Search engine algorithms (the internal logic search engines use to make search decisions) are always changing as the conditions on the Web change. So, if your site has been out there for awhile, it is likely that between your launch date and now, the search engines have changed somewhat. Plus, new companies continually come online, so the competition has increased. In order to always keep up with search engines you should plan to periodically refresh the way your site is optimized for searches, which now needs to be very, very specific.

Here is what you should do right now if you want to improve your search engine standing:

1. For selected pages of your website, you should optimize each page to match a specific search phrase. For example, if you are an engineering firm located in North Carolina that designs wastewater treatment facilities, let’s consider a page that talks about your “Wastewater Treatment Services”. If most people are searching for “wastewater treatment North Carolina” then this specific page should be optimized to match that search phrase. This means that the Page Title (at the top of the browser), the Meta Keywords (in the code), the Meta Description (in the code), the Alt Tags (under the photos), the headline text, and the body text should incorporate the search terms “wastewater treatment North Carolina” in a reasonable format. Once that is done, the page is optimized for that search phrase. So, what you need to consider is what is the ideal search phrase for all of the key pages of your website. Then the pages need to be optimized for those terms. This means you will not come up if people search on a different phrase, but that’s the way the competition works… so you need to take the search phrases seriously and research them.

2. Google’s Webmaster Tools, which are available to all web developers online, should be used to create a “site map” that is then submitted to Google. This should be done after all of your pages have been optimized for the desired search phrases.

3. Having your site cross-linked to other industry or other business sites also improves your search standing. This means that if your firm is listed in the online directories of industry organizations, or actually any other online business directory, it is to your benefit in terms of searching. So, another example relating to the wastewater industry, if your firm is listed in the APWA website listing for wastewater in North Carolina, it helps you.

4. A relatively new factor in influencing search results is the use of social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. For example, if your employees are using LinkedIn and your website is linked to from each of your employees’ LinkedIn page, that helps you in terms of being linked to. Also, many companies have a LinkedIn page, or a Twitter account. In fact, the use of social media as a part of your marketing strategy is becoming a big business. At any rate, because of the emerging impact of social media, search engines appear to be giving added weight to those media when they generate search results.

As you can see, the strategic approach and implementation of true search engine optimization can be fairly complex. That’s why many businesses spend quite a bit of money on Search Engine Optimization (usually referred to as SEO). Also, you have to be patient because changes made today can take months to show up in search engines. And then, once you begin to improve, to hang on to your improvement it’s a good idea to update your optimization to keep up with changes in the search environment.

What About SEM?
Businesses also spend quite a bit of money on Search Engine Marketing (usually referred to as SEM). SEM is different from SEO in a similar way that PR is different from advertising. In PR, you put information out there and try to influence people’s thinking with information and strategy. In advertising, you create an ad and pay for space and try to influence people that way. In SEM, people use tools like Google AdWords to buy advertising space on search pages. When you do a search on Google, there are listings that appear at the top and on the right side of the search results page that are paid ads. That is one way to make sure your company comes up when someone types in a specific search phrase. What you do is pay to have your listing come up when that specific phrase is typed in. Obviously, SEM can be much more involved than that… this is a basic explanation because this article is really about SEO and the “organic” search results for which we all are trying to optimize. It is the organic search results that users typically click on anyway.

Give Us a Call
We hope you find this helpful. If you would like to discuss SEO more, or if you would like for us to help you optimize your site to improve your search results, we’d be happy to. Give us a call at 503.977.5130.