Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

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Search engine optimization ("SEO") is the art and science of modifying the text and layout of a web page to achieve high search engine rankings. It has been shown that well over 50% of all web traffic comes from search engines and directories such as google.com and yahoo.com, so having high rankings for relevant search terms is extremely important for the success of your web site.

The first step in the seo process is to determine exactly what search phrases you need to target. Beginning with your list of what you think you need to target in the search engines, we will engage in research to determine which phrases are actually being used in the search engines and which ones you have the best chance of dominating.

Then we will inspect your site to determine what changes need to be made. You can then have your own staff make the changes or give us access to your server and we will make the changes for you. Once the changes have been made, we will have your site indexed by the major search engines. The best way to have a site indexed is to have a search engine pick it up on its own, without being manually submitted. We will link to your site from one of our existing sites that we know is indexed and receives return visits from the search engine spiders in order to help the search engines discover the site on their own.

Optimizing a web site is an ongoing process. The search engines keep changing the rules, and competitors keep trying to climb to the top. That's why we require a minimum six month contract. We just can't do you justice in one month. Even if we get your site indexed, without ongoing maintenace, it is highly unlikely that you will retain your rankings. If you're busy running your business, you may not have time to stay informed with what the search engines are up to. It's our business to keep up with it.

In addition to optimizing your existing site, we will work with you to create landing pages optimized for particular keywords. These are not the gateway pages of yesterday that search engines despise (and that will get you banned very quickly). These are content-rich web pages set up to provide information relating to a particular search phrase and get people into your main site.

We recommend that our clients pursue an aggressive, multi-pronged marketing strategy that goes beyond optimization of the pages in their web site. For example, google uses page rank (a score based on the number and relevance of other web sites pointing to your site) as one component in determing a web page's positioning. In fact, an industry has sprung up around this concept that involves web sites with high page rank scores renting links to other web sites. We don't recommend renting links as it is very expensive, and the jury is out on just how important page rank is to your google ranking. We do, however, recommend that you trade links with as many other legitimate, similar but non-competing web sites. This will not only help with your google ranking, it will also result in some traffic from direct click-throughs from your partner sites. Work Media will work you to compile a list of strong potential link partners and will conduct a link-swapping campaign to build up the number of sites linking to you.

Other strategies we recommend include authoring a blog, creating a newsletter, and using an autoresponder to send a series of messages to prospective customers. If you can't close a sale, you should at least try to get an email address before the visitor leaves the site.

Work Media will work with clients who have existing web sites to re-word the sites, re-arrange the code in the sites, and make whatever changes are necessary to generate high search engine rankings. Every search engine has specific criteria it uses to rank a site. Our knowledge of what the search engines are looking for will give our clients a competitive advantage over their competitors in the hunt for high rankings.