Know Your Website by Steve Plunkett

M/C/C Technique - Search Engine Optimization - Steve Plunkett

When you search online for your company name or your trademarked products, are you at the top of the search engines? On the first page? On the second page?

Are those $0.50 per click visitors to your site looking to purchase or just looking?

Is having the top listing for a particular keyword on Pay Per Click Advertising the best thing you can do for your website?

Internet marketing involves more than just building a website. It requires building a great website using qualified keywords and phrases as part of your website copy. It also means using elements within your website to boost your rankings in search results without using unethical strategies or techniques such as cloaking, hidden keywords or multiple pages with no unique content.

Making changes to your website to alter your search result placement is known as organic search engine optimization (SEO). However, making changes to your website without the proper research is a time-consuming activity and some changes even may be detrimental to your ranking or listing.

Assessment
A comprehensive study of your website's history – what has and has not been done – should dictate the direction of your Internet marketing efforts. If you were lucky, that history includes your website’s submission to Yahoo! back in 1996. That means you have seniority, and you also avoided the $299 fee to have your site listed. Regardless, you need to find out if the current description of your website in Yahoo! accurately portrays what your company does today. In addition, you’ll want to consider professionally submitting your website to the major search engines, and you’ll need to know if there is something that isn’t “search engine friendly” in the actual HTML of your website.

Competition
It’s also important to understand how competitive your business channel is. Are you one of only 13 vendors that supply a really neat device, or are there 1,500 suppliers that could be viewed as competition by a potential customer that has not yet learned the difference? Trying to drive prospects to your website with Pay Per Click (PPC) could be cost-prohibitive for these types of situations – especially when you consider that 80 percent of Internet users skip over PPC advertising unless they recognize the brand and the web address.

Organic SEO, on the other hand, might be very effective. If you and six other companies, out of the 1,500, are using organic SEO on your websites, that would narrow your search engine placement from among 1,500 to just seven, which improves your chances of driving potential customers to your site.

Research
To make organic SEO effective, you should conduct research on what your potential customers are looking for when they go searching. You need to know the common words or phrases used in describing your product(s), and you need to think about whether or not your product/service is transparent enough to have only one search engine result. You also should be sure that when someone types in your particular company name, technology trademark or service mark, they find you. By analyzing your current website traffic, you can determine how people are finding you now and, if necessary, change how they find you in the future.

Results
Internet marketing is one of the best measurable forms of advertising. It can help you know what people searched for to find your website, what pages they clicked on and how they moved around on the website. You can know how long they stayed on each page and where they exited. Based on the referrals from the search engines and the exact time that they contacted you, it can also be determined which search engine and which keywords or key phrases led them to contact you. In addition, when you make changes to your website, traffic analysis can tell you what worked and what did not. Combined with e-mail marketing, traffic analysis can tell you how long it took them to read the e-mail you sent them, what time they clicked on the link and how long they stayed there.

All of these factors should be considered prior to the development of your Internet marketing plan. Ultimately, understanding your website’s history and the way potential customers search for your website can help you determine if PPC is right for your SEO plan or if you should just start with a few keyword changes in your HTML.

East Texas Web Guide

East Texas Web Guide
If you are a business owner, here are the facts about this www thingy, 52.5 percent of U.S. households, or about 53 million households had a personal computer as of 1999; 36.7 percent of those, or about 37 million households had online access. That translates into 90 million possible online shoppers out of a total U.S. population 270 million, which means one out of every three Americans is online today, says Evan Cohen at Jupiter Research. (www.jup.com) Online users have a mean income of $61,540 and 40 percent are college educated. This represents home use only, the facts are still not in on how many business users there are, but my estimate would be very close to those numbers. In case you are wondering just who in East Texas has a WebSite, here is a partial list, but you can find a complete listing at www.EastTexasWeb.com.
www.apfl.com upcoming Asia Pacific football league,
www.appleswim.tyler.com Check here for Fitness Schedules, Rates, and the latest Health information.
www.auainc.com Alan Utz and Associates, General Global Contractors
www.austinbank.com Find great links to financial sites, and lots of information about one of East Texas leading banks.
www.bailey-law.com Bailey and Colley, L.L.P, Railroad Law and Personal Injury Law Firm.
www.ballistic.net East Texas' Favorite Internet Service Provider, set this as your home page for a great starting point to the internet.
www.tyler.com/barber Ronald's Barber Shop, specializing in Military Style haircuts.
www.cwoods.com 24 hour sudden service
www.motorcoachtravel.com Chuck's Travel, take a trip to your favorite American destinations via comfortable motor coach.
www.mybankcsb.com Citizen's State Bank, find out banking information for the East Texas Area.
www.dehaveneye.com DeHaven Eye Clinic, East Texas' pioneer in Eye surgery, with lots of good info.
www.dermatologytyler.com The Skin Doctors - Dermatology Associates of Tyler
www.discovery.tyler.com the Discovery Science Place's latest exhibit.
www.dixsonhager.com Dixson-Hager Air Conditioning Service and Sales
www.equipservicesinc.com , need a tractor? This is the place.
www.erphysicians.com Medical Recruiter for the Emergency profession in East Texas
www.etaf.com East Texas Advertising Federation, Television, Radio, Print, and New Media, the gang's all here.
www.easttexasbrick.com Need a patio furniture or gas grill for summer? Also, find out about a fireplace for winter.
www.etfasteners.com Custom fasteners for any need.
www.etmc.org East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System, the place for all your health information in East Texas.
www.etmc.org/neuro Back/Leg/Arm/Neck Pain, Cant sleep? check here.
www.statefair.tyler.com East Texas State Fair, If you want to know what is going on at the fair, plan in advance by visiting their website.
www.healthandlife.com Feliciano Insurance and Investments, financial information that can help you plan for the future.
www.uttyl.edu University of Texas at Tyler
www.etfoodbank.org East Texas Food Bank, visit their website and find out how you can help.
www.fox51.com KFXK Fox 51, want to know what's on Fox?
www.cheapgolfballs.com If you golf, you must go here, CheapGolfBalls.com
www.tylergoodwill.org Goodwill Industries of Texas
www.leewrights.com Shop for your favorite collectibles.
www.heroes-superstars.com Local Baseball organization for kids.
www.tyler.com/healthfulhouse Get that special touch and relax.
www.heritagelandbank.com Moving out to the country? They can help.
www.holleyworks.com The man with the voice!
www.johnmoore.net The man with the voices!
www.karenshealthfoods.com Need to lose weight for summer the Natural way?www.kennedygourmet.com Really yummy stuff, find out where to buy it online.
www.kktx.com Almost 40 years of Classic Rock, 96X
www.knue.com East Texas #1 Country Radio station.
www.jammin931.com Jammin 93.1 The Jammin Oldies Station
www.disabilityaccessories.com Jordan's Mobility Solutions - special utensils for special needs.
www.lambrechtassociates.com Employment consultants
www.mikepile.com Mike Pile Jeep, Mazda, and BMW, shop for used cars online.
www.masimms.com the Cap Ranch Cookout online!
www.angelcandles.com Candles from an angel.
www.mix1073.com The most continuous hit music in East Texas.
www.neurocare.org neurocare Network, back pain specialists.
omfs.Tyler.com The Center for Corrective Surgery
www.blackjackoutback.com Blackjack Outback, go fishing or Hunting in Montana.
www.henrypeters.com Accountants for East Texas
www.raphamortgage.com Bad Credit, Good Credit get a home loan here
www.tyler.com/realestate Emerald Bay Real Estate.
www.rix.com See who's playing at Rick's On The Square.
www.robertslawfirm.com Robert's and Robert's Law firm Civil Litigation Firm
www.hendersontx.com Rusk County Chamber of Commerce WebSite and History on Henderson, Texas
www.simmonsgc.com Simmons General Contractors.
www.swmetal.com Metal Finishing Supplies
www.tylerskateplex.com Tyler's Newest Skating Rink with lots of fun activities.
www.soundsos.com Pro and Home Audio Equipment sales and Installation
www.tyler.com/suitclub The Suit Club - the place for Tommy Bahama
www.tylertexas.com Tyler, Texas Chamber of Commerce
www.tylerareabuilders.com Tyler Area Builders Association
www.tedc.org Tyler Economic Development Council
www.tylertoday.com Tyler Today Magazine Online
www.texastrauma.com East Texas Piney Woods Regional Advisory Council for Texas Department of Health
www.sportstrainingaids.com Baseball and Golf training aids
www.tyler.com Voted the Best Website in East Texas
www.tylerneuro.com Tyler Neurosurgical Associates , check out the latest in Neurosurgery
www.orthopedicspecialists.com Azalea Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic