Search Engine Optimization And Developing A Strategic Marketing Plan

Are you enamored by websites' that consistently appear in the top 10 search results for multiple terms? In case you're wondering how they rank so well, those sites have graduated to the status of authority websites.

What is an Authority website? Authority websites are sites that contain useful content, enjoy massive quantities of unique (recurring) traffic or have strong link profiles from other sites as a result of their content. As an authority website, they have strategically acquired the trust of the search engines (like a good friend) and like clockwork, provide search engines with consistent, relevant, fresh content, (which is what they seek the most) and are rewarded by high ranking search engine visibility.

Here are some tips (broken into stages) that you can use, when developing a strategic marketing plan for your next search engine optimization campaign.

1. Competitive Research (knowing who, what, where, when and how the competition does what it does).

2. Keyword Analysis (making sure you select keywords with the most relevance and also keywords that can be acquired realistically by your website in it's current status.).

3. Link Building & Website Authority (knowing the range and scope of your search engine visibility, or knowing how to increase it).

4. Marketing & Promotion (putting a spin on your content or making it viral to build links naturally).

Let's start with competitive research and one brief statement " you are only as strong as your weakest link", so if you are trying to rank like a blockbuster and still have lackluster copy lingering on your pages or pages for lack of better terms that are starved for links, then you are only in essence, holding yourself back. We briefly discussed making your website an authority above, one side effect is, your entire site will be crawled, and re-crawled until every page is indexed and contributing it's 2 cents. So you may wish to make sure that the content on all of your pages is up to par.

Shall we get started? The first an foremost thing is to know the extent of your competition. If you were selling arts and crafts for example, you may not be in a competitive environment by comparison to real estate for example. So, knowing yourself and surveying the competition is imperative in order to provide the framework for the game plan.

1. Competitive Research

SEO does not involve happenstance, it is based on very specific principles of engineering and common sense. Similarly, do you think that world travelers set out on a quest with a head full of conviction, assumptions and half witted impulses? I would hardly think so, in fact their quest began with a vision and then they had to develop a plan to execute it. Much in the same way a search engine optimization expert needs to survey the territory to make an adequate summation of the obstacles and advantages to the course they plot.

This is where competitive analysis comes into play. Knowing who your competitors are (outside the ones you are aware of) is important. This can all be accomplished to some extent through SEO tools. However, the tools are only as good as the ones using them, but the point is, it is a starting point for getting a grip on what's hot and what's not as far as the industry, the market potential and most importantly the keywords and trends that consumers are exhibiting when conducting searches to find the key players at the top of their game (the category leaders). How did they get there you might ask? By plotting the proper path. The web is based on words, choose the right ones to optimize and traffic is the result, choose the wrong keywords and something terrible happens, nothing.

2. Keyword Analysis and Choosing the Right Keywords

This step comes right after the competitive research phase...

Choosing the right keywords is essential for initiating a proper search engine optimization campaign. Organic SEO is a more involved process than PPC (pay-per-click marketing) which just allows you (for a fee of course) to rank for related or unrelated content. Organic SEO however, involves ranking variables such as

(1) the servers you use

(2) are they clean (free of shared IP addresses from Gambling or Adult sites)

(3) the programming language and the code used to program your pages (W3C validated & compliant?)

(4) is the site static or does it use a content management system? and if so, is it optimized

(5) as well as architectural elements that comprise your websites' content and design all contribute to how search engines interpret and rank your pages. But just as the aforementioned components are an imperative quotient for superb rankings, choosing the right keywords when

(a) creating content as well as

(b) optimizing your site are the true secret formula for achieving top 10 placement.

Choosing the right keywords is the equivalent of making the first move in a chess game. By the very nature of design, certain choices eliminate other choices, in SEO this also is true. Using the right strategy for the right circumstances wins the favor of search engines at the end of the day, the only trick is, what they favor changes daily, so you have to keep a constant vigil and look for indicators or islands of stability in the code. Just like in the movie the matrix, over time you start to understand the ebb and flow of search engines and can arm your website with a plethora of tactics to stave off any unnecessary eruptions which could through your trajectory off course in your plight to reach the top. Call it a touch of prevention, or a more equip description would be strategic planning.

So in essence, you can determine the extent of an internet marketing strategy, based on (a) the medium it uses (b) the weakness or conditions it exposes or (c) the trail it leaves behind. Whereas by comparison in SEO, it is easy to see where something is going, based on certain signposts that indicate where it has been. For example, if a site has 5 top 10 rankings, rest assured having 10 is not a stretch of the imagination, rather merely a matter of time. What you cannot see, is how the strategies overlap, so just as in chess you make the first move, but are thinking four moves ahead, SEO works the same way.

Developing Links & Website Authority

When you first analyze a website (after you have seen enough top 10 rankings to be proficient in your analysis) you start to develop a feel for what it takes to land a page in the coveted top 10 search results for competitive keywords. Much like a weatherman, although you cannot surmise exactly with pin point accuracy, you can however predict certain behaviors by executing certain protocols or seeing tell tale signs which represent patterns you have deciphered in the past.

The first step is usually removing all of the things that obstruct search engines from getting to the real gist of the page, the content. Search engine spiders follow passages from one website to the next, these are links. Links are responsible for connecting your content as well as connecting your site as a hub to and from the internet. Based upon your use of links, internally in the site and externally referencing your site, you can create link popularity and relevance for your material.

We know for example that links are the basic fundamental building blocks that are responsible for how websites are ranked. The higher quality the link, the more value the link passes. Get enough of them, and your website is the new authority on the block, and as such high rankings are a by product.

So, we know that instead of creating or building links from off topic sources (link farms or tacky free directories with low quality links) which have little value, that what we do have control over is the content and the types of industries we select to execute a link popularity program. So, for example a new site or a website that has not really branched out and performed any type of website promotion is better off using article marketing (a controlled method that creates context and piques interest for visitors) to build quality inbound links.

Instead of linking to hundreds of low rate directories in an attempt to persuade the search engines to heighten your online credentials, instead we would suggest using articles and controlled distribution to inject new material (with links back to your site) intact in each article. In this way, it creates a linking buzz back to your site, which then gets indexed from search engines, but now instead of the new guy on the block, you are the new bona fide expert, as a result of the tactical press releases and content you published. This tactic creates intrinsic value while providing enough link bait for your website to shake a stick at, enticing readers to investigate further if the merit of your content created an emotional hook with the reader. Although that is one example, there is one more important factor.

The Wild Card

The true wild cards of internet marketing are things like the emotional state of the reader, how sticky your sites content is (which changes based upon the emotional state of the reader), do they want to read more, click the back button, purchase your products, etc. Some things are simply beyond your control and the mood of the person reading your message is one of them. Based on their mood they will react to certain click triggers under Circumstance A and yet click another selection based on impulse under Circumstance B. So the gist is, to put yourself in the position of the visitor and weave enough compelling copy into your titles, your pages and your sales pitch to capture a broader segment of traffic and interest from anyone who stumbles upon your content (by way of a search, a link, or web 2.0 site) that is if you want to reap the rewards of traffic conversion, which is another topic in it's entirety.

Jeffrey L. Smith is an seasoned search engine optimization strategist and founder of SEO Design Solutions SEO Web Design Company in Chicago. Jeffrey has been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings fresh optimization methods and solutions for businesses seeking long-tail Search Engine Optimization Services.