ONLINE MARKETING > SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING > SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION SEO Strategies YOU ARE HERE!

ETHICAL SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION STRATEGIES

Ethical Search Engine Optimization Techniques Ensure Long-term Results on Major Search Engines While Generating & Retaining Targeted Traffic

Expert search engine optimization, based on ethical marketing strategies, ensures long term results, obtaining and retaining qualified traffic, branding and generating the highest return on investment (ROI) of all online marketing strategies.

Although each SEO campaign is unique, all SEO strategies would impact the same main elements of your website, such as format, content, and structural elements, but to a different degree.

WEBSITE FORMAT

Dynamic or static website format can play an important role in SEO. While dynamic website format offers a unique experience to each user, the same feature unfortunately makes dynamic pages difficult for the search engines to index. Some search engines can't index them, while others don't want to index them because there are too many possibilities. Static website format is much easier for the search engines to index, so the basic elements of an effective SEO campaign are static website pages.

If your site uses a dynamic format, the most favorable way to ensure that search engines are able to find and index your website is to create at least a few static pages.

WEBSITE STRUCTURE

Website structural elements, from page titles & Meta tags to visible copy, headings, images, links, etc., if written and optimized skillfully, could maximize the chances to obtain top placements on search engine listings, along with attracting your targeted audience. Structuring the content of your webpages in logical sections and paragraphs, while emphasizing the principal ideas would be appreciated by both search engines and your target audience.

The organization of your website content is also a significant structural issue. If your website is organized in such a manner that both search engines and users can easily find your pages with relevant information, and navigate through your website effortlessly, it could have a notable impact on your site's search engine visibility and rankings.

Depending on your website organization, the changes involving your website layout, design, and architecture (the menus, navigation, etc.) might need to be applied to make your site more search engine friendly.

WEBSITE CONTENT

The impact of the actual website content is essential! If your website does not offer information searchers look for and expect to find, they would just leave. Expert search engine optimization of your website for terms relevant to your website and popular across the search engines, must be accompanied with corresponding quality content and useful information.

On the other hand, the ultimate goal of each search engine is to provide the most relevant information in a top position of a query result page to users. Therefore, websites with the most relevant content are ranked the highest on search engines, as they are valuable resources to search engines users.

The relevant content should also be presented in such a manner that both search engines and users find it extremely useful and well-written. Your website should provide subject-focused text, with keyphrases implemented skillfully and repeated unobtrusively, along with distinct and descriptive headings and text-based, self-explanatory internal links to other website pages.

ETHICAL SEO PRACTICES

Various user and search engine friendly SEO techniques are utilized, to make a site easier to spider and maximize its chances to obtain top natural / organic search engine listings, while enhancing the user experience:

• thorough keyphrase analysis
• ensuring website design that favors indexability
• improving HTML coding & HTML code validation
• using external style sheets
• using external Java script files
• improving the layout and/or design of your site
• improving your site's architecture and navigation
• implementing inter-linking techniques throughout the site
• Meta tags optimization
• optimizing other elements such as headings, images, links and anchor text, etc.
• rewriting and editing content, and/or copywriting additional pages if necessary
• using site map to provide alternate links for users and search spiders
• utilizing breadcrumbs and alternate footer text link menus for better user experience and search engine indexability

All the above techniques refer to "on page" elements, which are contained within the document. Therefore the term "on page" or "on site" optimization is often used. Beside "on site" elements, there are so called "off site" elements that influence potential high positions on the search engines, which could also be improved. Off-site Search Engine Optimization >>

User Oriented Design & Ethical Website Marketing Strategies by Distinctia, 2003