Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

This week we had a client that had put a web site up on the web, only to find after some time they could find no listing of their site on any search engine, even if they searched by the company name. The site was done using Flash. If you went to the site, it was - and is - beautiful and would attract any visitor. Let's look at what happened. A quick look at the source code for the entrance page showed several issues that needed to be addressed:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<style type="text/css">

</style></head>

As an example, assume the site is for a company called ACME Real Estate that brokers real estate, connecting buyers and sellers.

Notice that nowhere in the source code do you have any any keyword text that tells you what the site is about or even the company name. All of that is in the Flash code (realestate.swf), but is not visible to most search engines. There is nothing here for the search engines to use for indexing.
Moreover, this page will be slow loading because of the large Flash file. You want that first page to load fast.
Most search engines, and particularly Google, want to see links into the page. The more links, the better the listing. For a link to be counted, the text in the anchor text of the link coming into to the site has to be found in the destination page. If any links can be found from other sites going into this page, you are not going to find any good anchor text in their pages. In other words, the search engines won't find any links to this page.

If the client wishes to keep the Flash code (realestate.swf) as an integral part of the site, there should be two modifications:

A separate index.html page should be created that points into this page and the rest of the site using a single text link. This introductory bridge page should be designed to work the search engine. It could even be a static copy of the old home page in the Flash file. It should, however, follow basic search engine rules. This page should point to the current entry page, which should be renamed as welcome.html.
This (and current) welcome.html page should be modified to work the engines better.

Modifying the Current Welcome.html Page

This current entry page that calls the Flash program can be modified quickly to work the search engines better. The TITLE tag should be changed to use a title that includes keywords that would mean something to a search engine:

<TITLE>Buying or Selling Houston Real Estate</TITLE>

Unless you think users would search on the company name, you should not use the company name in the TITLE tag. The tag text here is too valuable to waste on words that won't help your search engines. The title should be less than about 62 characters or no more than eight words.

Add some META tags for keywords and a description:

This is simplified, but you get the idea.

Add a copyright notice at the bottom of the page that includes the company name and contact informationi. This will enable search engines to find this page on the company name.

The Google search engine, which draws the largest part of the search traffic, is notorious in the length of time it takes to get a good position for a site in the engine. Getting this page edited with at least with some keywords and a few links into it on those keywords enables Google to find it while you wait for it to get a good position.

Adding the Links

Now add a few links into the page from other sites using those words in the TITLE tag.

The New Index or Bridge Page

Now let's look at the design of that new bridge page. The rules here are the same for any important page on your web site that you wish to index well in the search engines.

Designing Pages for the Search Engines

Note: This is a short overview of the strategy. If you are serious about this, get our SEO book.

Know your keywords and keyword phrases for your site. These are the words you expect people to use when searching the search engines for your site. Know how competitive each phrase is AND how often the phrase is used in searching.
Be sure your TITLE tag takes advantage of those words. It should have about 7-8 words.
You should have about 300-450 words of body text, with all types of keywords and keyword phrases used in the body text. The text should flow naturally, not forced.
Headlines on the page should contain the primary keyword phrases.
Keep the page to a single topic.
Don't trust JavaScript menus or Flash files to the search engines for reading your links to other pages. Use text links where you can, but add a site map to your site that links everything with text links.
Text links should contain anchor text that contains keywords and keyword phrases found on the destination pages.
You should have some images in the page with ALT tags containing keywords, but don't trust images for linking to other pages. There is no anchor text with image links, so they don't help your search engine positioning any. Their primary purpose is adding some keyword density to the page.
Don't use any hidden text on the page; that is, don't use text that is almost the color of the background. Watch your text links that they don't switch to the color of the background when activated.
Be sure your page code is clean. Notice in the example site a DOCTYPE line defines the standard used in reading the page. This standard definition should always be done, and permits the search engine to compare the code as written against the specified standard. For practical purposes, you could copy the line here to the programs you write.
Put any script code at the end of the page or in a separate file. The important text with your keywords should be near the top of the page source listing.
Make sure any copyright date on the page is current. Search engines don't like old pages.

Now start building those links into your site. Remember that for Yahoo and MSN, expect it to take about a month for these search engines to find your site. If getting a fast listing is important, you can speed this up by purchasing a sponsored listing in Yahoo. For Google, because of the sandbox effect, it can take six months or more to get a good position. During this time you should work consistently to build your links so that when Google is ready for you your links are in place.

Where Should You Put Your Links on Your Pages?

Did you know that where you put your links on the page is important in terms of how the user sees and uses them? For example, on that bridge page we mentioned early, you will need a text link out to the rest of the site. Where on the page would be the best place to put that link? The best place, Google has found, is right above the primary content in the middle of the page. Other important areas are on the left just below any top-level navigation bar our centered below the navigation bar. To see a "heat map" that illustrates what Google found, go to:

https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/static.py?page=tips.html

This page applies to Google's Adsense advertising, but it is intended as a guide for placing Google ads if you want them to work. This same information, however, applies to your links.

Remember: On that link out to the rest of the site for our bridge page use a text link with anchor text that says something about the site. DON'T use text like "Enter." More appropriate would be text like "I'm serious about knowing more about Houston Real Estate."

Google Changes the Rules - Again

In our SEO book (Version 7) we indicate that Google calculates your position for a paid ad using a formula:

PI = CPC X CTR

where:

PI = Your ad's position index

CPC = Cost per click, or what you pay when someone clicks through to your site.

CTR = Click-through Rate, or the number of people who click through on your ad compared with the number of people who see it. If 100 people see the ad and two click through to your site, the CTR is 2%.

Google has changed the rules again. The new formula for your ad's position is:

PI = CTR X text relevance of ad X historical keyword factors X other X CPC

What this means to you is that:

Google can position your ad where they wish. They have at least three factors they are using that are unknown to you.
The CPC and CTR are still both important.

I don't know about you, but I don't like subjective factors in determining my ad placements. With Yahoo, I can either buy a position (Overture) or purchase a sponsored listing at a fixed price per click.

In addition, Google employees are permitted to have Adwords accounts so they can explore how the advertising works. They are in competition with you as well as having insights on the subjective variables. Is that how you want to sell your product or service?

Resolving Security Issues

If your computer is connected to the Internet, you should never connect until you have antivirus, firewall, and anti-spyware installed. All three are essential today. After connecting, the time delay until a system is hit with the first virus is measure in seconds - not days. Here is the strategy we advise.

Install a reliable antivirus. Make sure it is active. The virus definition file should be subscriber based and automatically updating itself at least every few days. Check the status of the program frequently to insure the virus definition file is updating itself. The program should also do a full system scan periodically. Configure the system to do this at night when you aren't using the computer.
Install both hardware and software firewalls. Most routers have a firewall as an integral part of the router. When purchasing a router, be sure this is there. The router is cheap insurance, even if you have only one computer in your company or home system. The router does not, however, protect you from viruses inside your home network. You can still get a virus from a a CD containing malware, floppy disks, or other computers within the network on your side of the router. In a home network, for example, you kid could load a favorite game he obtained from a friend on his PC, only to drop a virus on the CD to your system. To protect your system from viruses within your network (on the same side of the router), use a software firewall in addition to the router. The Norton Security product, for example, contains both an antivirus and software firewall.
Install an anti-spyware product. This product protects you from trojans and advertising cookies that some web sites broadcast to enhance their profits. Some of these are true malware. The anti-spyware product protects you from these.
Partition your Disk. You probably purchased your computer with the operating system and basic programs already installed. They are all on your "C" drive, and your CD drive is your "D". When something does take you down, you have lost everything if you didn't have a backup. This is not "if", it's "when." It will happen. To help with this problem, use a partitioning program such as Partition Magic to partition your one physical drive into two logical drives. Your hard disk is now "C" and "D", and your CD drive is "E". Put all of your programs and operating system on "C". Any files you create as well as image files and purchased data files on "D". If Windows crashes (and this has happened to me more than once), you reformat the "C" drive and restore Windows and your programs. All the data on "D" is still there. One reason you need to do this is that new viruses and malware are not protected by your current antivirus system. There is a delay of a few days until the companies add the new one to the virus dictionary files and download them to your system. This partitioning gives you an extra level of protection. (Note: Programs such as Microsoft Outlook back up mail files to the drive that contains the program, normally the "C" drive. Either configure the program to put your contact and mail files to the data drive ("D"), or either export your mail files to the "D" drive.
Have a backup system and use it. Mine is simple and cost $200. I have a portable hard disk that plugs into my USB port. To backup, I just copy everything on that "D" drive over to that hard disk. Three cautions here: (1) Portable hard disks are notoriously fragile. If you drop one, it's all over. (2) Unless you are exporting your mail files and the related contact list, they aren't on the backup. Develop a strategy for these files. (3) Have a regular backup schedule and stick to it.

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Carl Townsend
Oregon Professional Microsystems
20020 Marigold Ct. Suite 24
West Linn, OR 97068
(503 697-4773)