Organic SEO - Getting Started with Smaller Sites

**Anilrgowda** · 22-Dec-2006, 01:52 AM

More businesses are developing a web presence than ever before. Design houses and SEO shops are extremely busy these days as small businesses try their hands at online commerce for the first time, and established businesses are having sites redesigned. Even with a great deal of technological innovation in both design and search, preliminary SEO strategies have not changed radically. The rules are basically the same but the campaigns have gotten larger with clients wanting their SEO providers to cover more ground than in previous years. In a two part series, I want to look at the first steps of an SEO campaign for smaller and larger sites. Today, we'll look at smaller sites and how to get your ascent up the rankings off on the right foot.

First Steps
For most small businesses, the first step of an SEO campaign is site design. Many already have business websites]however, a good SEO campaign often requires some degree of redesign. The design of a site sets the basic foundation for your SEO to work with. The size, descriptiveness and technology used to create the site are important preliminary factors for SEOs on first examination and form the basis of several questions that will determine the direction of the campaign. While your entire site may not require redesign, revision of the INDEX page is very often a necessity and the addition of a few new internal pages may be required.

Size matters
Though it is not the most important ranking factor, the size of your site can tell your SEO a number of things about your business and the techniques he or she will want to use.

My first assumption when I come across a smaller site is the business behind it is either very small itself or has a number of other websites their SEO should know about. If the business itself is small, what is the geographic area of their target market? Is growth into a regional, national or international market a major goal? Is the client prepared for the added attention that comes from strong placements? Is this site going to expand, and if so, is there an expansion plan for the site that will effect or enhance SEO work?
There are advantages and disadvantages to smaller sites. On the plus side, smaller sites tend to focus on one distinct message or product line, making it simpler for your SEO to target very specific keyword phrases. An obvious negative is that, while technically easier to approach than a multi-faceted website, small sites offer less real-estate for SEOs to work with, containing a fewer number of pages that may potentially achieve Top10 placements. Chances are, the site will require basic SEO focusing on titles, tags, text and internal linking. The site will probably also require a greater number of incoming links from topically relevant sites. Obtaining links is an area where a smaller site presents a disadvantage as finding topically relevant links becomes slightly more difficult. Variations on your keyword phrases should produce a number of sites that are similar enough in topic for a good SEO to craft a link-building campaign.
The Details are in the Description
By far, the most important factor to site rankings for smaller websites is content and how that content is presented to the search engines. There are four basic areas search tools find information about a site, the title, the meta tags, the body text, and by following links into the internal pages of a site. These are the areas your SEO will be most concerned with. The first question I ask new clients in relation to the content of their sites is how much latitude I have to modify or manipulate the various elements.
As smaller websites have a lesser number of pages that can potentially achieve strong placements, the descriptiveness of each page in the site becomes the SEO's most powerful tool. A small site gives the SEO the advantage of focusing on a very narrow range of keyword phrases from the beginning to the end of the site. Each page in the site should have unique titles and meta tags, a task that can be daunting on larger sites.
I tend towards the use of three sets of two-keyword phrases in my titles, the last set incorporating the client's business name or identity. <title=”Blue Widgets :: Preformatted Construction Materials :: Bob's Widgets Inc.”</title>

Meta tags should be topically specific to each page in the site. There are only two really important meta tags, the description and keyword tags. Of these two, the description tag carries the most weight and is used by search tools as a way of establishing the contextual theme of the site. In some cases, the description is also used to create the text found under the reference links on search engine results pages. The description on each page should be short and phrased in well written sentences. Keywords and keyword phrases should be placed as close to the beginning of this tag as possible. The keywords meta tag is of lesser importance but, this being a small site scenario, may add an essential ounce of weight to the campaign. Keep your keywords tags shorter than longer. Just concentrate on your target keyword phrases in the keyword tag and place a few obvious misspellings.
Most importantly, there should be sufficient body text on each page for search engine spiders to read and record information from. This text should be well written to accentuate target keyword phrases in simple sentences and paragraphs. Try to stick to one topic or product per page. Since the site is smaller and will likely have a lower link-density, the precision used in the body text will have a huge effect on the SEO campaign.
Lastly, internal linking and the anchor text used to phrase these links is very important. Search engine spiders follow text based links 100% of the time. If applied properly, good navigation and site maps involving text-links guarantees that 100% of the site will be seen by search engine spiders. Many sites have subtle internal text-links across the bottom of each page in the site. These internal links often contain short keyword phrases, associating the page with the keyword phrase and offering the spider another piece of information about the page being linked to.
The last important element an SEO will initially examine is the technology used to design a site and it's components. Search engines continue to like simple websites that are free of clutter and easy to electronically follow. If your site is smaller or you are “breaking in” a new domain, you should probably start with a simpler technology such as basic HTML, XML or PHP INDEX page. Each internal page should also be designed with a basic language such as HTML, XML or PHP as it's foundation. These formats are the easiest for spiders to read and the easiest for SEOs to work with. Additional elements such as FLASH or a Blog can also be embedded in these formats.
Half the battle in achieving initial placements is getting your site or URL associated with specific keyword phrases. (The other half is keeping it that way). By approaching your first placement campaign with a simpler website, you have a better chance of getting fully spidered and eventually achieving strong placements. Starting simple also provides your SEO and your designers the opportunity to add new elements and make the site grow in sophistication and scope over time. Sites that make regular updates and additions tend to rank better than sites that remain static over long periods of time. The ultimate beauty of the web is your ability to upgrade, modify or change the way information is presented on your site. By starting simple, you can always introduce more complex technologies and databases but your first goal should be achieving placement for your site. The most technically sophisticated site will not be appreciated by thousands of potential customers if it can't be found. Starting simple gives the complex the best chance.

Off-Site Elements
Once your site is optimized and posted live-to-web, there are a few things you'll want to do in order to get the ball rolling. Your number one concern at this point is establishing relevant incoming links and the more the merrier. Getting links is easier said than done. Many SEOs provide link-building services though several firms have recently pulled back on this offering as doing it right can be very time consuming and ultimately too expensive for smaller clients. There are a few ways to get good incoming links. The goal here is to drive spiders as well as driving live-human traffic.
First of all, if you have hired an SEO, listen to his or her advise around directory submissions. Good SEOs do not necessarily agree on the value of submissions to directories however, every good SEO has experience to back his or her opinion. For smaller sites, I would strongly recommend paying for submission to various directories in order to establish a set of incoming links from relevant references. Listings at the Yahoo directory or the Open Directory Project are still beneficial to Google rankings, especially for newer and smaller sites. Brand new sites may find frustration waiting to be listed at the ODP as it is a volunteer driven project however submission there is highly recommended. There are several other directories worth submitting to as well. If you are committed enough to spend a bit more promotion money, your SEO can point out regional and topical directories it would be worthwhile submitting to.
Another simple way to get incoming links is to join a number of discussion groups and add a link to your signature file. Out of respect for the discussion group, you should keep this link simple and only use one link per signature. This is not a hard-fast rule on most discussion forums but a point of etiquette. Forum moderators will think better of you as will long-term forum readers. You many not drive a lot of human traffic in these links but you will drive some search engine spiders.
A third quick way of establishing relevant links is to purchase advertising space in an online journal. There are thousands of websites dedicated to bringing news and information to thousands of different business sectors. These sites all have bills to pay and are more often than not happy to allow your advertising dollars to help pay them. Please look to the right on this page. Now look up. OK. Good. Now please look down. See any interesting space? This site has high page rank, is totally topical, and has a lot of real estate for rent. The same can be said for thousands of other sector-specific websites. Find them and support them and you may find you are also supporting your own site's rankings.

22-Dec-2006, 01:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
Anilrgowda Administrator Posts: 18,715 Join Date: Jan 2006 Rep Power: 10 IM:	Organic SEO - Getting Started with Smaller Sites More businesses are developing a web presence than ever before. Design houses and SEO shops are extremely busy these days as small businesses try their hands at online commerce for the first time, and established businesses are having sites redesigned. Even with a great deal of technological innovation in both design and search, preliminary SEO strategies have not changed radically. The rules are basically the same but the campaigns have gotten larger with clients wanting their SEO providers to cover more ground than in previous years. In a two part series, I want to look at the first steps of an SEO campaign for smaller and larger sites. Today, we'll look at smaller sites and how to get your ascent up the rankings off on the right foot. First Steps For most small businesses, the first step of an SEO campaign is site design. Many already have business websites]however, a good SEO campaign often requires some degree of redesign. The design of a site sets the basic foundation for your SEO to work with. The size, descriptiveness and technology used to create the site are important preliminary factors for SEOs on first examination and form the basis of several questions that will determine the direction of the campaign. While your entire site may not require redesign, revision of the INDEX page is very often a necessity and the addition of a few new internal pages may be required. Size matters Though it is not the most important ranking factor, the size of your site can tell your SEO a number of things about your business and the techniques he or she will want to use. My first assumption when I come across a smaller site is the business behind it is either very small itself or has a number of other websites their SEO should know about. If the business itself is small, what is the geographic area of their target market? Is growth into a regional, national or international market a major goal? Is the client prepared for the added attention that comes from strong placements? Is this site going to expand, and if so, is there an expansion plan for the site that will effect or enhance SEO work? There are advantages and disadvantages to smaller sites. On the plus side, smaller sites tend to focus on one distinct message or product line, making it simpler for your SEO to target very specific keyword phrases. An obvious negative is that, while technically easier to approach than a multi-faceted website, small sites offer less real-estate for SEOs to work with, containing a fewer number of pages that may potentially achieve Top10 placements. Chances are, the site will require basic SEO focusing on titles, tags, text and internal linking. The site will probably also require a greater number of incoming links from topically relevant sites. Obtaining links is an area where a smaller site presents a disadvantage as finding topically relevant links becomes slightly more difficult. Variations on your keyword phrases should produce a number of sites that are similar enough in topic for a good SEO to craft a link-building campaign. The Details are in the Description By far, the most important factor to site rankings for smaller websites is content and how that content is presented to the search engines. There are four basic areas search tools find information about a site, the title, the meta tags, the body text, and by following links into the internal pages of a site. These are the areas your SEO will be most concerned with. The first question I ask new clients in relation to the content of their sites is how much latitude I have to modify or manipulate the various elements. As smaller websites have a lesser number of pages that can potentially achieve strong placements, the descriptiveness of each page in the site becomes the SEO's most powerful tool. A small site gives the SEO the advantage of focusing on a very narrow range of keyword phrases from the beginning to the end of the site. Each page in the site should have unique titles and meta tags, a task that can be daunting on larger sites. I tend towards the use of three sets of two-keyword phrases in my titles, the last set incorporating the client's business name or identity. <title=”Blue Widgets :: Preformatted Construction Materials :: Bob's Widgets Inc.”</title> Meta tags should be topically specific to each page in the site. There are only two really important meta tags, the description and keyword tags. Of these two, the description tag carries the most weight and is used by search tools as a way of establishing the contextual theme of the site. In some cases, the description is also used to create the text found under the reference links on search engine results pages. The description on each page should be short and phrased in well written sentences. Keywords and keyword phrases should be placed as close to the beginning of this tag as possible. The keywords meta tag is of lesser importance but, this being a small site scenario, may add an essential ounce of weight to the campaign. Keep your keywords tags shorter than longer. Just concentrate on your target keyword phrases in the keyword tag and place a few obvious misspellings. Most importantly, there should be sufficient body text on each page for search engine spiders to read and record information from. This text should be well written to accentuate target keyword phrases in simple sentences and paragraphs. Try to stick to one topic or product per page. Since the site is smaller and will likely have a lower link-density, the precision used in the body text will have a huge effect on the SEO campaign. Lastly, internal linking and the anchor text used to phrase these links is very important. Search engine spiders follow text based links 100% of the time. If applied properly, good navigation and site maps involving text-links guarantees that 100% of the site will be seen by search engine spiders. Many sites have subtle internal text-links across the bottom of each page in the site. These internal links often contain short keyword phrases, associating the page with the keyword phrase and offering the spider another piece of information about the page being linked to. The last important element an SEO will initially examine is the technology used to design a site and it's components. Search engines continue to like simple websites that are free of clutter and easy to electronically follow. If your site is smaller or you are “breaking in” a new domain, you should probably start with a simpler technology such as basic HTML, XML or PHP INDEX page. Each internal page should also be designed with a basic language such as HTML, XML or PHP as it's foundation. These formats are the easiest for spiders to read and the easiest for SEOs to work with. Additional elements such as FLASH or a Blog can also be embedded in these formats. Half the battle in achieving initial placements is getting your site or URL associated with specific keyword phrases. (The other half is keeping it that way). By approaching your first placement campaign with a simpler website, you have a better chance of getting fully spidered and eventually achieving strong placements. Starting simple also provides your SEO and your designers the opportunity to add new elements and make the site grow in sophistication and scope over time. Sites that make regular updates and additions tend to rank better than sites that remain static over long periods of time. The ultimate beauty of the web is your ability to upgrade, modify or change the way information is presented on your site. By starting simple, you can always introduce more complex technologies and databases but your first goal should be achieving placement for your site. The most technically sophisticated site will not be appreciated by thousands of potential customers if it can't be found. Starting simple gives the complex the best chance. Off-Site Elements Once your site is optimized and posted live-to-web, there are a few things you'll want to do in order to get the ball rolling. Your number one concern at this point is establishing relevant incoming links and the more the merrier. Getting links is easier said than done. Many SEOs provide link-building services though several firms have recently pulled back on this offering as doing it right can be very time consuming and ultimately too expensive for smaller clients. There are a few ways to get good incoming links. The goal here is to drive spiders as well as driving live-human traffic. First of all, if you have hired an SEO, listen to his or her advise around directory submissions. Good SEOs do not necessarily agree on the value of submissions to directories however, every good SEO has experience to back his or her opinion. For smaller sites, I would strongly recommend paying for submission to various directories in order to establish a set of incoming links from relevant references. Listings at the Yahoo directory or the Open Directory Project are still beneficial to Google rankings, especially for newer and smaller sites. Brand new sites may find frustration waiting to be listed at the ODP as it is a volunteer driven project however submission there is highly recommended. There are several other directories worth submitting to as well. If you are committed enough to spend a bit more promotion money, your SEO can point out regional and topical directories it would be worthwhile submitting to. Another simple way to get incoming links is to join a number of discussion groups and add a link to your signature file. Out of respect for the discussion group, you should keep this link simple and only use one link per signature. This is not a hard-fast rule on most discussion forums but a point of etiquette. Forum moderators will think better of you as will long-term forum readers. You many not drive a lot of human traffic in these links but you will drive some search engine spiders. A third quick way of establishing relevant links is to purchase advertising space in an online journal. There are thousands of websites dedicated to bringing news and information to thousands of different business sectors. These sites all have bills to pay and are more often than not happy to allow your advertising dollars to help pay them. Please look to the right on this page. Now look up. OK. Good. Now please look down. See any interesting space? This site has high page rank, is totally topical, and has a lot of real estate for rent. The same can be said for thousands of other sector-specific websites. Find them and support them and you may find you are also supporting your own site's rankings.

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