Search Engine FAQs

The Basics

What is search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM)?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving traffic to a website from search engines via non-paid search results. These are also called natural, organic or algorithmic search results. Typically, the earlier or higher a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine.

Search engine marketing (SEM) deals with paid inclusion such as sponsored or pay-per-click listings.

How much SEO do I need?

This depends on a lot of things including the size of your site, how competitive your keyword phrases are, and your advertising budget. If you aren’t sure how much SEO you need, we recommend you start with an analysis. We’ll present you with our recommendations, and you can choose which items you’d like completed. This way, your SEO project is completely customized for your site.

How long does it take to see results from SEO or to get top rankings in Google?

While no one can guarantee top listings, generally a brand new site with very specific, non-competitive keywords can take a few months if your web site has good inbound links and optimized web pages. Results will vary based on a number of factors including the amount of information on the website, the amount of competition for the desired keywords, the age of your domain name, your Google PageRank, and about 100 other factors!

A new site that targets competitive keywords (especially real estate, vacation rentals, hotels, non-regional keywords, etc.) may take six months to a year to get high rankings if there are good inbound links, lots of content, and
optimized pages. An established site might get the same result within 3-6 months.

Most websites receive search engine traffic from HUNDREDS of different search queries. It can be very difficult for websites in highly competitive industries to rank page one for their most popular keyword phrase. Take the phrase “Destin vacation rentals.” That is a very popular search phrase, but it is only one phrase folks might use. Other searches might include “waterfront vacation condos in Destin Florida” or “vacation rentals near shopping in Destin.” These are called long-tail keywords. They are based on the idea that you can get more search engine visitors through a variety of low-volume queries instead of a handful of major keywords. The benefits are that long tail keywords are often easier and quicker to rank for and can lead to higher sales conversion rates.

The best way to judge the success of your SEO program is not through just a handful of keyword rankings, but by how much traffic your website is receiving (shown in your website stats) and how many sales you are making.

Because of the nature of organic (nonpaid) search engine listings, we can’t guarantee specific results. If you need specific rankings immediately, then you should consider pay-per-click advertising.

Why can’t I put all of the information for my site on just one or two pages?

You could. But it’s probably not a good idea for two reasons:

1. Usability: Really long pages are hard to read and navigate. Visitors won’t want to read through all your information to find the one tidbit they’re looking for. And if they aren’t happy, they’ll just go to a different site.
2. Search Engine Rankings: If you want people to find your site in the search engines, you need to optimize your pages for the keyword phrases you think they will search on. THE KICKER: You can only target a limited number of keyword phrases per page! If all of your information is on just a few pages, you’ll only be able to target a few keywords.

For more information on how to target the keywords on each page, see our FAQ, “What is the best way to target the keywords on my pages and how many keywords can I target per page?”

What search engine optimization is included with my new website?

1. A search engine title is embedded in the source code of every page.
2. A search engine description is embedded in the source code of every page.
3. We submit your site to Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Which search engines are the most popular?

TOP SHARE OF SEARCHES for August 2009 (U.S.)

Search Network        % of searches
Google                64.6%
Yahoo!                16.0%
MSN/Windows Live/Bing 10.7%
AOL                    1.8%
Ask.com                1.7%
My Web                 1.2%
Comcast                0.5%
Yellow Pages           0.4%
NexTag                 0.3%
Local.com              0.2%

Source: Nielsen MegaView Search

A lot of our SEO information is geared to Google because they are the most popular; but what works for Google will usually work for the other search engines as well.

Getting Good Rankings

I don’t want to become an expert, what is the short answer for good rankings?

Good rankings are based on three main things:

1. Get indexed: Optimize the site so that the search engines can find and list all pages.
2. Be more relevant than your competition: Add lots of optimized information (content) to the site on an ongoing basis.
3. Be more important than your competition: Get inbound links and participate in Social Networking.

How does Google rank pages?

Google ranks pages based on two core principles: relevance and importance.

A page is relevant if it matches the search query and the interest of the user. For a page to be relevant, it must have information about your keyword phrases! Relevance is also based on geography and in some cases a user’s web history. This personalization is why all searchers may not see the exact same results for a search query.

There are over two hundred components used in determining the importance of a page. One of these is Page Rank. It’s based on the quality (rather than quantity) of incoming and natural links. Natural means free, unpaid links from other good sites.

We use Google’s guidelines in determining what actions will help your site rank better.

Why are natural links important to rankings?

Natural links are free, unpaid links from other good sites. They develop as part of the dynamic nature of the web. Other sites find your information valuable and think it would be helpful for their visitors.

• So, will getting inbound links help your rankings? Yes!
• Do you need to get a ton of links? No, quality is more important than quantity.
• Will purchased links help rankings? Not according to Google; but they can bring your site more traffic.
• Are there any types of links I should avoid? Bad links would include those from link farms (hundreds of unrelated links on one page) and link programs that ask you to hide suspect code on your site.
• How do I get natural links? Watch for related, professional sites you think might be willing to give you a link. Often, it only takes a quick email to the site owner. Some sites may also request a link in return. These exchanged links can be placed anywhere on your site, but it’s usually helpful to put them on a separate “related links” or “resources” page. If your site doesn’t have a links page, you can request one using the update form at: http://www.cysy.com/updatemysite.php . You can also use the same form to request a link be added to your site.

Can social networking help rankings?

YES! Social networking can help your site through both increased inbound links and direct traffic referrals. More information social networking.

Can keywords in my domain name help rankings?

They may: We can’t know for sure whether the search engines give any boost to keywords in the domain name. But there are two other potential advantages: 1) when you include your domain name on your site, then the keywords in the domain get more exposure and
2) if other sites link to your site with the domain name, those keywords will, again, get more exposure.

You can only fit a couple of keywords in a domain name, but searchers may use hundreds of different keyword combinations to find your site. In the final analysis, domain names were created so people could locate stuff on the Web. The gain in search engine traffic shouldn’t outweigh a good, easy-to-understand name for your potential site visitors.

Why doesn’t my site show up for a specific search?

Google (and other search engines) do not publish their exact ranking strategies. We have found the best way to ensure that your site returns for your preferred keywords is to make sure your site is optimized for those keywords and to get other sites to link to your site using your preferred keywords in the link text.

Why is my page’s location in the search results lower than before?

If your rankings slip, it may be because there is new competition that is outperforming your site, structural or recent changes to your site have affected your rankings, or your site is stale and needs updating. Also, Google makes continual updates to their ranking algorithms; there were 450 changes in 2008! These changes can make rankings change on a daily basis.

How can I make my site Google friendly?

• Give visitors the information they are looking for.
• Make sure other sites link to yours.
• Make sure your site is easily accessible (that Google can find all the pages)
• Don’t try to trick Google, but do make sure your pages are optimized.

More detailed information from Google’s site owner help pages

What are other, good ways to promote my site?

• Blog about new content or services

  A blog post on your site is a great way to let visitors know about new content or services. Other webmasters who follow your site could pick the story up as well. Contact sales@cysy.com for information on adding a blog to your site.

• Don’t forget about offline promotion

  If you have a business Website, make sure its web address is listed on your business cards, letterhead, posters, radio and TV advertising, etc.

• Use Social Networking sites

  Social networks are online communities of individuals based on common interests such as friendship, hobbies, business, schools, affiliations, etc. CYber SYtes can help you take advantage of the networks with our Social Networking Service. Contact us at 850-233-5514 ext. 218 for more details or visit our social networking page.

• Participate in pay-per-click or buy online ads

  Paid advertising can send even more targeted traffic to your site. Get more information on pay-per-click and ad buys.

• Add your business to Google’s Local Business Center

  This can help you reach customers on Google Maps and web search. To see if your site is already listed search your domain name at Google maps: http://local.google.com/ –
  To get a Google account and sign up for a local listing: http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter

All About Keywords

What are keywords and why are they important?

“Keywords” are any individual words or groups of words (phrases) that people type into search engines to find websites. Usually, the capitalization of the keyword doesn’t matter; but the order of the words and whether the words are plural or singular does matter.

To rank high for specific keyword phrases, you should optimize your pages for those EXACT phrases.

How can I find the best keywords for my site?

Your list of keywords (and keyword phrases) should be chosen to reflect realistic searches people might use to find your company, services, or products. For example, a search for “real estate” returns over 596 million pages at Google. It would unlikely to be highly ranked for such a broad search.

More realistic phrases for a regional real estate company would be “waterfront condos for sale in Destin Florida” or “three bedroom homes for sale in Panama City Beach”. These types of keywords are called long-tail keywords; they are based on the idea that you can get more search engine visitors through a variety of low-volume queries instead of a handful of major keywords. The benefits are that long tail keywords are often easier and quicker to rank for and can lead to higher sales conversion rates.

If keywords are not provided to us, we will pick the best ones we can based on the information in your site, recommendations from the search engines, and our experience.

For more information on how you can find the best target keywords download our keyword primer (Word format)

What is the best way to optimize my keywords on pages and how many can I target?

If you want people to find your site in the search engines, you need to optimize your pages for the keyword phrases you think they will search on. THE KICKER: You can only target a limited number of keyword phrases per page!

For less competitive phrases:

We recommend no more than three main keyword phrases (all related to the same topic) per page. How do you know if a keyword phrase is competitive? Search the phrase in Google. Are there less than 50,000 pages in the search results? Then one page on that topic may be enough. On that page, you can target up to three exact keyword phrases and include secondary keywords as well.

For more competitive phrases:

We recommend targeting only ONE specific keyword phrase per page.

• Use your keyword phrase in the search engine title and the page heading. Use variations of the keyword phrase in subheadings.
• Use at least 250 words of text per page. In the first paragraph use the keyword phrase at least once but not more than twice. Throughout the text use the phrase a few times but only where it makes sense and reads naturally. In the final paragraph use the phrase at least once.
• Use the keyword phrase in text links to the page. (Links from other websites to the page will help rankings too!)

If you have lots of keywords you want to rank for, then you may need a lot of pages. You may want to consider adding a blog, a database, or another content management system so you can add new pages yourself. That way, when you find keyword phrases that need a boost, you can add new pages to support those phrases. Or, if you don’t want to add the pages yourself, our team of content developers and SEO specialists can add new pages for you.

We do not advise hiding keywords on pages or trying to stuff too many keywords on any one page. Your pages should always cater to visitors first, and search engines second. Any attempts to trick search engines into higher rankings can get your site banned or demoted.

If a page is optimized for a specific phrase but still doesn’t rank as high as you’d like there may be other factors at play. Google uses lots of criteria in ranking sites and on-page optimization is just one of them.

Can we just submit a list of the keywords we want to rank for to Google?

No. Google will pick keywords for each page based on the information on the page, the keywords in your search engine title, and in the keywords used in links from other sites to the page.

Administrative Items

Do you guarantee rankings?

Because we do not own the search engines and directories, we have no direct control over where your site will rank, how fast your site will be included, or when a site might drop you — that is up to the individual search engines. Per Google’s own website, “No one can guarantee first place in search results – not even Google employees.”

However, we do offer ways to help your site get listed faster and rank better. We have over a decade of experience in SEO and have helped hundreds of clients increase targeted traffic from the search engines.

How can we measure the success of our SEO campaign?

• Keyword rankings. This is often the first thing people look at, but is not the best measure of success. There can be hundreds of keyword phrases that send visitors to your site in any one month, and the advent of “personalized search” has changed the keyword ranking dynamic.
• Check site statistics for the total number of monthly visits. Webalizer stats are included with most CYber SYtes hosting accounts.
• Use Google Analytics to track non-paid search engine traffic. Analytics can be added to your site for a small fee.
• Track online orders and referrals.
• Track other online statistics such as how many folks signup for a mailing list or download a particular file.

Can we see examples of your SEO work?

We have many SEO clients who rank at the top of the search engines for their industry’s main keyword searches including clients listed in our featured clients directory.

View  some of our clients’ keyword phrases that ranked page one on Google in the first quarter of 2010.

Our SEO Pledge

We never use “black hat” or shady optimization techniques to try to trick the search engines because those practices can get your site demoted or banned. We do use webmaster recommendations from Google, Yahoo! and MSN to optimize your site.