SEO

Search Engine Optimisation SEO

Primer for Business Benefits SEO and SEO Supplier Selection

This section discusses:

To clarify SEO we present step by step explanation in sections. Whilst they can be read in isolation the SEO picture is not complete until you have read them all as each relates to the other.

[This is a work in progress  section] 

 

SEO FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions:


SEO - A Brief Introduction

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM)? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and SEM for Search Engine Marketing. Both tend to have ambiguity surrounding their meaning, where in fact it is fairly simple. The ambiguity is created by subjective interpretation and by a common misunderstanding of the aims of both. It is also extenuated by practitioners that exacerbate lack of common understanding of what SEO is all about. This also leads to an ambiguity of what is included in SEO and where the boundaries lie.

The Wikipedia defines SEO as follows: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via 'natural' ('organic' or 'algorithmic') search results.

So ‘volume’ refers simply to the number of visitors (or traffic) to a site. This volume is itself directly related to the frequency and position in the search engine’s natural listings. This is why the goal is the number one (or top) spot in the listings (see also the Google Golden Triangle discussion for an explanation of why the number one spot is so sought after).

Volume is all very well but the art of good SEO is to attract ‘quality’ or to some extent ‘qualified’ traffic. The ability to measure the quality of traffic is in turn relative to the quality of the target web site (measured by ‘click thru’s). The quality is measured differently by every search engine (and involves numerous measurement criteria, discussed later) but ultimately is based on that search engine’s measurement of the content relevance of your site to the search string (known as the keyword or keyword phrase) which in turn provides your ranking.

Therefore:

  • Web site traffic volume is relative to search engine ranking,
  • Search engine ranking is relative to quality traffic
  • Quality traffic is relative to web site quality,
  • Web site quality is relative to content relevance
  • therefore quality traffic volume is relative to web site content relevance.

This is not a scientific equation but the point is made that all elements of the equation are related and part of a cause and effect chain. If you cheat on one (such as a poor experience = bad site quality or poor technical implementation = bad search engine visibility) the others will suffer.

It also shows how the business objectives (such as sales or brochure downloads) are directly related to site design and content. Think of it as a series of dots that needs joing together and if you miss any of the dots then your search engine rankings will suffer.

DIY SEO

There is enough information on the internet to teach yourself to DIY SEO. Indeed this page is designed to help in that process. However, if you are truly running a business then it is unlikely you will have the time or SEO experience to get the job done to the best of its potential. SEO is never finished. It is like tuning a racing car. You might win the Grand Prix but you can bet on the losers re-tuning for the next race. That said, the more you understand the more chance you have of getting someone else to do the job properly so it always worth investing some time on the basics.

Who should do the Search Engine Optimisation and Marketing (SEO & SEM)?

Who should do the Search Engine Marketing (SEM)? Not everyone can afford the ideal, which is your own in-house SEO and SEM specialist. Even if you can, depending on the size of the organisation one may not be enough. It does not follow that the webmaster that created and maintains your web site can do the SEO and or the wider SEM, so you need to ascertain whether the Webmaster in your world is the correct person (see below) for the job.

There are many individuals and companies ‘specialising’ in SEO, some specifying Business SEO and some trying to catch a niche such as eCommerce SEO or Travel SEO. The fact is the majority are very willing to take your money and run. Instinct will usually help in these circumstances but quite simply you need a multi faceted all-rounder or a specialist team. This requires educated 'business savvy' skills with extensive internet and marketing experience. Knowledge and experience should cover marketing, internet and web site building and technologies, good copywriting skills (including a good command of the language) and an excellent ability to crystalise what your business is about. Wrap all this up in a bucket of SEO specialist expertise and great listening and research skills and you have your man (or woman).

There are certain standard SEO techniques (many detailed in this site's SEO section) and if your supplier has a good grasp of these (such as page structure requirements and link prominence) AND a good understanding of your business (such as a marketing aware person that is responsible for the site copy) and is able to translate their combined SEO, internet marketing, web development and business knowledge into an effective SEO campaign strategy, then that is your man. He also needs to have the time and incentive to build, maintain and develop the campaign on an ongoing basis.

A good measure of these abilities can be found in your initial discussions with your prospective SEO supplier. Have you found yourself thinking 'Hmm....I had'nt thought of it that way before' or 'Yes, that's exactly what we do [why did'nt I think of that ?!], or 'Why did'nt my web site designer do this in the first place?'.

Good SEO requires a deep understanding of the business goals and objectives, the mission of the company and the web site technology in use. Only then can you be sure you will achieve your aims.

Remember: Wether in-house or outsourced, or a mixture of the two, there are no SEO short cuts and using suppliers that promise the earth in a day may well put your site's ethical SEO status at risk - for which Search Engines will punish you dearly. You may get away with some clandestine techniques for a short while but the engines will catch up with you and penalise your site so it is not a long term strategy.


SEO is about Measurable Objectives

SEO is NOT just about attaining the top spot in Google, Yahoo or MSN. To get the best results SEO ‘should’ be a part of an internet strategy for your business. Part of that strategy will define the purpose of the web site and any associated campaigns such that the appropriate internet marketing needs, like web site optimisation, will become clear. The key here is that we are looking to deliver on measurable business objectives of optimisation rather than to just get your site to the number one spot (although that's nice too!).

SEO – How to get measured value for money (Return on Investment or ROI) and grow your business

Neither SEO nor pay per click internet marketing techniques such as Adwords or affiliate advertising are rocket science. It is however very complex and requires a lot of patience to get it right; and getting it wrong can be very costly. It requires a good dose of common sense, a knowledge of basic ingedients and preferably a good ability to define and achieve business objectives: and that is just to hire the right person!

The keys to success are:

  1. Defining and understanding Business Objectives (of the business as a whole and of the web site as a part of the business)
  2. Defining the business (and technical) constraints and expectations against meaningful measures of success. This is one you might like to skim over, but in my experience is one of the most important aspects of successful SEO. Risks also need to be defined in here to assure no nasty surprises.
  3. An experienced and well defined approach to delivering the SEO ‘business’ objectives such that the objectives are achievable and agreeable.
This is the point your eyes start to glaze over so let’s make lot’s of exciting promises to win back your attention:

Just what you wanted to hear? Are you sure?

Perhaps this is what you think you want to hear, but allow me to try another approach:

Now if you have any business experience at all you will immediately click the difference (if you’ll pardon the pun) and spot the true path. SEO success = Business Growth.

Measurable Web Site SEO goals, by example

So now we have some measurable SEO objectives. It is very difficult to achieve precise metrics but there are tools and experience that will help give an idea of what might be achieved.

Imagine we have a site that has achieved 7000 member sign-ups over twelve months without any SEO or search engine rankings at all but purely by paying for adverts (pay per click, or ‘ppc’) at say £140 per day. The site statistics show that we have about 160 visits per day and around 20 sign-ups (or ‘conversions’ as we say in the trade) per day. That’s a conversion rate of just over 12% (which is reasonable) at a cost of around £7 per membership sign-up, which seems a lot..

i.e. £140 ppc / 20 sign-ups = £7.00 per sign-up * 7000 = £49,000 per annum

So our membership has so far cost £49,000 for 7000 members or £7 per member.

Now lets have a go at projecting a measurable search engine campaign using natural rankings via some good SEO.

There are say 600 searches on the target keywords (more on keyword optimisation later) per day, and the competition is not ‘brand leading’, it could be possible to increase the traffic to say 6% of the organic rankings searches ( free and natural search engine listings). Now let’s say we take half the 12% conversion rate experienced in paid adverts and go for a 6% conversion rate this means we now have an additional 2 members per day FOR FREE!

This means we have achieved an additional 10% per day/annum which in measurable monetary terms converts to a £5000 saving in advertising costs plus the opportunity earnings presented by the new members.

This is conservative in real terms as a similar scenario will frequently improve performance to many times this. An additional side benefit is the reduction in cost of the original paid adverts (the cost per click may be reduced) because the landing pages will have a higher relevance, or ‘quality score’ – but that’s another story.

The SEO statistics here are for illustration (based on factual stats) and are very conservative. They do serve to illustrate however that with a little thought very measurable SEO business objectives (or SEO targets) can be set. In this way it can be shown very often that good SEO pays for itself in a very short period of time. Additionally the results of a good SEO campaign are incremental over time so the benefits can be measured in short, medium and long term ranges; provided it is considered an ongoing activity.

The Google Golden Triangle

Google’s Golden Triangle

New EyeTracking Study verifies the importance of page position and rank in both Organic and PPC search results for visibility and click through in Google.

(PRWEB) March 1, 2005 -- A joint eye tracking study conducted by search marketing firms Enquiro and Did-it.com and eye tracking firm Eyetools has shown that the vast majority of eye tracking activity during a search happens in a triangle at the top of the search results page indicating that the areas of maximum interest create a “golden triangle.” eye-track.jpg

The first phase of the study was conducted with 50 people in Eyetools’ eye tracking lab in San Francisco, California and presented panel participants with 5 distinct scenarios that would require the use of a search engine. Google was used as the search engine in all of the instances.

Key Preliminary Findings of the Study included:
The key location on Google for visibility as determined by the eye activity in the study is a triangle that extends from the top of the results over to the top of the first result, then down to a point on the left side at the bottom of the “above the fold” visible results. This key area was looked at by 100 percent of the participants. In the study, this was referred to as the “Golden Triangle”. Generally, this area includes top sponsored, top organic results and Google’s alternative results, including shopping, news or local suggestions.

Visibility dropped quickly with organic rankings, starting at a high of 100% for the top listing, dropping to 85% at the bottom of the “above the fold” listings, and then dropping dramatically below the fold from 50% at the top to 20% at the bottom.

Organic Ranking Visibility
(shown in a percentage of participants looking at a listing in this location)

Rank 1 - 100%
Rank 2 - 100%
Rank 3 - 100%
Rank 4 - 85%
Rank 5 - 60%
Rank 6 - 50%
Rank 7 - 50%
Rank 8 - 30%
Rank 9 - 30%
Rank 10 - 20%

Eye scan and click through behavior changes dramatically as users moved “below the fold” to the section of results that required scrolling down. At the top of the page, the amount of eye movement declined rapidly through the top 4 or 5 results, and then at the bottom of the screen, tends to become more consistent through to the end of the page.

In searches where top sponsored results are returned in addition sponsored ads, the top ads received much high visibility, being seen by 80 to 100% of participants, as opposed to 10 to 50% of participants who looked at the side sponsored ads.

On side sponsored ads, the top ranked results received much more in the way of both eye activity and click through. About 50% of participants looked at the top ad, compared to only 10% who looked at ads in the 6, 7 or 8th location on the page.

Side sponsored ad visibility
(shown is percentage of participants looking at an ad in this location)

1 – 50%
2 – 40%
3 – 30%
4 – 20%
5 – 10%
6 – 10%
7 – 10%
8 – 10%

There seems to be a “F” shaped scan pattern, where the eye tends to travel vertically along the far left side of the results looking for visual cues (relevant words, brands, etc) and then scanning to the right if something caught the participant’s attention.

These results come from an initial analysis of the results and were presented during sessions at the Search Engine Strategies conference in New York. While interesting, the study’s main findings are still to come and will required detailed analysis of individual behavior patterns.

Did It’s Kevin Lee said, “At this point, we weren’t too surprised at what we’ve seen in the study. We suspected much of this to be true prior to conducting it. However, there is tremendous value in confirming these suspicions, especially in a way that’s so visually compelling. It also proves that our methodology will hold up for phase 2 of the research. On the sponsored search side, data indicates is the clear branding and visibility advantage offered by gaining top positions, especially Google’s top sponsored links. Unfortunately, these aren’t always presented with a search. Google is a little fickle in this regard.”

Enquiro’s Gord Hotchkiss added, “We see a marked difference in how people say they search and what they actually do. Previous research had indicated that people were considered searchers and spent some time before choosing a link. The past few studies we’ve done, this one included, shows that there’s huge importance placed on where the eyeballs end up on the page. Clicks happen pretty quickly. It just shows that search marketing is a real estate game. It’s all about location, location, location.”

Eyetools’ CTO Greg Edwards also commented, “Eyetracking is the enabling tool that fills in the gaps to understand why people click or don’t click – by quantifying what people consider before the decision to click or leave is made, companies can start to better anticipate and design to satisfy people’s needs. Applying this in the search results arena enables companies to better plan their marketing communication and increase conversions.”

This research is ongoing and the phase 1 results are highly encouraging. After further analysis is done, the results will be made available to the public through white papers. Further findings will be announced as they come available.

Both Gord Hotchkiss and Kevin Lee are on the Board of Directors of SEMPO a Search Engine Marketing Trade Organization. Kevin as a founding director, recently reelected and Gord as a new Director.

After March 6, for more information, please contact:

Gord Hotchkiss
Enquiro
800 277 9997 (250 470 8353 before March 6th)
or by email at e-mail protected from spam bots

Greg Edwards
EyeTools
916 792 4530
or by email at e-mail protected from spam bots

Kevin Lee
Did-It
212 631 0157
Or by email at e-mail protected from spam bots