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How to Improve Search Engine Positioning

Written by: Jeffrey L. Smith

Article Overview: Page rank only accounts for a small portion of the factors accountable for positioning your pages in search engines. Understanding this, you can strategically strengthen the criteria that contribute the most weight to the pages in your website. The underlying emphasis is, to gain trust rank and website authority for your niche, as a by-product, your pages can achieve optimal positioning across dozens of high volume search terms in major search engines, without ever spending a dime.

How to Improve Search Engine Positioning

Looking for a competitive edge in search engines that won't cost you a dime?

In which case, we have outlined a few basic fundamentals regarding website placement known for improving search engine positioning and promoting recognition of your content. This sure-fire method is one way to develop trust rank and website authority over time.

Examples of this marketing strategy are prevalent in diverse industries ranging from fortune 500 companies, non profit organizations, social media networks as well as small businesses and individual blogs. Regardless of the industry or niche, the results are the same, consistent top 10 placement and VIP status in search engines.

So, what is this closely guarded SEO strategy that trumps page rank? The answer is website trust & authority, so let's take a look at how to earn it for your website and all of the subsequent pages published from your URL.


How to create Trust Rank and Website Authority:


One well known secret amongst industry experts is developing relevant content using "exact match" broad search terms (on your pages) while surrounding it with contextual content that supports the theme of the page. In addition using keyword-rich links and useful resources to augment your pages, links to and from related sites can also position your web pages as an authority site in search engines.

For example, if your business is a travel agency, optimizing terms like "find cheap flights to Florida" is an example of a contextual exact match term, if we used that phrase as a hyper link to our pricing page, it would add more weight to the actual search term in search engines, as well as the page the link is on and the one it is pointing to.

if you build your pages based on this strategy (much like Wikipedia's 1.9 million articles in the US for example) search engine algorithms associate your website as an authority since you are creating relevance and resources for the various communities that comprise the web. The reward for such a contribution is hub status or authority which translates to pure search engine visibility. There is a reason why Wikipedia dominates search results, essentially since the prime directive of search engines is to provide users with the most relevant results that correspond to their query. Essentially, giving the people what they want and when they want it (without the clutter) is the framework engineers use when programming the algorithm. So from one side, thinking like a consumer and putting yourself in the mindset of the prospect is required so you optimize the appropriate terms on one hand, but also thinking like an engineer who's purpose is to facilitate the best search experience allows you to balance your content with informative, compelling call to action mingled in with solid SEO copy writing, the end result is rankings that rise to the top of any page they land on.

Websites are evaluated with scrutiny from a vast array of criteria within search engine algorithms, their primary method used to assess your website is through the use of spiders to collect snapshots of your content. It is the spider (otherwise known as a user agent, or web bot) that gathers data from all pages across the web and determines if sites pass the muster and provide valuable content, or fail to deliver relevance beyond generic motives such as (we are the best, biggest, leading, professional, yada yada, in our city, state, planet,etc.).

Pages harboring generic content and diffused design elements rarely appeal to spiders like Google bot, Slurp for Yahoo or other user agents that scour the web. Search engines are truly looking for UNIQUE content to assign authority and have become experts in locating and ranking websites that make the grade. If you give the spiders what they want, they will return frequently to glean your pages and assign rankings for your new pages (within hours or days instead of weeks) as well as revive older pages you may have long since forgotten. Page rank is by the page, so essentially to increase your potential return on investment, each page of your website can be optimized for specific keywords with high search volume with laser like precision.

One example of website authority, is when you see two web pages returned in a search query from the same website. This is a by-product of authority, multiple pages in your site that have the ability to rank independently equal a higher probability for conversion. This type of search engine placement occurs (multiple listings) when one or more of your keywords are common denominators on several pages.

When composing your content, it is important to vary the context of the keywords and not to group them too close together in your body copy. There are two reasons for this, (1) you could set off spam filters in the algorithm and penalize your rankings and (2) keywords grouped too closely together are considered one keyword and only rank well if someone were searching for them the way they appear in on the page(remember the exact match reference above) try to use "exact match search terms" when applicable. In order to keep your pages well within the limits of tactful writing, a keyword density of 3-5% for the total number of words on your page is sufficient. Or another way of looking at this is roughly one keyword per sentence, with no more than 3 keywords per paragraph, in order to allow enough terms to reference that term for the long tail.

Writing in this fashion will keep you well within the appropriate keyword density known for achieving improved positioning, as well as score points with the humans that read your posts. There is nothing worse to a new visitor than a page stuffed full of keywords, not to mention your conversion rates will ultimately suffer (from visitors leaving) if the viewer has difficulty interpreting your pages.

When developing new content for your website, try surrounding your keywords with adjectives or qualifiers to augment their contextual impact (affordable, professional, best, leading, company, services, etc.). This also provides excellent long-tail search results (unintentional optimization for your pages) when people are typing in longer search queries to find related content. One example of a long tail search is "real estate company offering affordable closing rates with no down payment" vs. real estate. Surprisingly, long tail search terms are known for producing higher conversion from visitors since they are in essence more specific and indicative of a motivated buyer as opposed to a casual web surfer. So, having your site ready to capitalize on the long tail can be done in the content creation phase through thoughtful planning and word choice.
You should optimize EACH PAGE on your site for (1-3) specific key phrases and combinations (in order to broaden your net of catch phrases) for potential clients.


Elements known to create website authority and trust rank in search engines are:


1. Relevant Content

2. Consistent Updates to Your Pages

3. Deep Linking from Industry Authorities



Keeping Content Relevant:


Although relevant content is subjective, it can be classified by it's usefulness, the vocabulary used to convey the message or the conclusions drawn from the resources it references. In addition content that is easy to read, copy that compels the reader to take action or piques their interest will typically garner a larger audience in the blog or social networking community for example, which translates to the ability to monetize your site with sponsored advertising programs, banners, etc.

When creating a new page, ask yourself does the content truly leave the viewer satiated with a sense of satisfaction? If so you have fulfilled their reason for visiting in the first place and will strike a chord with them. The result, trust which is favorable for sales conversion.

Write every page this way and you can determine who reads your content based on the optimization utilized, using your titles and descriptions as signal flares for search engines to identify the context of your pages. The real secret here is in tweaking the pages which leads into the next point.


Consistent Updates to your Pages:


Refresh your content regularly to improve search engine rankings. It is a known fact, websites that refresh their content regularly can acquire hub or authority status.

A website can gain authority from exhibiting unique patterns which distinguish them from other sites such as

(a) a steady flow or increase in traffic
(b) increased link popularity from other sites proving valuable one way links (Wikipedia is an example of this)
(c) a healthy ratio of inbound to outbound links to or from other related sites.

This is why blogs for example, organically rank higher in search engines than most pages, since they are by their very nature aligned with the principles of what search engine algorithms reward. If you are not using a blog on your own server within your site as a subdirectory or sub domain, I would highly suggest it, due to the long term benefits it can provide for keeping all of your pages crawled regularly from search engines. This also works well in tandem to making tweaks and adjustments to your keywords, titles and descriptions which invariably have their impact on improving rankings.

The description tag, the bin and the ability to rank again and again for multiple keywords on each page:

One SEO tip for long-tail search engine optimization is, in your description tag for each page, try to use tactfully written "exact match terms" as much as possible for the main keywords on your page. One other point to note if you are optimizing your pages specifically for Google. Google has a memory of every revision you have every made to your site, so every page title and every description you every wrote for your pages is stored in a profile (known as the bin) for your site, when someone types a query, it checks the bin for an exact or partial match and then returns the most appropriate response from any number of websites and respective pages within those sites (you can see this in the description of the search results, they change based upon your query). So, in essence, the more you update your pages strategically, the more frequently Google returns and catalogs your content, the more keywords you can amass for each page in your website.

This is a true gem of knowledge if you realize that, even though you may have changed the page, the original version and all versions since are still in the bin, so imagine each page on your site being able to rank for terms that may or may not still exist those pages but still are indexed in the digital ghost of your pages. This means that over time, through strategic planning, you can build each page up for specific keywords and subsequent rankings associated with those keywords.

This is why you always hear experts in the SEO industry stating to refresh your content. By tweaking your website i.e. re-optimizing your pages (recycling your pages, tightening up the content or changing titles, descriptions and keyword variations) you compound the ranking potential for each page in your site. Using the bin / memory theory, you can continually optimize your pages for broader or more specific search terms. You can still rank for keywords, sentences or paragraphs that existed on your pages months ago as well as still return search results from the current re-optimized keywords that may be more in tune with the times.


Deep Linking from Authority Sites:


Last but not least, one of the final ingredients in improving search engine ranking and gaining website authority is links. The more relevant the link the better, but more importantly if you can acquire links from websites with trust rank, unique C Class IP addresses (the first 8000 URL's created), or social networking or bookmarking sites such as web 2.0 sites like Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us, etc. This can dramatically impact your own website authority, since websites with high page rank and thousands of inbound links have the ability to pass on their VIP influence from search engines to your site over time through one-way permanent links.

This is a legitimate method which requires patience, persistence and perseverance to attain the goal, but any noteworthy accomplishment can be measured by the fruit of it's labor. One thing to consider, is not loading up your home page with links from other sites, this appears unnatural, if you are using directories, blogs, social networking sites or article marketing to expand your search engine visibility, then make sure that when applicable that your spread the links evenly to sub directories, or less popular pages in your site.

The reason will become apparent over time, as you see pages with a page rank of zero from your website outrank page rank 4, 5 or 6 websites who may have strong on page SEO factors, but have neglected off page SEO link building to cement their rankings.


In summary:


1. Create value through providing on-topic, relevant content in relationship to the title and description of the page.

2. Re-Optimize content regularly with emphasis on the description tag and using exact match terms for high volume keywords.

3. Add breathtaking adjectives where possible or terms that can augment long-tail search results (affordable, professional, company, services, etc. )

4. Create new pages with the optimized goal in mind, instead of trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole. New content adds value (and additional page rank) and if you start with the goal in mind, you can build fresh (deep) links and rank in no time vs. trying to re-hash content indexed from older pages which are associated with narrower or less popular terms.

So now that you have a better idea of what is required, get busy and start building website authority and trust rank for your website today.

Related Articles
  Search Engine Positioning in Three Steps
  Personalization of Search and SEO: Lost in the Shuffle
  Search Engine Optimization Tips
  Search Engine Optimization - If You Don't SEO, You'll Get Left In The Dust!
  Basics of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Article Tags: marketing strategy, search engine, search engine positioning, search engines, search terms, SEO, SEO, web Search engines, website placement, Yahoo



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