| How to Stay Visible
on the Web Organically |
| The Importance of Search
Engine Optimization |
| By: Maryland Web Designers, Inc. |
| |
| John F. Kennedy once said that "Change is the law
of life. And those who look only to the past or present
are certain to miss the future." |
| Even though we're pretty certain when giving this
quote Kennedy wasn't referring to Search Engine Optimization
and the importance of frequently changing the content
of your website in order to affect your organic (or
natural) ranking within the major search engines,
we ARE sure that what he was saying was that change
is not only good, but necessary in order to grow
and be successful. |
| At Maryland Web Designers, Inc., we understand
that content is king on the Internet. Updating your
content frequently, as well as using specific keywords
and key phrases on your website, is crucial to the
present and future success of your website. |
| Search Engine Optimization is the process of specifically
using certain keywords and phrases within a site
that will affect a sites ranking within major search
engines. basically. The bottom line is if you want
your business to be successful and have longevity
on the web, then hire a website designer with strong
search engine optimization skills. |
| Perfecting optimization is not magic. No more magic
than an accountant doing your taxes, a lawyer representing
your case, or a doctor diagnosing your ailment. At
Maryland Web Designers, Inc., we focus on innovative
website design and hosting with a strong emphasis
on search engine optimization and search engine marketing. |
| We understand that it's not enough to have a beautifully
designed site, well written content, easy-to-navigate
menu, and so on. In Today's fast-paced and highly
competitive market, your content doesn't just have
to be relevant; it needs to be current and ever-changing.
By current, we mean that your site needs to have
the specific words and phrases that search engines
are seeking. To complicate matters even more, your
website has to be well written, spell checked, formatted
correctly, and your key words and phrases should
change or be added to quite frequently, while at
the same time keeping up with changing trends that
keep you ahead of your competition. Not to mention
the new content on your website will give visitors
a reason to come back to your pages, or possibly
forward some information to a possible business prospect
or a friend. Your new content can also be used as
an extended marketing vehicle by submitting your
new content or articles to the search engines or
other websites, with of course links back to your
site. Hence your traffic grows. |
| Most users find websites by going to one of the
major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask Jeeves,
etc.) and typing in keywords or phrases related to
their topic. Statistically, the first page will list
10 to 20 results along with sponsored PPC Listings
where users are able to find their sites. Essentially,
if your website doesn't rank high enough, your target
audience won't make it to your site. Even if your
website is listed on page two, you're out of luck
- most internet surfers don't look past for the first
couple of listings - essentially, your site is lost
in cyber space. |
| |
| Optimization Factors |
| Perfecting optimization begins with the most important
ingredient: Content. When writing copy for a website,
it's important to have relevant, current content.
The ultimate goal of a website is to be listed as
one of the top 10 organic results on each of the
major search engines. This placement essentially
guarantees that your website will not only be found,
but clicked on, giving you a better chance that the
lead you worked so hard for will be turned into a
sale, and therefore a return on your website investment. |
| Each website needs to be optimized according to
the target website viewer. For example, say your
website is a Honda Dealership in Maryland; it is
crucial that when you type in "Maryland Honda" YOUR
automotive dealership comes up in that search on
the major search engines. This is very important
if you want to get Internet leads. |
 |
| Along the same lines, writing good, clear, and
relevant page titles is also an important factor
in search engine optimization. A good page title
will increase your search engine placement results
dramatically. For title page tags, being simple and
relevant is key. For example, if your are a "Maryland
CPA Firm" than Maryland CPA Firm should be in your
title. If your selling t-shirts, then t-shirt should
be in the page title. It's hard to believe that something
so simple is so commonly overlooked, but surprisingly
this technique is seldom utilized. In most cases,
people are too descriptive and creative when writing
page titles, not understanding that using too many
keywords, punctuation and cutesy language can have
an adverse effect on search engines browsers. |
| Page title is only one of many factors that enter
into matching up your website values with specific
search engine algorithms. For example, if your values
for a page title match your page title in a formula
then you would have a higher ranking than someone
who does not have a direct match. It's hard to believe
some website designers, still name page titles; Welcome,
Services and the infamous Home Page. Would you ever
type in the aforementioned (Welcome, Services or
Home Page to find your product or service on a major
search engine like Google or Yahoo?) I should hope
not! |
| It is important to note that there are many companies
on the Internet as well as many web designers that
claim to be search engine optimizers or marketers,
even going as far as guaranteeing a top ten listing.
Our advice to you: be wary of these folks. The only
way to guarantee a top ten listing is if you happen
to own that particular search engine or portal. |
| Optimization is an ongoing process, one that requires
a consistent and regulated maintenance schedule.
It is important to work within search engine guidelines
in order to effectively optimize and promote the
content of your website. Search engines seek out
current, relevant content regularly using spiders
and bots looking for specific keywords and phrases.
It's important to have an experienced search engine
optimizer continuously updating your website's content
so that the search engines give your site a good
ranking. Each search engine is unique in terms of
the characteristics that factor into your specific
ranking in their results. |
| Sure, there are tons of other ways to market your
website, but organic search engine results are by
far the best way to go in terms of yielding results.
That's why it's crucial that search engine optimization
should be an important part of your marketing plan.
In other words, why spend time and money building
a website if you're not going to market it properly
in order to achieve the best return on your investment.
A solid marketing plan would allow for a minimum
of $250 - $500 per month for optimization, not including
content creation. |
| Through successfully marketing our own websites,
Maryland Web Designers, Inc. knows that Web-to-Web
Marketing undoubtedly brings the most traffic to
a website. |
| Maryland Web Designers, Inc. has proven formulas
and techniques that will help your website get maximum
exposure. We have 15 years of corporate start-up
technology experience along with a wide range of
search engine optimization practices with proven
results that will propel your site to a higher search
engine ranking. Using a highly concentrated website
design architecture, key messages, phrases, content,
images, links, and time tested proprietary techniques,
Maryland Web Designers, Inc. will create an internet
marketing plan that's customized to your specific
business as well as your unique products and services.
We provide monthly search engine optimizing maintenance
and support so that your website stands ahead of
your competition. |
| We are proud to be #1. It's easy to put your faith
in a company that is ranked #1 on Google. |
 |
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our website? |
