Search Engine Optimization Tips

Even though Google is constantly adapting its algorithm to deliver what it deems the truest answer to a particular query, there are basic guidelines that all sites – large and small – must follow to improve in search engine ranking. These are:

Code – Keep it simple

• Follow standards and get as close to validated markup as possible
• Make it easy for search engines to crawl your site
• Make CSS class and ID names obvious, especially for section div tags
  • Name your header dive header
  • Name the CSS ID of your right sidebar div right-sidebar

Web Design – Less Navigation is More

• Websites should have clean vertical internal linking
  • Every page links to the home page.
  • Every page links to every category level page. This is your main navigation.
  • Sub-category pages link to other sub-categories within the same category only.
  • Sub-category pages link to their own topic pages only.
  • Topic pages link to sub-category pages within the same category only.
  • Topic pages link to their own article pages only.
  • Article pages link to each sub-category page within the same category only.
  • Article pages link to each topic page within its own sub-category.
  • Article pages link to other article pages within the same topic.

Content – Engagement & Agility

• Emphasize community and conversation
• Create content that people will want to link to and talk about
• Embrace agility – update content frequently
• Update your old content – particularly advertorial content

The iPad is a gorgeous electronic device. I’ve been tinkering with the iPad II and using it for Connect4 Consulting work for several months now and have come to several conclusions.

• The iPad is not a desktop or laptop replacement.
• If you don’t already have an iPhone, get an iPhone instead of an iPad. The iPhone has greater utility and value.
• You can do productive work on an iPad, but you have to buy accessories and also adapt to the limitations of the device.

Traditional project management tools evoke images of GANTT charts and project schedules. Complex programs allowed a single user to intricately plan out and manage a project. Improvements in internet bandwidth, connectivity, and the cost of online storage has shifted this process to the web. Web-based project management tools are capable of offering much more because they are inherently collaborative and they are usually “software as a service”, which includes hosting of the project management tool for your business.

I recently reviewed a dozen web-based project management tools in search of one that would meet my business requirements. Because of the extensive variety of project management tools, I recommend defining requirements at the outset.

Common Project Management Software Requirements:

• Managing Resources
• Project Task Management
• Collaboration
• File Sharing

Best Project Management Tools

Basecamp

Basecamp is one of the most popular tools for managing projects online. Projects are managed through a shared dashboard and it’s easy to upload and share files, send messages, document milestones, track time, and create to-do lists. One of the things I like most about Basecamp is its friendly user interface. If you need to collaborate with different people in different places and you don’t mind the fact that it won’t help you create GANTT charts or track costs, Basecamp is the tool for you.

Box.net

Copper Project

If you need the traditional project management tools and also want the collaborative tools, you should look at Copper Project. You can log time, book people, allocate resources, create GANTT charts, budgets, quotes and invoices.

One of the things that I love about providing technology and marketing consulting services is that I am required to be in a state of constant curiosity and learning. Sometimes I feel like I’m moving through life like an absorbent pinball. A meeting with or research for one client regularly leads to opportunities or collaboration with another client. On one such meeting a few weeks ago, I was asked to research and evaluate existing web-based project management and file-sharing tools. The client was looking for a better way to manage projects and share documents between employees and clients. The requirements were:

• Cloud-based file sharing and storage with syncing
• Safe and secure
• Multiple user accounts
• Ability to create layers of permissions on folders
• Easy to use interface
• Different kinds of documents: word, excel, pdfs, videos, photos
• Branding consistent with client site
• Low cost

Dropbox

Cons:

• No pdfs, word docs, excel docs – only photos and videos

Cost:

$40 to $150/year

Box.net

With file sharing, syncing, and project management, Box.net is an interesting combination of Dropbox and Basecamp.

Pros:

• Safe and secure
• Any type of file
• Share links to file or folder
• Easily turn any folder into a web page
• Online work spaces for commenting and discussion

Cons:

• Expensive – $15/user/month
• More complicated because of the project management features

Conclusion

Although none of these three options met all of my client’s requirements, he decided to try Dropbox. It’s the only option of the three that has a plan that’s completely free – 2 GBs – and it’s the most straightforward, user friendly option. What’s certain is that this is a rapidly changing market, and as demand for these specific requirements grows, Dropbox, Box.net, Smugmug, and their competitors will grow and adapt to new needs. While Dropbox is the solution today, it may or may not be the solution six months from now.

Let’s face it – everyone wants to rank #1 on Google.  After all, doesn’t ranking #1 on Google mean that you are the best in what you do? The truth about ranking #1 on Google requires a discussion about search engine optimization.

The idea behind search engine optimization (SEO) is to put great content on a web site that is designed in a manner that helps attract visitors and entertain them enough that they will return to your web site and tell other people about your web site.  Depending on how you go about doing this, there is a very wide range of possible outcomes. Be wary if anyone promises that you will rank #1 on Google.

The fact is that you give yourself the best opportunity for higher ranking if you provide quality content, use a search engine-friendly design, and encourage people to link to your site. Let’s take a look at these three critical ways to rank higher on Google.

Good Content

The single most-effective way to get good rankings is by providing good, fresh content. A search engine’s objective is to deliver answers that are most relevant to a particular search query. The only way to develop that relevance is by having keyword-rich content on your web site. Suppose you sell personal technology gadgets. It is imperative that you provide as much content and commentary regarding personal technology gadgets as possible.

Search engines place a lot of weight on the content of each web page. After all, it is this content that defines what a page is about, and the search engines do a detailed analysis of each web page they find. The detailed analysis is called a semantic map which seeks to define the relationship between the concepts on your page. The search engine uses this match to present the best web pages for a particular user’s search query.

Search Engine-Friendly Design

When two sites provide similar content – using our personal technology gadgets provider as an example – a search engine-friendly design can be the deciding factor between success and failure.

Search engines cannot see images, text in images, Flash files, pictures within Flash files, audio and video files, any content contained within a program (e.g. AJAX), embed tags (not visible to all search engines), frames and iframes.

Search engines rely on HTML (good content), the page title, Meta keyword and content descriptions, alt attributes for images, and content that is rich with keywords relevant to search terms.

Good Links

In the early days of the Internet, many web sites relied on the Field of Dreams logic – If You Build It They Will Come. Now, with millions of web sites competing for eyeballs, one of the most important and difficult things you can do to improve your search engine ranking, is to increase the number of links to and from your site.

Search engines like Google place a range of value on the links that point to your web site and the ones your site points to.

Bottom Line

Search engines are constantly evolving. Google now provides search results that are optimized for each unique searcher. This means that your personal technology site might rank #1 for the keyword “personal technology” for my search but not for yours. So what does this mean for search engine optimization and the auspice of ranking #1 on Google?

The Bottom Line is that your objective should be to increase web site traffic so that more people will enjoy the value you provide through your content and the products and services that you offer.  If you do this, you will improve your search engine ranking.

To learn more about effective Internet Marketing, visit Connect4 Consulting. Connect4 Consulting is a full service marketing and technology communications firm.

This blog is focused on marketing and communications and the impact that the Internet has had on the field. I am creating this blog for several reasons:

• to profile case studies that demonstrate Internet marketing in action
• to reflect on my work at Connect4 Consulting
• to share news and/or recommendations
• to keep a log of tips and tricks related to technology and marketing