SEARCH ENGINE
OPTIMIZATION
Search engine optimization is a
popular buzzword. With differing best
practices and misguided information
being spread around, it can seem like
black magic. A certain mix of content,
social media and optimization will
make my site appear at the top of the
results page someday…right? But how
do search engines work and what does
optimization actually mean?
MIkE BRIAN is a partner and Interactive Director at
Penna Powers Brian Haynes. With 23 years of industry
experience, he has worked with PPBH’s major clients
including UDOT, Daifuku, 2002 Winter Olympics and
JPMorgan Chase.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION THE HUMAN APPROACH PENNA POWERS BRIAN HAYNES WHITE PAPER
<Page Title> [Optional Sub-category] <Main Category> <Site Name> - [Site Slogan] New Press Release | News | My News Site – Your source for News.
There are two approaches to search engine optimization:
BlACk HAT
Utilizing underhanded tactics to trick search engines into thinking your page has more content, is somehow more widely used or contains relevant information when, in fact, it does not.
WHITE HAT
Building the site so it is optimized for a living, human person.
OPTIMIZE FOR HUMANS, NOT SEARCH ENGINES
The purpose of a search engine is to fi nd the most relevant information for the human being behind the search. When pages are built, they’re not built for Google’sTM robots to view. They’re built for real, actual people at the other end.
Search engines are trying to emulate a human being. If your page is optimized for a real person, search engine crawlers will recognize this. Search engines are trying to locate information that is useful for a human, while weeding out information that is not useful or pertinent to the search.
REvERSE BREAdCRUMB TITlES ANd NAvIGATIONAl BREAdCRUMBS
Humans like to know where they are on a site or what site is loaded in the next tab on their browser. By providing a clean reference to where you are, people will be able to navigate your site easier. As an added bonus, search engines will detect your site-hierarchy based on page titles and your top pages will be included underneath your search results.
Though most search engines are fl exible, the recommended delimiters are “ ” for site hierarchy and “–“ after the site name:
RElEvANT URlS
An informational URL can go a long way. Take the following URLs: http://example.com/page-4391.html
vs.
http://example.com/news/utah/technology/new-search-engine-algorithm-discovered People like to know what they’re clicking on before they click it. The first URL offers absolutely no indication as to the page content — is it important? Is it a joke?
URls are also one of the highest-ranked metrics for search engines.
If your keyword is in the domain or URl, the ranking will go up.
However, there is a limit to the amount of good information that can be provided in the URL. The exact amount is never defined, but more than ten keywords is generally not a good idea. After that you risk Over Optimization Penalties (OOP). For a human, a relevant title is useful; a jumble of keywords is not.
QUAlITy lINkS
Incoming links to your site are very important in determining the rank. As with any human being, recommendations from trusted associates will always be rated higher. The same logic is being applied here. You want lots of incoming links to your site, but not from shady sources.
Good links
• High-profile, top-level-domains (TLDs) such as .gov and .edu • Reputable sites, high-traffic or otherwise well-known sites • Wikipedia page about your product
• Social media (Twitter,TM Facebook,TM blogs) • Forums
• News websites
Bad links
• Portal pages or link indexes • Irrelevant sites
STANdARdS COMPlIANCE
Making a webpage that will function for everyone (blind, mobile viewers, etc.) is a contributor to overall quality. Functionality also makes your site easier for search engines to read and index.
Some developers still turn a shoulder to XHTML compliance, thinking HTML4.01 and the transitional hacks are good enough. However, the site may look correct on the outside, but won’t function with things like screen readers, different font sizes, mobile devices
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION THE HUMAN APPROACH PENNA POWERS BRIAN HAYNES WHITE PAPER
CONTENT IS kEy
Regardless of all the other optimizations made, the content on your page is the most important contributor to SEO. Frequent, useful site updates help produce a higher rank.
Blogs and site news pages keep your site fresh. Frequent, useful updates entice visitors to return to your page and provide search engines with more information to index.
The World Wide Web Consortium has laid out guidelines to follow for ensuring compatibility among many devices. Not following them shows a lack of quality,
regardless if your site is targeted at disabled persons, mobile devices or print versions. Not following the standards for interoperability is comparable to having typos all over your document. Likewise, if you cannot be bothered to build a website that conforms to standards, then how useful is the rest of your creation?
If your webpage is built compliant, it should still provide useful information while degrading gracefully. Fancy features look nice, but you should strive to ensure your page also functions without Javascript, images, Flash or colors.
THE HUMAN ASPECT
Anything useful for a human is also a factor in SEO rankings. Likewise, anything a human fi nds annoying is going to decrease your search engine rankings.
More examples of good optimizations:
• RSS Feeds – People like to have a digest of all sites they’re following.
• Proper HTMl Header Tag Usage – A website fl ows like a book, with chapters, sub-chapters, headers, footers and a table of contents. Keyword matching in heading tags is given a higher rank, as with a traditional document.
• Relevant Anchor Text – “Click here” tells a visitor and the search engine nothing. A text link should describe exactly what it is linking to.
• Social Media – Humans like to share thoughts and ideas with their friends. Making this easier for them only helps increase traffi c.
• Ranking and Commenting – The community at large is smarter than any one person. A wide range of people often produces fresh insight and new, useful information.
SOURCES:
Vaughns Summaries
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-ranking-factors.htm GOOGLE Webmaster FAQs
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#1 World Wide Web Consortium, Web Accessibility Guidelines
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/
ADVERTISING PUBLIC RELATIONS INTERACTIVE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
Penna Powers Brian Haynes is a fully-integrated Advertising, Public Relations, Interactive and Public Involvement fi rm. For 25 years we’ve been renowned for solving problems through smart, strategic thinking, powerful creative and appropriate media and marketing tools, with an emphasis on strong, quantifi able results. And while all the awards are nice (our lobby’s lousy with statuettes) that’s not where we hang our hats. The only thing that really matters at the end of the day is our clients’ success. Okay, that and our Emmy.®
