SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION:
This page last updated: 10/16/05

Please read Jill Whalen's "10 Tips to the Top" SEO article. Very informative and reiterates what I've been telling my clients for the last year and a half.

Crawler based search engine optimization is included in the price of a custom website, unless the client specifies otherwise. This means, your website will be designed to be effectively crawled by search engine spyders & bots. It does not mean that your site will rank in search engines or that it may even be found in search engines. Although, typically, we have found that it does matter quite a bit and any results are just byproducts of a good design.

Search Engine Link Campaigns and other optimization services that target rankings in specific search engines or that have no relation to the actual design of your website are no longer offered by Studio531.

Search engine optimization begins with the "design of your website", but doesn't end there by any means. In the last 2 years, search engine optimization has become a very specialized job, not to mention a tedious and time consuming occupation without guarantee. Search Engine companies want to keep it this way because then you'll just say "Screw it" and buy an adword or a sponsor link. If you think about it, it makes sense.

We have found that clients who participate in their own link campaign, typically do very well in the search engines for natural rankings. What is a link campaign? This is where you contact other site owners in the community and reciprocate links with them. The links must be from legitimate, relevant and preferably higher ranked websites. This is actually what most SEO experts will do for you, but without any guarantee. Thing is, ... you're in a better position to do that kind of work and make those kinds of decisions than they are. However, if the algorithms change yet again, they will be in a better position to make the adjustments than you. MMMMMmmmmmmmmm...... it's a quagmire of rat's crap.

Regardless of whether you hire a pro, or do it yourself, you needt to start by defining what keywords (or Adwords) you want to rank high for in the search engines.

Your keywords (ad text) must be relevant to your site, products, or services.

Write accurate keywords / ad text. Your keywords must directly relate to the content on the landing page for that keyword. If you offer a local service or product, clearly indicate your location in your keyword(s).

Example:
If you mention that you are selling socks for 20% off only in San Francisco, you should include "San Francisco" in your ad text, and your link should direct people to a page that clearly displays socks at the discounted price.

Example:
A San Francisco apartment rental agency would not be allowed to run on only the keyword "rentals." It's too broad and extremely competitive. The agency would have to use keywords such as "San Francisco rental agency" or "Bay Area apartments."

Once you've determined about 20 keyword and phrases, try typing them into a search engine like Google and check out your competition. Take a look at their website(s), as well as their code, and compare it to yours.

Then check your words on Word Tracker. Use the free trial and buy the service if you like. It's probably worth it, if you get into it.

Now you're ready to talk to someone, or get your hands dirty.

Good luck.