The Top Five Strategies for SEO

By Stephen Mahaney

Ever wonder what strategies that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts consider to be the most important? Stephen Mahaney, President of Planet Ocean Communications, a search engine consulting and SEO publishing firm, was asked this very question. He was kind enough to send us his response for publication in MarketPosition:

I decided to write this article after receiving the following comment and question from a reader...

"I usually don't ask questions, often intimidated by my lack of knowledge but I guess I'll ask the age old question. To get more traffic to my website, what are the top five simple steps to take. If you can give them to me in point form that will be sufficient as I'm sure I can go from there."

Actually, we thought it was a great question - so much so it merits a short article. Granted, all of these tips are well known and relatively simplistic but they are also the must-do aspects of search engine optimization.

In other words, before you do anything else, these are the items that you should check off your list.

1.) Be certain the words that you wish to be found under show up in your title tags.

Many people fail to place their keywords in their title tags - in fact, this is the #1 optimization mistake. You don't have to put all your keywords in every page's title, just put in the ones that are relevant to that specific page.

On your main (home) page, focus on the core keywords that reflect the overall theme of your site.

2.) Link to all of your subpages from the home page.

There may be times when this seems impractical but there are usually unobtrusive ways to do it. By having links to all of your sub-pages you provide the means by which a search engine can find the various pages on your site whenever they visit your "home" page.

Ideally the spider should be able to access every page on your site by clicking on a series of links. And, the fewer clicks the better because search engines score page relevance from top to bottom - the deeper a page is found within a site the less relevant the search engine considers it to be. In addition, some engines will not spider more than a few levels deep.

3.) Be sure that keywords are being used in the text links that are pointing to pages within your site.

If your site is about cameras, make sure when you post a link to your site from some other web site that the word cameras appears in the text of the hyperlink that is pointing to your site.

A correct example would look something like...

Click here for the best prices in cameras

In contrast, it would be a mistake to use a link like...

Click here" for the best prices in cameras

If you were to make such a mistake the search engine - especially Google - would believe your site was about "click here" (ouch!).

4.) The more pages the better.

Just like fishing, the more hooks you have in the water the better your chances of catching something. Same deal with search engine optimization. The more pages you have on your website, the better chance you'll have of hitting those ever changing "correct" formulas for keyword density, keyword combos, and so on.

Of course, your pages should contain quality information so the visitor doesn't just click back to the search engine when he or she arrives. Fast click-backs are noticed by many engines and can work against you. In such cases the engine figures the visitor didn't find what they were looking for so your page must not have been relevant to their search.

One way to fit the bill is to create a new page of content every week. Chances are likely that there will be some aspect related to one of your products or services about which you can write a special report or a feature article. Perhaps you'll do a weekly Q&A where you explain the benefits and features of what you do in greater detail.

And by all means look for ways to make the material work double-duty by, perhaps, assembling it into a newsletter that could then be made available to your customers. These are legitimate and valuable ways to expand your site and thereby broaden the net you cast to snare prospects that turn into future customers.

5.) Use a good, reliable web hosting service.

There is no substitute for a hosting service that is dependable and one that assigns a unique IP address to every domain.

Remember, if your host goes down when a spider comes visiting you'll likely get knocked out of the index. Quality hosting services are a must in the same way that an appropriate physical location in a brick-n-mortar operation is essential.

Many people make the mistake of attempting clever "tricks" while ignoring the basics. That is foolish. It's possible that a site can score at the top using only the basics. However, "tricks" alone will never help you achieve top scores without first integrating those basics.

Note: The above article was reprinted with permission from Planet Ocean Communications. Planet Ocean, in my opinion, offers some of the most extensive and up to date collection of search engine news and tips I've found on the Web. If you're one of those who are always looking for that extra tip to gain a competitive edge, you owe it to yourself to check out this in-depth resource.

The above article is reprinted with permission from Planet Ocean's SearchEngineNews.com, copyright 2005, and distributed with permission by MarketPosition Newsletter and FirstPlace Software, Inc. maker of WebPosition Gold, the award-winning software that helps track and improve your search engine rankings. You may download a FREE trial copy of WebPosition Gold from: http://www.webposition.com/trial/

Online merchants have two options when it comes to processing credit card orders. The first option is to take the credit card information from an order and manually enter it into a physical merchant terminal, just as if the order had been placed on the phone or via snail mail. This process can take significant time and is error prone. The second option, which is much more efficient, is to process the credit cards online.

To process credit cards online, a merchant needs an internet merchant account and a payment gateway. An internet merchant account is a special type of merchant account that allows for online credit card processing. A payment gateway acts as a middleman during the two steps of a credit card transaction.

The first step in processing a credit card transaction is an authorization. During the authorization, the merchant's payment interface (web storefront or virtual terminal) sends data to the payment gateway. The gateway then communicates with the customer's credit card issuer to verify the customer's credit card account and to ensure that funds are available. The gateway then sends the results of that communication back to the merchant's system indicating that the authorization was successful or declined.

Assuming a successful authorization, the merchant can initiate the second part of a credit card transaction, which sends a message to the merchant account provider, letting it know to settle the transaction. Again, the payment gateway acts as a middleman, facilitating communication between the merchant's payment interface and the merchant account provider. The merchant account provider will then deposit settlement funds into the merchant's bank account (this final process usually takes place once a day in batch format).

Advantages to processing credit cards online are twofold. With an online merchant account, the customer's credit card can be authorized at the time the order is placed. This allows customers to correct any credit card issues on the spot. Because credit cards can be authorized at the time the order is placed, the likelihood of a problematic credit order coming to the merchant is significantly reduced. The other advantage is that orders can be processed by the click of a button, forgoing the need to have the merchant key the information into a physical merchant terminal. This saves the merchant significant time and avoids complications that may arise from incorrect data entry.

Payment gateway setup fees can range anywhere from $75 to $800. Monthly fees range anywhere between $20 and $60 per month. In some cases, gateways may also charge a transaction fee.

Merchants considering implementing online credit card processing might consider the following when selecting a gateway.

· Cost – Gateway fees vary and merchants should explore multiple options.

· Compatibility – To take full advantage of a gateway, merchant's should consider gateways that are compatible with their shopping cart software.

· Stability & Reliability - The gateway should guarantee acceptable levels of uptime and the company should be stable and reliable.

· Software - Most payment gateway companies provide a "virtual terminal" or other similar software to facilitate manual entry and review of transactions. This can be handy for special transactions such as partial refunds.

· Fraud Prevention - Many gateways take steps necessary to prevent fraud, such as using the AVS (Address Verification System).

Merchants looking to get started processing credit cards online need to establish an internet type merchant account with a bank or merchant account provider and a gateway account. Bank of America is an example of a merchant account provider, which may work in conjunction with Authorize.net, a popular gateway to handle the credit card transactions. Paymentech is another example who provides both gateway and merchant account services to process the credit card transactions online. You should contact your e-commerce software vendor for additional information.

Online credit card processing is a great way to speed up order fulfillment and is well worth considering for those companies serious about online sales.

The US Department of Commerce issued a report at the end of May announcing that e-commerce sales were up 25.9% for the 1st quarter over the same period a year ago. Online sales for Q1 were approximately $11.9 billion in the US.

These stats are entirely in line with predictions made at the beginning of the year by a Forrester/Shop.org study. Currently, the US Commerce Department estimates that online sales make up just 1.5% of all retail sales. But, it is predicted that by the end of the year, e-commerce sales will grow and account for 4.5% of all retail sales, even through this rocky economy. In fact, e-commerce has posted consistent double-digit gains throughout the economic slump. Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com expects e-commerce to eventually account for 10% of retail sales.

If you are an e-commerce merchant, this is more great news. Things just keep getting better and better. Considering that in Q1 the economy was in a recession, unemployment kept rising and there was a war in Iraq, those are some very good numbers. It looks like we’re well on our way towards another banner year. Keep up the good work!

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