SEO: Search Engine Optimize Your Web Site

I received a call earlier this week from the owner of a local Massachusetts company. He was looking for a company to search engine optimize his company website. He had discussed his web site with several search engine optimization consultants from local web site design / internet marketing companies by that time.  The advise he received varied significantly from company to company and he was frustrated because he didn’t know what to do.  The advise ranged from build a new website to invest in ad words and forget organic search engine optimization completely. With the exception of the later, we were giving the same advise but took a different approach to reach his goal.  

First, we discussed whether or not he NEEDED to start from scratch with a brand new website. I took a quick look at his site and found that was a couple of years old but not badly written for that time period.  If his site was framed or was a Flash site the answer would have been ‘yes’ right off the bat.  Why?  Because websites that use frames or those written in Flash do not index well.  In other words, the method used to index the content of the website relies on links to navigate through the pages and only text can be indexed.  Framed sites are difficult to index because of the way they are structured and Flash sites are a movie and therefore have no links or text to index. 

Second, we talked about whether he SHOULD start from scratch or fix the current web site.  As I mentioned the site is a couple of years old.  It used tables for layout and button rollovers for navigation without alt tags.  My advise was if his budget could support it and he wanted the best possible result, go for the redesign.  A well written site created with style sheets and text links rather than graphics would be much better.

And finally, we discussed how to prioritize a phased project in case his budget was not sufficient.  I suggested he replace the navigation with one created with style sheets first.  This would get rid of a bunch of javascript and DHTML code that was written into the pages and make his navigation much easier to follow for indexing.  Next, since his site was product content heavy, clean up those areas by styling the content and taking out the font tags.  Also add alt tags to all the images and anchor text.  He was worried about the tables that were used for layout he had been advised to remove them first.  With a limited budget, I would make sure it could be indexed and then focus on content.  Sure it would be better without the tables but I felt he would see a quicker return on his investment if were to cleaned up his his code by removing unnecessary tags, optimized his page content, create good page title tags, add a sitemap and add a blog in order to generate some really good content quickly.  

I had an opportunity and distinct honor to present a seminar with two very talented and knowledgeable people from my networking group this week.  The three of us are members of Next Level Executives in Westborough, MA.  Pete Caputa IV  of PC4Media, Catie Foertsch of OurTown Productions, LLC and I presented a seminar that we developed titled ” Intro to New Media Marketing: How to use the internet to build your business.  I opened with organic search engine optimization tips and techniques, a subject that I love to talk about.  Luckily, Catie Foertsch, our video production guru was my time keeper and gave me the hook before I used everyone’s time slot extolling the virtues of Section 508 compliance and how it benefits search engine optimization.  Pete, super internet marketing guru, was up next and he discussed the “new” in “new media marketing” such as blogging, social networking, building your brand and reputation on the internet and how to generate leads and measure conversions.  Catie wrapped it up with a very interesting discussion of using video to get your message across.  It was not only interesting, it was entertaining!  Catie peppered her presentation with videos including “Will it blend?”.  Every toy lover in the crowd cringed as we watched an Apple iPhone pulverized into black dust.  I must say, I could no more do that to my beloved iPhone than I could hunt for Bambi.  So, what’s the point?  I just wanted to thank Pete, Catie and Next Level Executives for the opportunity.  In this busy world, we need reminders to look to the future.  We need reminders that change is good and we should embrace it.  So, thanks, Pete.  I finally have my blog.  Blogging isn’t new to me and I have commented on other people’s blogs.  However, I had not found the time to start my own.  I guess it was a bit of “the plumber’s pipes usually leak” syndrome.  It is difficult to spend the time incorporating new things into our businesses when we are customer focused and busy.  It is so easy to put it off until tomorrow.  Again, thanks, Pete.  I needed the reminder and now I have a blog.  And, Catie, about that video for my web site…..