OK...so you would like to know specifics? Here goes.
To begin with, developing your Web site to be search engine friendly and still be easy to up date for non-technical staff is a very complex task. All of Market Pipeline's Web sites use our own Content Management System (CMS). Keep in mind that there tons of Content Management Systems out there, some really good and some really bad. We believe ours is one of the best.
Content Management Systems are complex databases designed to give non-technical staff the ability to update a Web page.
Getting a database to work kindly with the look and feel (the graphics) of your Web site is sort of like getting the Hatfields and McCoys to sing Kum By Yah together.
Good SEO has similar issues. Having a site built to be easy to update and still be built for the changing landscape of search engine marketing is not something for the faint of heart...or should we say an amateur or hobbyist.
The first step in good search engine marketing is a great understanding of your business. Market Pipeline must take the time to understand your product segments and the different market segments that your products serve.
Every Web site that Market Pipeline deploys is built to specific standards to insure that your Web site is as friendly as possible to the search engines.
Even for Market Pipeline's "budget" Web sites our Search Engine Optimization Specialists will do the following to every Web site:
- We will create a file called a Sitemap file and place it on your Web site and then submit that file to Google, Yahoo and MSN. This insures that your Web site will be crawled by the major search engines properly. This process DOES NOT guarantee that your Web site will ranked favorably with the search engines, but it does guarantee that the search engines will index all your Web pages properly in their databases.
- We will insert the appropriate Page Title on each Web page. For example, if you have a page that describes your Super Duper Widgets we will insert "Super Duper Widgets" in the Page Title. Some search engines do index or catalog the Page Title and this may help your rankings.
- We will insert meta tag data on each Web page. For example, if you are ABC Supply, an industrial belt supplier, Market Pipeline will insert meta tags on each page such as "ABC Supply, industrial belt supply". This does not insure ranking with the search engines but it does help some the search engines index your Web pages properly.
- We will construct your Web site so that it is compliant with World Wide Consortium (W3C) standards. These are specifications and guidelines that have been developed since 1996 to insure the Web reaches its full potential. Building your Web site in this manner helps your Web site to be search engine friendly and insures that the search engines do not take any adverse action against your Web site.
The above procedures will insure that your Web site is found properly by the major search engines, but does guarantee ranking with the search engines.
If you want to be more successful with search engine optimization, Market Pipeline can develop a more aggressive approach that can be designed specifically for your budget, your product segments and market segments.
Generally Market Pipeline follows these SEO procedures. Each step in the process can be as aggressive as necessary to satisfy our client's needs and budget.
- Indentify Your Target Markets. Market Pipeline takes the time to understand your products and the markets these products serve. We want to know the nuances of your business and which products, services and markets offer the biggest opportunity for growth. What is hot and what is not.
- Indentify Competition. Market Pipeline will study your competitors' Web sites to see which ones are ranking above your Web site for targeted keywords. This gives Market Pipeline some identifiable goals in your search engine marketing campaign.
- Indentify Keyword Phrases. Once we know what keywords and search engine marketing services the "leader" is using we can beat them at their own game. We also take the time to do more analysis to determine if there are other words Web users are using to find your products and services that neither you nor your competitors have thought of.
- Prioritize Keyword Phrases. Possibly you would like to aggressively go after your most profitable product segments using search engine optimization or you have limited budget. Market Pipeline will prioritize the keyword phrases to reflect your needs.
- Add Keywords to Content. Market Pipeline will help you develop rich "Information Pages" for your products or services and make sure the necessary keywords are in the content.
- Submit Pages to Search Engines. Now Market Pipeline is ready to submit these product specific pages to Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other search engines.
- Check Placement. Now it is time to check our work. Market Pipeline will monitor the placement of your critical keyword phrases on the search engine return pages (SERP) to see if our efforts are paying off.
- Measure. Market Pipeline uses powerful software to measure the effectiveness of our search engine marketing efforts. We will report to you as often as necessary so that you can see what the return on investment is from your Web marketing efforts.
- Repeat. Now it is time to repeat the process. Search engine optimization never takes a break, much like your competitors. It is a constant process of fine tuning, tweaking, whatever term you want to use. It takes time and commitment to be successful.
All this may sound expensive and intimidating. It is not. We make it simple and easy to understand. And in terms of expense...if it is done right, it should pay large dividends in terms of lead generation and sales.
