Defining a Killer SEO Strategy
One of the most fascinating aspects of SEO is the dynamic and fluid nature of the art itself. By definition any legitimate search optimization methodology will be closely related to the search engines of the day. This relationship is also mutually reinforcing: The search engines will continue to evolve partially in response to advancing SEO methodologies. The cycle begins again.
The current direction of search technology is towards the improvement of core search quality, this has resulted in a very positive shift within much of the search optimization industry; as practitioners must now place increased emphasis on providing quality web pages. In the end everyone wins, so long as this course is maintained.
In regards to modern search engines, what constitutes a great SEO strategy? Yesterday's answer to this question was different from todays, and tomorrow promises greater changes still. For now we will leave tomorrow's answer in the hands of those who have time for such speculation. What we are concerned with right now is defining some concrete features of a killer SEO strategy for today.
What is SEO?
Today more than ever we are finding an increasingly difficult task in answering this question definitively. The border between optimization, marketing, design and usability are starting to fade in a very positive way. Good SEO, which once defined a very narrow body of (superficial) activity, is fast becoming a comprehensive, holistic strategy, with sights focused on long-term success. The search engines themselves deserve a large portion of the credit for this leap forward as they continue to develop algorithms that reward genuinely good web pages.
SEO is not the only industry that is benefiting from an expanding big-picture. Given the immense success of search engine medium, traditional marketing is now taking a serious interest in the leviathan of potential that search has become. We are also seeing a shift in the web design and development world, as programmers integrate search friendly design principles into their work. After all what use is an awesome website if no one is going to see it? This is becoming a common mantra in web design. None of this offers any assistance in our task of defining SEO; however it indicates that rewarding professional collaborations and continuing education are certain to be an essential aspect of these industries for a long time.
So are we ready to define search engine optimization yet? Perhaps not for the industry at large, but for the purposes of this work, I will bite the bullet and offer some boundaries for our discussion. We will define search engine optimization thusly:
SEO is both an art and a science which aims to secure strategic, targeted, organic search engine visibility.
(The purpose of securing this visibility will be dependent upon the individual case; common motivations being: targeted visitor traffic, sales, brand recognition and even competitive interference.)
Some explanation:
- SEO is both an art and a science in that it involves ( ideally):
-
- i. Knowledge of search engine technologies and a practical understanding of how to apply that knowledge to develop highly relevant web pages.
- ii. An appreciation of core quality and end-user needs as well as an intuitive understanding of how to leverage this awareness to create user-centric benefits.
- SEO is concerned with achieving opacity for very specific audiences (targeted search phrases) with the purpose of motivating that audience towards a specific action. That action can be highly variable depending upon the needs of the site owner.
Many will argue against this definition, however it suits the purposes of this discussion nicely and we can now start laying out our killer SEO strategy.
Features of a Killer SEO Strategy
It will be necessary for our strategy to satisfy our basic definition of SEO as a minimum. Yet to receive the distinction of being the Killer strategy we need to go a little above and beyond the call of duty. In the descriptions below I have tried to avoid too much specificity so as to keep the discussion on a conceptual level. My hope is that this will inspire discussion and further refinement of SEO methodologies.
The following features describe the essentials of the killer search optimization strategy.
Research: The foundation any effective SEO strategy is comprehensive research.
The research effort should have three primary goals:
a) Identification of targeted audiences and the search phrases
that will be targeted in order to reach them.
b) Important factors that will influence the campaign. For
example competitive factors, industry trends, etc.
c) The development of an optimal strategy to achieve targeted
visibility.
Some essential aspects of the research effort include:
Targeted search phrase research (keyword research):
The success of entire campaign will be dependent upon the strength of the keyword research. Ideally keyword research will draw upon many resources and take into consideration a broad range of factors to identify the search phrases of greatest value and strategic advantage. This can include: semantic analysis, topical integrity improvement, industry vocabulary building and a great deal more. An understanding of modern search engine textual analysis strategies is essential.
Website Analysis:
The purpose of this phase is to obtain a complete view of the current state of your web site; especially those factors which are not readily observable yet can significantly influence the outcome of the campaign. Factors such us user transparent code structures, hyper-link associations, etc. Areas of investigation could include: website credibility, usability/accessibility review, inherent user value, business efficacy, design quality, architecture, etc.
Competitive Analysis:
The two-fold purpose of this phase should be:
- Identification of your primary (targeted search phrase) competition and a thorough investigation of their business. Identify competitor strategies, strengths, weaknesses, upcoming developments, etc.
- The identification of unique industry-specific variables that can influence rankings. This is primarily a function of topical community analysis.
MWR Strategy:
This phase is concerned with directing visitors towards a Most Wanted Response. The most wanted response being the ideal action that visitors will take once they arrive at your site. Often this involves a review of the marketability and sales effectiveness of the website with an emphasis on improving usability, implementing effective conversion strategies and developing visitor loyalty programs.
Optimization: This is where all that research is put to good use. The optimization procedure should produce a final product that is an authoritative and valuable resource within its topical community. The website must also be highly relevant for targeted search phrases; this requires an understanding of search engine document analysis and sorting techniques. Some of the areas addressed by the optimization process should include:
- Text Optimization: Text improvement and optimization that improves the relevancy of a given web page for its targeted search phrases, without compromising the value to human visitors.
- Code Optimization: including user transparent code like Meta data. User visible code and document architecture. Intra-document connectivity and hyper-link optimization.
- Site Augmentation: Including the development of essential components such as site maps, error pages, robots.txt files and more.
- Implementation of your MWR strategy: This should include developing strategies for testing and tracking.
Management: Ongoing support and management is an essential component of any effective SEO strategy. Campaign management should include an ongoing strategic approach to citations development. Reciprocal linking does not count. Some common approaches include publishing linked content, writing product reviews and most importantly developing exceptional content that attracts links.
A comprehensive approach to ongoing management will also include some sort of reporting that effectively summarizes campaign progress.
A relatively new consideration in campaign management is reputation management which is concerned with monitoring the Internet for potentially damaging statements, sensitive information, parody websites and other activities which could compromise online reputation.
How Does Your Strategy Measure Up?
The above features describe the essential qualities of a Killer SEO Strategy: An SEO campaign built to perform and keep on performing. Does your strategy measure up?
