While 2009 has only
just begun, our economy is well into a recession. This leaves some marketers
facing the new year with a slimed-down budget. In the realm of search engine
marketing, many have turned to organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) due to
its lasting results and greater ROI. One key to successful SEO is content
development.
For the sake of
simplicity, your rank in Google is primarily based on three factors. One, a
complicated ever-changing algorithm. Two, the amount of inbound and outbound
links your site has. Three, the relevancy and freshness of your content.
The mystery of the
google algorithm will never be uncovered (or if it does, be assured they will
change it), so your focus should be on the remaining factors. Link-building is
often best left to the experts (to ensure it’s being done both ethically and
effectively), so consider partnering with a company that specializes in organic
SEO. An added benefit of this relationship is they will help you optimize your
website from the inside out. Even a small change in code could significantly
improve how your site communicates with the search engines. In addition to
pinpointing the key words you should target, they can also identify (and then
track) key measurement statistics.
This leaves the third
and most important factor, developing the content of your website. This is an
area where you can really take the reigns, and with a little time and effort,
make a big difference in your search engine ranking. When developing content on
your website, consider both relevancy and freshness.
Relevancy. First things first, optimize your
current content for keywords. Don’t force it, but where it is appropriate,
incorporate them. Then, if you don’t have it already, Product Information,
About Us, or F.A.Q. pages are easy to create and are a positive addition to
your site. Next, what information would be interesting to your customer? Any
content on your website should be related to your product or service in some
way, but be creative. For example, if you sell Christmas trees, you could
provide content on The History of Christmas Trees, How to Decorate a Tree, or
Famous Christmas Trees. The goal is to be a trusted source that provides both
education and entertainment to your visitors. Not only does this contribute to
your natural SEO efforts, it provides value to your customers. You should build
a solid content base, then continue to add on—which brings us to the next factor.
Freshness. Google and other search engines will
frequently scan your website for new information—if your site is static, you are being ignored. Think of your
website as a work in progress, a database of information that is continually
being added to. For example, you could write a few articles in a series, and
post one each month. Or, create a News page that is updated frequently with
company or industry news.
The best content
combines both relevancy and freshness. To easily meet both criteria,
consider adding a social application to your site. Not only will this
contribute to the strength of your content, it allows you to establish and
maintain a connection with your customers.
You could start a
simple forum where you and customers can connect or share information. A blog
would achieve the same outcome.
Keep in mind that any
organic SEO efforts will take some time to take effect. Due to the enormous
amount of websites on the internet and the manual and automatic crawling
process, results are not immediate. The good news however, as the strength of
your content continues to improve, when your ranking goes up, its likely to
stay there.
Organic SEO is an
ideal strategy to make the most your marketing budget. While the algorithm
remains a mystery it’s no secret that link building is effective. Most
importantly, search engines value relevant and fresh content. You can contribute to the success of any
search engine marketing campaign by developing your website content.