Search Engine Optimization for High Google Rankings Article

This is a pretty decent article about learning some basic fundamentals of optimized Web sites and how they are affected in search engines. Although this article was written for those wanting to learn about it, it also shows a little bit of what the power of “truth” and “opinion” can play (as the author put it) in an online article.

“Good SEO is a lot more than just having your page title in title tags and your heading in H1 tags… more than just having the correct keyword density,” the author writes. This is true in a global sense that your site title tags is more about information targeted for users to see when they see your site from a search query. Keyword density can be tricky at times, especially if you’re going through it with Google eyes and not other search engines. What keyword density truly means is the weight of your keyword distributed evenly throughout each paragraph and each page of your site. Most people see this as keyword frequency, and how many times a keyword is suggested and linked throughout a particular page or site can be considered keyword spamming and stuffing. Not enough keywords can be considered as another cause of your site being ranked lower than others in your specific market and targeted key phrases. Even with the basics of organic optimization, it’s not an easy thing to do as more people are discovering new ways to be effective online, and this is considering white hat, blue hat, and (gulp) black hat methods and everything else in between.

The author also points out 2 interesting statements that are very poignant and evident in today’s search engine optimization world. First, “Google cares about the service you are providing to Google customers and how relevant the content of your web page is to their needs.” Wow. If you don’t know by now, Google is the preferred search engine to conduct user searches. The author’s statement clearly displays the value that Google has on its business practices and the customers it markets to: the incredible value of its data, its complex algorithms, and its business model. Hence, when Google “punished” all the Web sites with high page ranks that were selling links (possibly through Adsense), it did so to "protect" the investment and quality of its search data and information value, the package (if not one of them) that basically made Google millions. Or at least I think so, and I have heard many different opinions about it.

Secondly, the author mentions the use of internal linking as opposed to external linking (link exchanges, reciprocal link programs). Both link programs have its pros and cons, but using just one and not the other won’t help get your site ranking in weight and relevancy. Why or why not? Because they are both intertwined for the same purpose, and as a united front, if used properly, they can provide long-term content and search engine relevancy. Link exchange/reciprocal linking programs work very well when relevant sites with high page ranks and quality internal and reciprocal links are associated with your site. Similarly, internal linking can work very well when keywords within internal content are rich in weight, are relevant with search phrases and parameters, and with the right frequency and density.

Future of Online Marketing...

I recently asked my colleagues in LinkedIn about where they see online marketing headed within the next 1, 3 and 5 years. I have received some amazing responses about the technological advancements we use today, and the mixture, collaboration, and evolving of other surfacing technologies that could be a major contributor to the increasing development of online marketing.

“What is online marketing,” one rhetorically asked. Another question can be stated like this: “What was online marketing?” Back then, online marketing can be collectively described as just simply having a web site. Nowadays, there are more ammunition and weapons to deliver a marketing scheme online, and all you have to do is pick your poison. Choose between social media and networking sites, 3D virtual worlds and online and game console marketing, search engine marketing and optimization, user-generated content sites, and a plethora of marketing techniques that I don’t even have room to mention. And that’s just what we have NOW. This doesn’t even take into consideration using “traditional” online marketing delivery mediums like email marketing and offline mediums like guerilla marketing, WOM and TV to generate results online.

How can we use the knowledge of past online marketing experiences to influence the future?

Each business sector and industry is different, thus it can be difficult to fully assess how to qualify and quantify methods to increase ROI. However, I believe that there is no reason why we cannot use a multitude of online marketing techniques simultaneously, as this promotes a strong foundational front for strategic and compound business development. For example, if we use today’s guerilla marketing approach, we can combine WOM tactics with email/viral marketing initiatives while implementing search engine optimization and marketing methods for our web sites, and simultaneously generating content in blogs, Myspace and LinkedIn accounts and other social networking sites. And as new media and marketing methods shift parameters and focus, I believe that we will still see a multitude of online marketing schemes being more targeted and more robust, as we develop better ways (with help of better technology) to communicate effectively and efficiently with our customers and users.