Kellen Interactive : Search Engine Marketing

Kellen Interactive : SEO RESOURCES

INTERNET MARKETING RESOURCES

SEO Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is Search Engine Optimization and why is it important to my business?
  2. Which are the most popular search engines?
  3. How important is it for my site to show up on the first few results pages of the major search engines?
  4. I have Meta tags on my Web pages but the site still ranks poorly on the search engines. Why?
  5. Does every page of my website need to be optimized?
  6. How long before I see the results of an SEO campaign?
  7. I lost my rankings. What happened?
  8. How often should SEO be done to maintain top positioning?
  9. How do I find out link popularity and who is linking to my site?
  10. Can the structure of my website affect its performance in the searches?
  11. Will updating site content help or hurt search engine positioning?
  12. Can a search engine index pages that are password-protected?
  13. Can I hide text in HTML to get a top ranking?

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)and why is it important to my business?
Studies show that 85% of all Internet users rely on search engines to locate websites. Where a company’s website listing falls – or ranks – in search engine results pages (SERP) in Google, Yahoo or Bing can be crucial to generating leads and sales, introducing products and services and influencing opinion. To boost the chances of getting toward the top of search results, many look to search engine optimization (SEO) to earn their way towards the top. [ Why is an SEO crucial to your website? ]

Which are the most popular search engines?
Google, Yahoo and Bing typically comprise 85%-90% of the search market, followed then by AOL and Ask.

How important is it for my site to show up on the first few results pages of the major search engines?
With the thousands and millions of results that appear in search engine results pages, most Internet users don’t go past the first three pages of results. An study by Jupiter Research found that 90% of search engine users click on a search result within the first three pages of search engine rankings -- 62% within the first page of results. [ Does your website appear on Page One of search engine rankings? Find out with our search engine ranking report SEO tool. ]

I have Meta tags on my Web pages but the site still has poor search engine rankings. Why?
Meta tags are important but are only part of the equation. Search engine rankings are the result of many variables including visible text on a website, links, age of website, PageRank (a metric from Google), current visitor traffic, and many others. In addition, specific guidelines for tags – including length and placement – exist for each engine and should be followed. [ Does your website have meta tags in place? Find out with our SEO tool. ]

Does every page of my website need to be optimized?
Every page – with the exception of password-protected pages – should be optimized to maximize the impact.  Every page that is optimized helps to build content and keyword relevancy to help your chances of getting accurately catalogued by Google, Yahoo or Bing for your content. However, don’t duplicate tags on every page. Meta tags should reflect the content of the page to work in increasing relevancy and ultimately rankings within search results.

How long before I see the results of an SEO campaign?
Rankings can improve as early as two to three months once changes are posted to the website, for websites that are at least one year old. For brand new websites, results can take six months or more.

I lost my search engine rankings. What happened?
The Internet is a constantly changing library of information with new pages and websites being added daily. With the new additions comes more competition. As more websites are posted that contain content similar to your keyword or specialty, your search engine rankings within those results can get pushed down.

How often should SEO be done to maintain top positioning?
It’s important to conduct SEO at least once per year – more often for some topic areas.

How do I find out link popularity and who is linking to my site?
Use our free SEO tool to check.

Can the structure of my website affect its performance in the searches?
Yes. A site built on HTML or other static technologies produces pages that can be indexed consistently, since the pages are already built and reside on a website. A site built with a database, where the page is built “on the fly” – when someone searches for something or clicks a specific category – may perform more poorly in rankings.  Websites built in 100% Flash will perform poorly.

Will updating website content help or hurt search engine positioning?
Help. Search engines often place higher rankings within keyword searches for sites that are updated frequently. Search engines see additional content as evidence of expertise in the keyword topic area. Content is king and helps in search engine positioning!

Can a search engine index pages that are password-protected?
Not usually. Since a search engine’s crawler won’t know the password, the search engine "spider" stops.

Can I hide text in HTML to get a top ranking?
You can hide text, but most search engines now filter out sites that participate in unethical practices and tricks such as these. A key to getting great rankings is providing great content and employing tried-and-true ethical practices in SEO.

Kellen Interactive, with a staff of Atlanta search engine placement experts.