Websites can only pop up in search results if they have been "indexed" by the search engine. Search engines accomplish this by "crawling" the internet. When a search engine finds a website, it will read it in a very specific manner and then index that information.
Often times, small details in how the website is coded and laid out can confuse the search engine or cause the website to be read in the wrong order, which diminishes the effectiveness of keywords. Also, we often find certain objects on the website are not being utilized in the most SEO friendly way.
For these reasons, we begin with a review of the website’s structure, which we are uniquely qualified to do, as our SEO team has a strong programming background. Once our site structure evaluation is complete, we will provide our recommendations to the current site administrator. If necessary, steps to allow our programmer to make the changes themselves can be arranged.
Once the site structure recommendations have been implemented, we can begin the keyword optimization, confidently knowing the search engines will read the keywords we choose in the order we want.
First, we will research what keywords should be targeted for use in the website. Our study will take into account how frequently a term is searched for and how competitive that term is (eg. How hard it would be to rank for that term). Sometimes, a website has already targeted the best keywords, but more often than not there is room for optimization. A few examples:
A website selling computers may focus on the keyword "notebooks" when "laptops" commands a much higher search volume.
A plumber’s website may mention the word "plumber," but neglect to include a geographical qualifier. Ranking for the word "plumber" would be very difficult, as it is highly competitive. Ranking for "plumber in Chicago area" would be easier, but still very competitive. Ranking for "plumber in Naperville" would be much more realistic and actually bring in traffic and potential customers.
In addition to choosing the right keywords, we will also optimize their placement and saturation within the content. For example, using the keywords just once is probably not ideal. However, using the keywords five times in each sentence is way over the top and will come off as spammy to both the search engines and prospective customers. Our keyword optimization will help websites strike the appropriate balance.
After keyword optimization, a search engine crawling your site will associate you with the new and improved keyword targets. This means your website will be included in the search results for these keywords, but how high will your site be ranked? This answer will heavily influenced by phase three, link building.
To begin with, what is a link? In SEO terms, a link is a measure of credibility – a vote in your website’s favor. When search engines crawl the internet, they count how many links direct traffic back to your site. A high quantity of these "back links" is nice, but even more important is the quality of these links.
On the internet, the quality of a back link is determined by the linking website’s "page rank." In simple terms, page rank is a measure of a website’s authority on a scale of 1 to 10. For example, a website set up to post the schedule of a local bowling league would probably have a page rank of 1, as it is less important. A back link from this website would be worth very little. Conversely, a back link from CNN, would be extremely valuable, as it is an authoritative website with a page rank of 10. To put this in perspective, you would need millions of page rank 1 links in order to equal a single link from a page rank 10 website.
While a back link from a page rank 10 website is not realistic, Dagoosh! will target many relevant, moderately ranked websites. Remember, a search engine’s ultimate goal is to provide its users with the most relevant and useful results. Our link building process, which focuses on both quality and relevancy, ensures that your website’s ranking in the search results increases for the keywords that are most important to you.
Graphic reports will be provided in print and via our web portal. Reports will include what we feel are key performance indicators including: