SEARCH ENGINE FUNDAMENTALS

The amazing thing about the Internet is that there are literally millions of people searching for products or services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At the same time, well over 70% of the people who build web site - hoping to reach these people - fail to reach their targeted clients at all. The key to success with your web site is:

• Targeting
• Presenting

TARGETING

Targeting means locating those people who want exactly what you have to offer and determining the precise manner in which they are trying to find you. It is very important to pinpoint your specific clientelle.

There are several traps to avoid:

Shotgun Targeting
"Shotgun" marketing is another term for a broad promotion campaign that will hopefully reach some of the targetted market. Cold calling, bulk mail, bulk (spam) email are all examples of shotgun marketing. While this is sometimes effective in other media, it is a disastrous mistake on the Internet.

There is an illusion that has been promoted by unscrupulous internet marketers and web designers that "If you get thousands and thousands of hits to your site, it's a success! You'll have lots of business!". Factually, sky-high traffic and millions of "hits" to your site has nothing to do with new clients and generating new income.

Imagine this as a real-world analogy -
A lawyer wants to attract attention to his office. Initially, he wants as many people as possible to LOOK at his building (not his business, his building). So, he has a 10 foot billboard of a naked woman placed on top of the office building and angles it so it can be seen from as many directions as possible. Will this get attention? Yes. Will many, many people look at it? Yes. Will he get a huge volume of new legal business? No. More likely, any calls that he gets will be annoyances because they are about the billboard and not about his service.

High volumes of untargeted web-surfers to your site ("hits") does not result in new business.

GENERIC TARGETING

Another trap to avoid is generic targeting. By generic targeting, we mean promoting to a prospect base that interested in a broad zone, for which you only provide a specific service. Here's one example:

· Targeting the words "real estate" - Last month, a single search engine had over 1 million people search for "real estate". That sounds like a superb keyword to get. If you had the #1 position for real estate - would you be flooded with new, qualified clients? More likely - you'd just be flooded. In order to make this concept more understandable try answering the following questions:

1. Are you licensed to do real estate transactions in Europe? Asia? The Philippines?
2. What free information can you give me about the Kentucky real estate commission?
3. How much information can you give on the history of real estate?
4. Where/When does the IRS and DEA conduct seized property auctions?

If these questions seem ridiculous? How useful to your business would it be if you had to answer a phone call or email from someone looking for that information? What would happen if you had to answer ten thousand such calls?

High volumes of untargeted inquiries (Generic Targeting) can overwhelm you without generating new business.

Over-Targeting
This is an easier problem to understand. Based on previous marketing, surveys, clientele, or just good common sense you determine that the people you want to reach are people who need a "Scottsdale Arizona Computer Consultant" (hmmmm….who would have thought that one up?). Sounds like a great keyword, since it is specific to the potential clients and not ambiguous in any way. There's only one problem…..no one searches for it. Low traffic wouldn't be a problem since these would be well qualified leads. If only 58 people searched for this phrase, it would be great. However, this keyword is too specific and simply is never searched.

Without the correct tools, it's almost impossible to tell when you've under-targeted. The important thing to do is don't try to narrow the target yourself. That's what we are here for. You can best help us by giving us a good idea as to what you do, who you service and what their needs are. After that, we will work diligently to target you to an audience that is well qualified, specific to your services and is out there looking for you.

INDIRECT TARGETING

Indirect targeting means targeted promotion to an audience that is not specifically looking for a service which you provide. Often times, it is targeting to a similar audience (just not your audience) in an effort to pick up some extra clients. On other occasions, it is a covert method of attracting interest from an unsuspecting audience.

This concept is a tough one to grasp, but it's vital to the success of your site.

Here's an example:
· Targeting "credit card debt reduction" to promote home equity loans - This certainly sounds logical, since many people can get a home-equity loan in order to reduce their credit card debt. Since home equity loans are a solution to this problem, this keyword makes sense, right? The problem with this keyword is that the people who type in this keyword are specifically looking for information, help, direction and counseling on reducing their credit card balance. Promoting a home equity loan service with "credit card debt reduction" will generate a combination of a) "Hits" to the site that simply back out and go somewhere else and b) Untargeted Inquiries.

Indirect Targeting does not generate business. It results in a combination of A) High "Hits", No Clients or B) Inquiries from unqualified prospects that do not become clients.

This is the most common error made by Search Engine Optimization professionals. If so many in our business make this mistake, can you imagine how often this occurs across the Internet? If you can understand the reason why this is a mistake, you are well on your way to being able to tap into your correct client base and avoiding one of the nastiest pitfalls to marketing on the Intenet.

PRESENTING

OK, the targeting is complete and you know exactly who the correct audience is and how to encourage them to become your client. Hurray! Now its time to present it on the Internet.

Here is a trick question for you: Who is your first audience on the internet? After you, your mother, best friend and existing clients have looked at your site - who is your first line of interest on the Web?

Hint: It's not your target market

You gotta "Be Cool" with the Search Engines first.
Before people can visit your site, they have to find your site. Over 60% of people on the Internet find what they are looking for by using Search Engines. You know that, and that's why you are here. However, there's a fundamental concept that is often missed by those who want to "get found on the search engines":

YOUR FIRST AUDIENCE ON THE INTERNET IS THE SEARCH ENGINE

This is a vital piece of information, so I'm going to repeat it:

YOUR FIRST AUDIENCE ON THE INTERNET IS THE SEARCH ENGINE

Got it? Good. Now, here is why…

Back in the '70s (remember the '70s? Don't admit it - it's better for your reputation) there was a famous New York night club called Studio 54. Anyone who was anyone went to Studio 54. Celebrities of every make and model "hung out" at Studio 54. Of course, everyone else in New York wanted to "hang out" there as well and there were always huge lines to get in. As legend has it, the owner - Steve Rubell - would personally hand-pick the "coolest" people in the line. Only the "coolest" people got in - the rest just waited outside, hoping for a chance.

Imagine that all of the people you want to "hang out" with (your target market) are all in Studio 54. You want to be there and "be cool" for them (pardon the '70s lingo - but you'll never forget this story!). However, the first person you have to impress is the guy who hand-picks the "cool" people and let's them go inside.

Search Engines are a lot like Studio 54. Everyone you want to reach is going there. Everyone who's cool (your competition) is already there. You gotta get inside…

Well, submitting your site to the search engines is like standing in line at 54. You're there - but your not where you want to be.

Most people to are looking for something on the search engines don't go past the first few pages of results. In other words, even if there are 10,000 web sites promoting "designer jeans", most people don't look past the top 20 or 30 results. So, think of a top 20 position on a search engine as being inside Studio 54. Now you're there, now you're COOL and everybody loves ya, baby!

In order to get into the top 20, you have to be the "coolest" based on the standards that the search engine sets. These standards differ from engine to engine, but all of them have a specific criteria for what is "cool" and what stands in line with the other 10,000 sites.

What's Cool and What Ain't
OK, this is where the '70s analogy ends. "Cool" has nothing to do with "flashy". In fact, it's a pretty good rule of thumb that flashier sites get poorer positions. Search engines want GOOD, RELEVANT CONTENT. Anything that goes beyond good, relevant content (flash, music, fancy programming, etc) is a distraction to the search engines. Think of Elton John, 1975 and Elton John 2001 - who would YOU rather have managing your portfolio?

It's important to keep your web site clean of added "eye candy". A clean site with good, relevant content is key to good positioning.

The recipe for a Top 20 position:
· Specific Audience
· Excellent targeting to THAT Audience
· Good, Clean Content
· Professional Optimization of Web Pages

"Professional Optimization" is a general term for the meticulous and teadious feat of composing web pages in a fashion that conforms with the demands of each and all search engines. It's both an art and a science - and the rules change frequently.

A final note about "Tricks"
When it comes to Search Engine Positioning, this industry collects bad information faster than a hooker at a political convention. Every week there is a new "trick" to search engine placement. Unsavory and ill-educated web designers can make a fine living on these tricks - for a few months. Unfortunately, clients of such characters wind up as the victims. Search Engines catch on to "tricks" and "gimmicks" very quickly. Often times, a web site that is found trying to "trick" its way to the top is banned from the Search Engine completely. Please remember on rule that is carved-in-stone when it comes to Search engine placement:

THERE ARE NO "TRICKS" TO SEARCH ENGINE PLACEMENT.
IF IT SEEMS LIKE A "TRICK" - DON'T DO IT!