Engine Placement: Here's How to Pave the Road to Your Virtual Door
by Paul Bruemmer
Director of Marketing
ClientDirect 

Every time I catch myself about to go nuts when my
16-year-old son Joey cranks up the volume on the stereo, I
quickly remember what it was like when I was his age. So I
sigh and go back to the task at hand. Well, folks... the noise
level on the Internet is getting unbearable, and as a Web
marketer, I'm not inclined to be so benign. 

That's why I started tinkering with the idea of search engine
position enhancement 18 months ago, to develop ways to
make user searches more relevant and help my clients get
"found" at the same time. Those who want to lower the clamor
and drive "high-quality" traffic to their website may want to
make search engine enhancement a part of their integrated
marketing plan. 

With all the rhetorical statements written about search
engines--the secret reports, tips on how to be #1,
shenanigans on how get to the top, and yadda, yadda, yadda--
I'd like to offer some specific means for improving your search
engine position. For those of you who still believe it's worth the
effort and want to learn more about working with search
engines, lend me your ear. I promise to keep the noise level
down. 

Pull 'Em In 

I was talking to an astute website owner recently, one whose
company currently receives $400,000 in website revenues per
month, and guess where their favorite traffic comes from?
Yup--search engines. Why? Because their prospects are
self-directing themselves to his website. They are being pulled
in, not shouted at to "COME VISIT MY WEBSITE," but drawn
there of their own accord. Search engines can be a fantastic
source for generating "high-quality" visitors and attracting a
specific target audience when used properly. If you would like
to work with the search engines to help them do what they are
designed to do, read on. 

First and foremost, don't bother with keyword stuffing, a.k.a.
spamdexing, or invisible and semi-visible text, or phantom
pixels. These techniques will only get you in trouble. It's a
cheap shot that causes the people who use search engines,
as well as those who design them, nothing but grief. The mild
success of those who continue to use such impure tactics
won't last long. To paraphrase an ancient Turkish proverb,
"Once you burn your tongue on the soup, you will always blow
on the yogurt." 

Second, the keyword phrase selected is of utmost
importance. The keyword phrase itself is how you qualify your
visitors. For example, the keyword phrase "computer" does
not qualify for a website offering "computer hard drives." It is
critical to specifically identify your target audience and select
keyword phrases to match. 

Third, it's very important to break down each task into its
individual components to better understand how the process
works. To break down the process, I'll list a series of steps
below that can be used to achieve better search engine
positioning. This acts as a training drill. Try it on. 

Step #1 -- Identify one specific objective you want to
accomplish with your website. Be very specific. For
example, soliciting people to opt-in your jazz listserve. 

Step #2 -- Identify a page within your website that best
represents your specific objective, i.e.,
http://www.yourname.com/info.htm. Let's call this your content
link. Right about now is when you want to call your webmaster.
"Hey Courtney, I'm gonna do some HTML, gotta minute"? S/he
is all ears. As soon as you mention the term, "search engine
positioning," be prepared for whining, snickering, threats of
quitting, and general apathy. This is not easy work--now is the
time to cave in on that raise you promised last winter. 

Step #3 -- Take time to distinguish one keyword phrase
that best represents your specific objective. Discuss the
possibilities with your co-workers, solicit your clients, and talk
to your spouse--my own wife has uncanny insights and never
ceases to amaze me. Let's use jazz artists as our example. 

A word or two regarding keyword phrase selection: 

General terms like "music" ups visitors fast. Generic keywords
are usually dropped after the website owner realizes that
people looking for "music" immediately leave the website
because they had no intention of signing-up for a Jazz
Listserve. 

I raise the concern over generic keywords from a "targeting"
viewpoint. Search Engines can be an excellent source of
"high-quality" traffic if keywords are properly selected to focus
on your specific products and services. 

Use a keyword phrase (two to four words max) and use the
same words in your page titles and Meta tags. 

Step #4 -- Install your Meta tags on your content link. If
you don't know what Meta tags are or don't know how to
create them, go to a Meta tag generator such as:
www.websitepromote.com/resources/meta. This software tool
will create your Meta tags and e-mail them to you. The Meta
tag description should reflect your relevant keywords. 

Step #5 -- Make a copy of your content link page and
rename it using your keyword phrase. For example:
http://www.yourname.com/jazzlabels.htm. Make sure this is a
copy that now acts as a "splash" or "bridge" page. Ah yes...a
word of caution: please consult your webmaster before you do
any of this. (Courtney insisted that I say so.) 

Step #6 -- Make sure your content link page loads really
fast, has relevant keyword text near the top of the page,
and contains a couple of short creative, relevant
paragraphs. Use words and combinations of words that the
average person would use in a search. However, do not use
your keyword phrase more than once. And don't forget -- once
a visitor arrives to your website, call the visitor to action, i.e.,
show them where to click and fill in an e-mail address for
joining your listserve. 

Step #7 -- Now go to the search engine "add url" page
and submit your content link page. For example: submit
http://www.yourname.com/jazzlabels.htm. Start with Infoseek, it
tends to be the fastest ROI. Give it a few hours and see how
you did by searching your keyword phrase on Infoseek. 

There now. That wasn't so painful, was it? There are a few
dozen external influences you will have no control over, but the
above steps will give you a good feel for working with search
engines one-step at a time. 

To deal with the numerous variables in the search engine
conundrum, you must slow down and get methodical. This
means you return the following day to monitor and record your
results for later analysis. 

The following day, go to another search engine such as Alta
Vista, e-mail them and ask for all information on submittal
guidelines. Acquire other resources to learn everything you
can about Alta Vista (http://www.searchenginewatch.com and
http://www.webreference.com/search.html have excellent
resources). Then see what you can do with another splash
page, call it jazzlabelAV (for Alta Vista). Conduct the same
drill and monitor your results, one by one. 

Because there can be several sources of external influence,
managing the logistics can be difficult. Break it down and build
on the success sequence of each keyword phrase/splash
page. Be very specific with your keyword phrases and target
your audience. Zoom-in and focus on your niche, be
selective-- having 50 keywords in your Meta tags is most often
useless. 

Here are seven additional pointers: 

1) Fine tune each keyword phrase to fit into clearly defined
search categories that attract your market without using
popular "general" keywords. 

2) Design very specific individual pages with a mix of
keywords in the content. 

3) Plan your site to be found through individual HTML content
links for each keyword phrase. These content links should be
monitored for position weekly. 

4) Produce creative, relevant content using words and
combinations of words that the average person would use in a
search; use synonyms of your keywords as well. 

5) Use specific body TAG guidelines for each individual HTML
content link designed specifically for each of the top four
Search Engines: Infoseek, Alta Vista, HotBot, WebCrawler. 

6) Write each content link with its own TITLE, URL address,
and keyword phrase. 

7) Register content links with the following twelve (12) popular
search engines: Alta Vista, Anzwers, Excite, HotBot,
I-Explorer, Infoseek, Linkmonster, Lycos, Magellan,
Webcrawler, WWWWorm, and Northern Light. Submit pages
properly, each search engine has its own rules. 

With some due diligence, your work will pay off. By monitoring
and recording your results you eventually can ensure being
found on the first two pages relevant to your keyword phrases.
It does take time, and your links will move around, but it's well
worth the effort when considering the quality of the prospects
you will receive. 

These search engine positioning techniques are for anyone
with a website who wants to attract their target audience.
Whether you desire visitors looking for "computer hard
drives," "dog toys," "Ford Mustangs," "film production
equipment,". "jazz cds,". or "digital catalog photographer" --
whomever your target audience is -- search engines can
quietly deliver these high-quality targeted visitors right to your
front door!
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