Today we’re discussing the value of organic searches. Simply put, an organic search is a search that generates results that are not paid advertisements. Most experts feel that viewers trust organic search results rather than paid search results since they are generated by popularity and common use.
Your site can appear in organic search results simply by submitting your website or individual pages of your website to a variety of search engines after the site has been optimized with valuable keywords, etc. As the individual search engines scan your site they will take a picture of your keywords and determine what your site is all about.
How many relavant links you have, social media connections and all of your unqiue bells and whistles that make up your site will now come into play. Your overall marketing effort will now receive notice.
Site submission may be done in the beginning by the designer and programmer that builds your site and you may continue to submit your site using a Web Positioning company if you like. Some of these companies are very cost effective. You may also find FREE submission sites and in this case, it involves only your time.
These two choices are by far, the most popular method for site submission. Submission companies you might hire, normally start at about $29 per month and could be as high as $100 per month depending upon the company used.
Staying on top of the competition!
As you submit your site, let’s be clear …this does not mean that you are automatically listed on the top pages. Submitting your site means that the individual search engines review the site and schedule the site to be considered for a listing. The indexing of your site does not guarantee top placement. The page where your site will be listed is determined only by the individual search engine criteria and they are very territorial and don’t disclose all of their secrets.
Each search engine has it’s own method for choosing top placement listing. There is no silver bullet and no gaming the system so to speak. You could be on page one or page twenty five. Getting your site to show up on the first pages of top search engines requires more than just submittiing the site. You must submit the site, optimize the site, blog regularly, and do your due diligence.
Many search engine algorithims have changed of late and learing the new search criteria is the only way to stay ahead of the competion. We encourage our clients to become a pro at website optimization by visiting Site Pro News often. Many clients submit one page at a time but most submit the entire site monthly or hire the submission to be done by the submission company. This is your choice, but should be considered in your overall SEO plan for marketing the site.
Website Evaluation by the search engine spiders that scan the site!
The major search engines (when reviewing your site) will evaluate your site based upon several criteria. They will scan the site looking for competitive keywords, social media links and the relevancy of linking strategy on your site. All links on your site should be relevant to your individual expertise. Each and every page of the site should be developed with search engine optimization in mind. If you are hiring a new company to re-design your site, he or she should start with the premise that all pages should be search engine ready.
A professional SEO individual could play a crucial role in your future success. Without this SEO you could be building a beautiful site which we call a “big dead zone.” You could use the site for a calling card but major search engines will not consider the site for indexing.
Keeping the site content current and continuing to optimize the site!
Many clients make the mistake that once the site is designed and the site is optimized and submitted for search engine review that is all that is necessary. This is wrong. Once the site is designed and submitted to search engines, going forward you must each week add new content to keep your site current and relevant. This is where blogging comes front and center.
Your website should always be considered a “work in progress” Be thinking of new ideas to make your site stand out from the crowd.
Just as your business should grow, so should your website platform. Staying on the first few pages of top search engines demand this attention. If you are not willing to spend the time, hire a professional, but it must be done if you are planning on competing with other more relevant sites.
Stay tuned for our next blog entry as we talk about “The Value of Paid Listings.”
Jean Holland-Rose, Chief Creative Officer & Marketing Strategist
Inside Design Orlando
