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Search Engine Optimization – cont’d

A Word About Expectations

Search engine optimization can take time. Even Google only refreshes
its entire index once a month, so don’t expect instant results.

If your first registration run doesn’t generate increased
rankings within a month or two, don’t panic. Look at your
site traffic and search on the keywords you chose. Make sure that
the search engine you’re checking actually includes your site,
too — most likely the bots just haven’t gotten around
to ‘crawling’ your site.

Still stumped? Find a professional. Sure, we cost money. But you
may have missed something about your site that’s preventing
a good keyword rank, and a second set of eyes can help.

A Solid Marketing Strategy

Obviously, Search Engine Optimization is a big job. But nothing
can send more traffic to your site, for lower per-click cost. If
you follow the basic steps, and keep at it, you will definitely
get results. What’s really, really important is to make sure
you don’t award too much weight to one step (such as link
popularity) at the expense of the others. A well-rounded campaign
will provide solid, long-term results.

What about pay per click?
Pay-per-click
services, such as Overture and Google Adwords, are very
different animals. If you’ve done your keyword analysis
you’re halfway there, but there are other tasks.
I’ve not talked about them in this article because,
well, they need an article of their own. Check back soon…

About the Author

Ian Lurie is an Internet marketer in Seattle, WA. He started his web design and marketing firm, Portent Interactive, in 1995. Portent offers complete Internet
marketing support, including search engine optimization, email
marketing, and web design and development. Recent projects
include SEO and production for www.princesslodges.com,
SEO, marketing strategy, design and production for www.dessy.com,
and, on the more whimsical side, frida.filmateria.com.
Ian has a law degree from UCLA and has successfully avoided practicing
law for almost ten years.

Thank you to Elisabeth Archambault, who contributed insights to
this article based on her experiences as owner of BuckWorks
Online Shopping Directory. Her article on Building
Reciprocal Links is a useful introduction to the topic of building
link popularity.

Feel free to reprint this article on your own web site, as long as you include the resource information above.  Questions? Contact Portent.

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