SEO for the masses (or messed-up)

SEO really bugs me - when an covert industry has taken good practices and made it into a mystery science.

Not much that you have been told about search engines is true... If you would like to increase the amount of traffic flowing to your website - no money needed - follow me through the hoops. You will surprised how much you can accomplish on your own!

The following are tips that have been used by, or passed to me through other articles and that I have borne out to be the best advice.

Many do-it-yourself webmasters and online businesses have been led to believe that search engine optimization is a mystic art, and that no one like you and me can compete with the "experts." Wrong. You, too, can drive free, targeted traffic to your website.

There are only three steps you need to move your site's visibility in the search engines much higher. The three steps are: positioning, optimization, and link building.

Step 1: Positioning (a.k.a. search term selection)

First, allow me to define the terms. "Search terms" are the words and phrases that people type into search engines. For example, if I go to Google.com and type in "graphic artist", that's a search term. To get hits (or traffic) from search engines, you have to know what people are searching for and if you or your product fit the 'reality' of what you think your words will be. Your mission is to strike a balance between popularity, targeting, and competition.

Car Salesmen, for example, might be tempted to use "New Cars," to believe that this is a perfect set of keywords... wrong. Good term, but you will never achieve anything close when you certainly sell cars in one local area only. The key here is to be specific to geography, too.

To achieve the right keywords, ask people outside a particular industry to tell me what words they would use to find a graphic artist. Best people to use? People who are not in your circle of friends.

Step 2: Optimization

"Optimizing" simply means putting your keywords into your web pages logically and with the right formatting. That's all it means. Optimizing is the easiest part of this process.

Stay with this and you will know most of what you will ever need! The first thing to understand is that you should only use 1-2 search terms to optimize each page. Once you've selected a page to optimize, and the search terms you're going to use, all you have to do is put those words in the right places, and you're done.

Put your search terms here:
1. Your page's < title > < /title >
2. Your "keywords" and "description" META tags
3. In a heading tag (H1, H2, or H3) near the top of the page
4. In the first paragraph of body text, and repeated 1-2 more times on the page
5. In the text of any links that point to the page

Follow these amazingly simple steps and you are becoming an expert at SEO for your site! If you are uncomfortable in html, any qualified web designer can fulfill your directions with far less money spent than the 'SEO' dudes!

Step 3: Link Building

"Link building" simply means getting other websites to link to yours. Even if search engines don't matter to you, qualified, reciprocal links help you establish a credible reputation for your website.Link building is important because search engines look at these links as a "vote" for your website, and they will boost your rankings accordingly when other sites link to you.There are three simple ways to improve your site's "link popularity," and drive traffic at the same time:

1. Submit your site to the major directories. No need to pay for these... just start with dmoz.org - follow their directions precisely and get your site listed in the proper area. Do be careful here, as getting listed in the wrong directory can be undone, but takes time and is a pain.

2. Trade links with other websites in your industry. Helping each other is key to making better business for all. It really does work

3. Look for other sites that have resource directories that relate to your business or product, and ask them to link to you.

Remember that there are no shortcuts, and it's never a good idea to try to "trick" the search engines. The honest approach is easier, and much better for you and your visitors."

Interfaces and Other Tasty Morsels

I have to admit... winning a book from my Kansas City Adobe User's Group meeting is not everyone's idea of a great night out. But for me, this little journey into the printed world has turned into one of my favorite "at arm's length" reference.

Jenifer Tidwell's 'Designing Interfaces' puts a new realm of web design into focus that I found to be, otherwise, a maze of indiscernible buttons and clicks. So you know where this endorsements leads, find the book here:

http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596008031/index.html and get ready for a good read.

As a graphic designer, I am fine-arts orientated and took up the web and ColdFusion programming as a way to make my own studio (www.marcdorsett.com) truly marketable to more of the masses. Jenifer's obvious experience unfolds on every page, making an interface design more understandable and reachable to people like me - people who knew what to do but needed better ways to do it.

The book has a wide scope of matter but still gives a generous supply of examples, both written and visual, to make the point clear and simple. When it comes to interfaces, the bookstore is littered with 'web design' but very little in interface reference. Ms. Tidwell doesn't just provide a book, she writes and explains as though she has a thousand competitors in the field and she is going to be the best. I appreciate that aggressive approach to research.

The real clincher for me in a 'learn to' book is being able to jump right to areas where I need assistance. Good reference doesn't make me read the whole thing to find what I am needing right now. 'Designing Interfaces' does just that - lets me have what I can use this moment and I will fill up on the rest as time permits - which is happening pretty quickly!

All told, this is a superb resource, one which has earned a front-row seat in my limited-space bookshelf. I am certain it will be in yours, too.

Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe...

I find myself at odds with a bit of new wisdom in website and media design.

Point and Case: The best designs seem to follow this philosophy - It's time to make a web site accountable. It's time to make design decisions based on sales and business goals.

But the web isn't just about selling people something or getting them to sign up, is it? Or is it? In the information super-dynasty, sales comprise a full 38% of the web. Huh? 38%? The rest still is a weave of techno, imagery, games, and - heaven forbid - information and education.

So when it comes time to place your pitch on the web, I say rely on a few techniques that are still amongst the best. Never underestimate your customer for having a brain... let them use it... and just because we are in the technology world, don't think for a second that your customers have parked a couple hundred years of 'sales impulses' at the door. We all have that inbred desire to be 'sold.'

That is... show me why your product or service is right for me and convince me that I want it... at a reasonable ROI.

It is that simple. Still is.

Peace and Safe Passage, Always,

Marc

Devil is in the Details!

I found this list awhile back - and it is oh, so true...

When it comes to websites, the details matter. Although many site owners believe the important thing is merely to get a website up, that's only a small part of the job. Effective sites take a lot of planning--and a lot of concentration on the details. Of course, there are some site owners who obsess over details that really aren't going to matter to visitors--such as crafting the perfect logo, deciding whether Verdana or Arial is the ideal font face, or deciding whether the background of the left column should be navy or burgundy.

In certain cases, each of those issues could be an important consideration. But generally speaking, those aren't the kind of questions to worry about.

There are plenty of details, however, that do deserve much attention. For example:

- Is it crystal clear to visitors what they are supposed to do on your site? It's critical to ensure that you've provided straightforward directions to visitors as to what they should do on your site. Also, make sure your calls to action are properly emphasized (visually) and properly placed. In other words, don't let them be overshadowed.

- Have you answered all the objections visitors might raise? Visitors will have questions and hesitations at various points throughout the process of making a decision to buy. Are you answering those concerns at the points where they are likely to come up? It doesn't count to just have the information on the site somewhere; it needs to be in the right place at the right time.

- Have you emphasized the benefits of your services, not just the features?

- Is your site organization clear and straightforward, and is it oriented around visitors' needs and priorities? This is one question site owners continually fail to consider. The details of how you choose to organize the pages and information on your site will be very significant to your visitors' experiences. Consider things from a visitor's point of view, and organize around your visitors' priorities--not your internal company structure. The same goes for individual page layouts, not just the site organization as a whole.

- Do the graphics on your site visually emphasize the most important items on each page? Take a long hard look at your pages and figure out which elements really stand out. Are you visually drawing attention to the important stuff?

- Does your site draw along a path to an end goal? Every website should be a process geared toward getting visitors to take certain actions. It's your responsibility as a site owner to figure out the details of how that process should work and which steps happen where. Have you specifically designed your site so that everything--including all the small details--leads to your end goal?

- Do you prod visitors along at appropriate points to motivate them to take the next step? Have you provided compelling calls to action at the points where visitors need to do something?

- Have you made sure your copy is simple and engaging all the way through? This is an area where you should focus on details relentlessly. Make every word count.

- Have you considered everything from a visitor's point of view, not just a site owner's point of view?

If you want to create an effective website, get intimately acquainted with your visitors' mindset. Learn to identify with your visitors' feelings all the way through from the very beginning of the process to the very end. Understand their specific needs, their concerns, and the benefits that speak to their hearts. Learn to tell when they have enough information and when they need more. Anticipate the points at which questions and objections are going to be raised--and understand which questions and objections are going to occur when.

After you've done that, analyze the details of your site. The answers you've determined for the above questions will affect the fine points of your graphic design, of your page layouts, and of your overall site organization. Purposely evaluate why each element of the page is placed the way it is and identify what purpose every item serves.

It's not enough to just launch a website. You have to make the details count!

What happened?

Whoa! It is March again and I haven't gotten back here? Sad... very sad. I will try to do better.

My Graphic Artist Obsession of Client's Websites

Are you doing this? This is an exerpt from my recent newsletter...

You walk into a potential client's office, introduce yourself, and place a beautiful sales packet in front of the client about your company and the great product or service you sell.

During your elaborate presentation, the client reaches into his suit pocket, pulls out a gold-plated ink pen and starts glancing around the desk for the order form.

As the new client starts to sign the lucrative order, you reach over across the table, smack his hand, knocking the pen to the floor and yell at the top your lungs, “I haven't finished my presentation!"

Surely, you wouldn't do that, would you? Then why are you using web design techniques that keep the visitor from going for the sale? The golden rule of doing business on the Web is "Do nothing that gets in the way of the sale."

I started my sales career with the venerable Fuller Brush door-to-door and then migrated up to pushing pianos and organs on the midways of county fairs. Sounds glamorous, doesn’t it? But the techniques for grabbing a customer’s attention and then heading immediately for the closing of the sale haven’t changed.

Yeah, uh-huh... but this is the Internet now. Things are not the same. Wrong!

Human nature about buying took a long time to evolve and a few, dinky years of computers and megabytes haven’t short-circuited our brain’s desire to be convinced why we should buy something.

The key is consistently providing your visitors a way to purchase THE moment they become convinced it is right for them. Not a second later, nor after the ‘show’ is completed. NOW! Good salespeople know you start asking for the sale the moment you open your mouth. Ask closing questions from the beginning and never quit.

Your website should do no less for you. Make certain the service or product you sell can be acted upon by your web visitors at every turn – ask for the sale. Do that and you will see new results in short order.

For a no-obligation review of your site and design, feel free to contact me anytime!

Greetings!

Good morning, World...

The Orgnmaster has arrived on the Blogging scene and will contribute bits and pieces to the enrichment of Graphic Art!