Our Very First Blog!
Google search marketing, the good, the bad, the ugly…
In a nutshell, SEM can be very daunting for the average Joe trying to figure it out, but from a search engine marketing analyst’s point of view, SEO can be quite intriguing. The monumental search engine that we rely on known as Google, is a very complex program that fetches results on the internet (based on it’s algorithm) according to which search term you enter. With the almost infinite number of result combinations that it is capable of providing you instantly its pretty clear that Google search is a very intricate program. I am not a programmer but I have taken some basic programming courses and lets just say maintaining such a powerful online based program takes A LOT of work. That being said let’s get into what some of the main things Google takes into consideration when indexing its results. Google has these types of “crawlers” that are essentially programs to designed to read the code of your site very intelligently. What you need to do in order to rank well is understand what that crawler needs to pick up on in order to make your page the most relevant for the “keyword” you want to rank for.
A search engine optimizer, can help your site obtain targeted traffic by getting it to show up as the first result for keywords that are likely to bring you interested customers. Easier said than done. Google evaluates over 200 different factors based off of what the crawlers find when they crawl it (crawl rates vary per site). If you don’t have the right team working on your SEO then you may be missing out on a lot of business. Sadly, many search engine optimizers or firms are known to sell false dreams and you can easily fall into these traps. The problem is not too many people know what SEO really is and people are easily taken advantage of because of this. I have worked with several SEO companies in Miami throughout my career and I realize now that most of them were completely inept when it came to providing true results. This blog post can really help you stay on top of your search engine optimization company or team to ensure that you are getting what you pay for but it is geared more towards those only running organic campaigns.
The most crucial part of marketing is the data, without data, you are shooting from the hip. You wouldn’t try to rank for a keyword that is getting only 2 searches a year, you make that decision based off of data. Data is what makes SEO, it is SEO’s oxegen. The data needs to be tracked professionally, you need ensure data tracking and gathering is taking place in an optimal fashion. Some of the tracking tools that should be used are Google Analytics, Webmaster tools and Adwords if you are running a ppc campaign. There are others that should be used but most of the really valuable data can be gathered with these two tools and with good use of excel. Which brings us to our next topic.
The data is only as valuable as your analyst. You need to have a very experienced analyst who has a focus in search marketing. Having a professional analyst is a must have when trying to accomplish optimal results from your SEO efforts. The analyst should be responsible for utilizing the data to constantly improve upon the campaigns performance through identifying trends. Many companies outsource link building and have an in house analyst managing the link building team, the analyst is going to act as your guardian angel if he knows what he’s doing. Having an analyst work with your link building team is a great way to ensure that your link building is clean and that it will provide long last results. Which brings us to my next topic. One of the most heavily weighted factors that Google considers when indexing a site is it’s link profile. A link profile is basically a report that contains all of the links from other sites to your site. The links are generally contextual or images and keywords can be associated to the content or image associated with that corresponding link. Google looks at the way the links are made, the rate at which they are made, the quality of the links, the content associated with the links and many other factors. Link building is very important but it has to be done very uniquely in order to prove to Google that your page is top rank-worthy.
I am going to forecast the next 3 blog topics and would like to take in requests for future topics. I would also be glad to answer any questions. Happy Blogging!
About The Author
Jason Hawkins / http://www.themiamiseocompany.com
Jason Hawkins is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Miami SEO Company. He has over ten years of experience in search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization and lead generation. His core responsibilities include identifying ways to increase value of services rendered, training staff on advanced SEO topics, and A/B testing internal processes to consistently improve client return on investment.
