Do we want better search engine placement? Do we want targeted content distribution & consumption? Do we want more leads & new business?

If so, we must be committed to publishing with the right solutions & techniques! Current coverage of our various trades including how we add value for our target marketplaces has become a strategic requirement in this modern day and age. 

Being current demonstrates the authority modern consumers respect in an environment where they have power. You see, there is a fundamental change in the environment we sell in. On one side, consumers have immediate access to a depth of information via search & subscribe. On the other, we [business people] can have the means for advertorial content creation and [direct to the consumer] distribution. In the past, consumers had no immediate source for information, so we hunted for their attention. Now, consumers research with an ease never before possible. It means the value of traditional advertising has diminished in their eyes. Now, we have got to be there when consumers search… showing we’re committed, trustworthy, knowledgeable, appealing and current!

Site Search Optimization Standards

• General Site Management & Architecture – Your blog should be configured to maximize the dynamic nature of the web. It should be built for search spider cooperation and continuously monitored for adequate load times, especially with each new feature addition or software update. It should also have security against attacks that can slow loads, or worse bring our sites down.
• Site Title Tag – Our site’s primary meta tag is designed to distinguish the top level business goal purpose for search spiders. Our title tag is the first thing a visiting spider will recognize, so it should tell what the topic of our site is. We need to be sure our platform has its’ tag coded accurately!
• Page Title Tags – Each page or post we create should be set up to auto tag, based upon the unique title we use to describe that page. Consistency between titles and those auto-coded page tags is noticed by search spiders and can lead to deeper crawling, which [in theory] means more topic indexing. This tag will also appear as the title in search results pages so we need to title carefully, with one eye toward human and the other toward spider attention!
• URL Structure – Good sites offer modification of page URLs. As opposed to cryptic URLs like long numbers, this offers information about the page’s purpose. Again, consistency between titles, tags and [now including] URLs is noticed by search spiders. It can support more and deeper crawling!
• Categories – Categories for content history are pretty standard, but the the addition of good categorization can only help to add emphasis for targeted subject areas when spiders crawl. Categories also support humans, who may want to drill down into those subject areas! They make it as easy as possible for users to go from general content to the more specific content they want on our site.
• Pinging Engine – Blogs should be set to notify search engines each time we post to our blogs. While not all search engines listen, several do so it should happen automatically!
• Sitemaps – Our sitemap displays the structure of our site, and usually has a hierarchical list of all pages including the most recent. Sitemaps make it easier for a search engine to discover all pages on a site and they should be re-created automatically with each new post/ page. One should be able to find a copy at the following addresses: YourBlogURL/sitemap.xml
• Content & Links – Obviously, having a strong knowledge of what works with search engines and with people when blogging is crucial. We write often on the subject of better blogging practices for business blogs here. While the above is all very advantageous, creating useful content will always attract the most people. If so, it’s likely some of them will direct others to us via links from their own blogs, social media or forums. Their organic links to our content can also be an important factor in gaining a competitive search placement advantage. Our own use of anchor text linking is also an important competitive criteria, both deep internal and incoming.

It’s a competitive environment for targeted content placement & distribution; it’s also an environment that is in a constant state of change. By imposing the discipline on ourselves to publish we will improve our search marketing much more easily and much more affordably. A business has core responsibilities, so it’s unrealistic to know it all.

Get in touch, we’re committed to helping folks become better online marketers/ advertisers. We’re committed to helping folks build better and more sustainable online brands!