Results Pages by
making your site No.1... And you certainly want "qualified"
traffic from Google, visitors who are specifically looking for
exactly what you offer!

Anyone who thinks they can survive online without Google, Yahoo
and MSN is either a thoroughly well-rounded idiot, or is a
household name who does not need to advertise to generate
qualified traffic. There is no middle ground.

But here's where it gets hard! How will Google do that? What
solid information have you provided Google in your on-site
content, and in the off-site links to your site? Have you got a
Domain Name which encapsulates your business type and location;
Bed-Breakfast-Christchurch.co.nz? Or a cryptic name, like;
BnBChChNZ.com? Of the two, which is most likely to give the SE
its first clue as to what your site is about?

What is On-Site SEO

Think about it this way... Does your home page have an explicit
and accurate Title that provides a direct and unequivocal
statement of the site's business purpose in 70 characters? Does
the Title say "Bed & Breakfast Accommodation, Christchurch New
Zealand" or does it say "Welcome to Dusty Lodge" or something
equally asinine?

Does your home page have an explicit and accurate Description
that provides a brief outline of your business purpose, unique
selling proposition, and call to action, encapsulated in 150 –
200 characters? Or does it contain some vague warm and fuzzy
drivel about beaches and sunsets?

Keep the book analogy in your mind, and take a look at your Home
page, particularly the first heading and first paragraph...
"Welcome to my website" is not a productive approach! What does
it tell your visitors about you? It tells me that you are at
best naïve and both you and your website designer need SEO
counselling! And think about that first paragraph... is it an
accurate summary of the site's reason for existence? Eliminate
that fruity, cheesy, fluffy verbiage immediately!

If your website is required to deliver a return on investment,
particularly by selling products or services, or delivering
customer service, informing or entertaining, you really need to
accurately describe your website's content, and allow it to
become visible online. What's that I hear? Oh, you want it to
make you rich as well? But you don't really want to make a
serious commitment or effort to do the job properly? Right...
good luck with that! And remember that old GIGO acronym -
"Garbage In, Garbage Out!"

What is Off-Site SEO?

This may surprise you, but some people are dishonest about their
site content. Frankly, some people handle the truth in a very
awkward fashion indeed... Telling Google that your site is about
Pamela Anderson, when its actually selling Bart Simpson comics,
is deuced annoying to the people who visit it! Therefore, Google
and other SE's decided long ago that some external verification
of every website's content would assist their efforts to deliver
the most relevant SERPs to their clients. Makes perfect sense to
me...

How is this achieved, I hear you ask. Well, you've heard of
links, right? Back to the book analogy - think of good links as
being like a series of book reviews! What if lots of people are
writing positive things about your site? What if multiple,
external, widely distributed sites are all saying that your site
is about "Bed & Breakfast Accommodation Christchurch NZ" huh?
The balance of probability that your site is relevant to such a
search is positively impacted by this external confirmation! A
coincidence of keywords in on-site content and off-site links
reassures Google immensely! Those keywords in the off-site links
are referred to as anchor text, and should form the link title.

No, Its Not Rocket Science

Frankly, search engine optimization, in the pure sense of the
term, is not particularly difficult to understand, or to do. The
aim of the search engines is to provide their customers with the
content most relevant to the search they are making. Therefore,
your salvation lies in making your content relevant to the known
searches! Do some thorough keyword research, learn and
understand your target audience's searching behaviour. Plan
pages that target specific, high-volume, low competition search
phrases.

Don't be vague, don't waffle, and help Google to help you. When
the economic gravy pot is bubbling merrily, and there's ample
business gravy slopping over, even the mediocre get a share.

But when the economic ice age casts midnight shadows at noon,
and credit wolf packs softly pad the empty streets, howling
balefully at the waning moon... When you're sucking the last
congealed streaks of business gravy off your tarnished spoon...
Ask yourself - can you afford your website to be 2nd rate,
disorganized and inarticulate, with the Why of SEO ringing in
your ears?
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The SEO Guy, aka Ben Kemp, is a veteran search engine
optimization consultant (http://www.comauth.co.nz/) with a
decade of SEO experience and website design accumulated in 20+
years of work in the IT industry. The SEO Guy's Blog
(http://www.comauth.co.nz/the-seo-guys-blog/) provides advice
on SEO and website design issues
(http://www.website-desingers.net.nz/).
Web: www.ComAuth.co.nz & www.Website-Designers.net.nz
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