A Guide To Organic SEO And Its Benefits

Organic SEO is the purest form of optimizing your website for the benefit of search engines, while still retaining interest for your site visitors,

What Is Organic SEO?

Put in the simplest manner possible, organic SEO is search engine optimization done manually using no black hat methods, no underhand methods and no automated scripting.

Organic SEO done well it is exactly the thing that search engines are looking for in a website. Once they find it they will reward your site with better rankings and improved positions within the search engine results pages.

Throughout the course of this article it will be referred to as simply SEO.

Understanding The Search Engines

Understanding Search Engines and their general concept is vital to the use of effective SEO methods.

Search engines enable their visitors to enter a specific word or term, known as keywords.

Once submitted, all pages containing those keywords that can be found in the search engine’s directory are listed on the search engine result pages.

Each page is “ranked” according to relevancy, popularity and a few other factors.

Therefore, in theory, the more relevant a page is to a given keyword the more likely it will appear at the top of the listings.

Introducing The Search Engine Spiders

Another important factor to remember about search engines is that they don’t use real people to crawl the billions of websites and judge how relevant they are.

Instead they use automated software called a “spider” or a “bot” that does this work much quicker.

The calculations that the search engine uses to determine the ranking of a website are called algorithms and in the case of the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN these algorithms are changed on a regular basis.

The changes and the specifics of the algorithms are not released to the public in order to prevent black hat SEOs from manipulating their sites to reach the top of the pile despite containing to information relevant to the search query or keyword.

Optimizing For Search Engines – Optimizing For Visitors

Of course to some extent, all of us reading this article are probably guilty of altering our web pages to meet the whims of search engines but it must be done in a positive and organic way.

We understand that optimizing a page purely for the benefit of search engines spiders may massively detract from the actual value of the site to your visitors.

Search engines understand this too, hence the evolution of the algorithms.

With each new algorithm created and usually patented by search engines like Google, we are getting closer to a structure whereby sites are genuinely judged on their value to visitors.

It may sound like an Isaac Asimov novel but the algorithms and the spiders are basically becoming more human like.

Basic Components Of SEO

The actual methods of optimizing your website are saved for another article, but the basic components of an SEO campaign are broken down into on page and off page optimization techniques.

On page SEO includes factors like keyword inclusion, content optimization, page structure etc… whereas the main contributing factor of off page optimization is inbound links.

There are many different factors to each of these areas and different SEOs will give you varying information on which factors are the most relevant to gain higher rankings.

These extensive differences in opinion occur because nobody is certain of the algorithm criteria.

The Benefits Of Organic SEO

SEO is probably the most beneficial way to conduct Internet promotion. It is highly cost effective, can yield long term results and the leads it generates are opt in and targeted.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider trying out alternative methods of advertising your site.

For many, banner advertisements, press releases (can actually be used as part of an organic SEO campaign as well), PPC campaigns and sponsored listings prove to highly beneficial and including these will help your site’s popularity.

To Cost Effectiveness And To Life

The cost effectiveness is easily determined when you look at the potential of an SEO campaign compared to the method that many consider to be the next best thing – PPC.

A PPC campaign will usually cost you anywhere upward of 5 cents per visitor generated. This means that for every thousand visitors you receive you will have paid $50.

Some fairly basic SEO work on a web site containing ten pages will generate this kind of traffic on a monthly basis relatively quickly.

$50 doesn’t sound much but consider that you pay this in one month to receive the desired one thousand visitors. Over the space of a year you will have paid $600, and so on.

Now consider that you are competing for a relatively competitive keyword and you find that you need to be paying a minimum of 50 cents per click to generate just the one thousand clicks in a month.

All of a sudden you’re paying $6000 per year and you are still only getting one thousand clicks every month. $6000 will buy you an awful lot of SEO work and you should find that within a few months you are generating a lot more traffic using SEO.

Targeted Leads

Targeted leads are the best type of leads you can generate. It means that the visitors to your site are already predisposed to the basic topic of your site and are interested in what you have to say.

It means that they will be more likely to purchase goods or services from your site, click on affiliate links or click Google ads to earn you revenue.

Because organic SEO leads are physically searching for the topic that your site relates to you are guaranteed that they are interested in whatever you’re offering.

First of all they search using keywords relevant to your site. They then read the description and name of your site and this further compounds their interest in the page in question and click on the link.

Already they have become highly susceptible to the message of your web page.

So Remember…

Organic SEO is a webmaster’s greatest tool but treated badly it can quickly blow up in your face.

By ensuring you stick to the very letter of the law and do not use any underhand methods you should soon benefit from powerful leads that will frequent your site and earn you revenue.

Choosing A Good Domain Name

With over 50 million registered domain names, it’s tough to find a good one that’s still available.

Unfortunately the domain name industry is full of opportunistic “traders” who buy and sell domain names without any intention of even using it themselves.

Because of this, the majority of the registered domain names don’t even have a website to go with it!

This can be quite frustrating as you seek out a domain name for yourself to build a website for.

But at the end of the day in a first-come first-served world, we must try and find another way to find that great domain name.

What makes a good domain name

There are several tools that can be very handy when it comes to looking for a domain name.

I discuss these tools in another article.

Here we will discuss what makes a good domain name.

To brand or not to brand?

Branding is a key element in traditional “offline” marketing.

Having a unique, catchy name does wonders for any business.

However when it comes to an online presence, you might just be better off with a domain name that is rich in keywords.

Search Engines

Search engines primarily work on keywords as you may know.

You enter a search term or “keywords” and the search engine produces results based on their formulas and the websites they believe to be the best fit for your search.

Now, there are many Search Engine Optimisation techniques that can be used by anyone on any site.

The same techniques could be applied to a lot of sites, so my question is what could possibly be the 1 thing that is unique and could separate one site from the other?

Keywords In Domain Name

I prefer to have keywords in the domain names that I own because this is what could give me the edge over competitors.

Of course it’s not so important if your website is a personal one and you are not looking to make any money from it. But if you are selling something or wanting to make money off your website, I would strongly recommend using keywords in your domain names.

Just to prove it, go to Google.com and search for “domain name”. You will see in the results that any occurrence of the words “domain” or “name” is actually in bold.

On the other hand, branding is still a strong concept online as well.

If you find that catchy name (such as….hmmm Google?) and market it well, then you could be well on your way to word-of-mouth fame in no time!

If your business name is available, register it.

You can always register keyword rich domain names to draw the traffic, and redirect them to your business name domain.

Hyphens or no hyphens?

Another common topic of discussion is whether to use hyphens in your domain names.

I own mixtures of both hyphenated and non-hyphenated names.

In fact, for search engines you are helping them by separating words that could be read differently.

Here is one example: mikesmithstables.com

This domain could belong to a horse trainer “Mike Smith”, as a website for his racing stables, or it could also be read as “Mike Smith’s Tables”.

So there is definitely nothing wrong with hyphenation, as it would actually help to distinguish where the words end in the above example.

The only small problem you will run into is word of mouth advertising where people will have to call out the hyphens. But believe me, you want all your traffic to come from search engines because it’s free and the volumes are enormous.

What about using abbreviations?

If your preferred name was something like flowerstoyou.com but it was taken, but you see flowers2you.com is available, should you take it?

There are several common abbreviations or variations of certain words that are almost commonly accepted, particularly in cyberspace.

Thanks also SMS messaging, we are know using the use of “2″ instead of “to”, “4″ instead of “for” etc.

Whether you choose to use such variations in your domain name is totally up 2 u (ok I was trying to be funny..).

Don’t forget however that word of mouth advertising will always require the person making the recommendation to remind people of the substitute.

Advertising For Free Spread The Word

Advertising for free seems like an impossible thing when heard. 

But there are several ways by which the cost of advertisement can be conserved, with the help of some imagination and creativity.

Business Advertising

A business wanting to advertise, can write articles related to their field of expertise that can be submitted to media and publications having interest in that particular field. 

Articles & Blog Posts

Due to the rise in Internet users and websites, new websites have sprung up which offer free services. 

Articles can be written for these websites and they can be broadcasted for free, which will be viewed by hundreds of people everyday. 

Radio & Talk Shows

This popularity can lead to them being invited on radio and television talk shows and even to interviews. Such kind of opportunities shouldn’t be missed as they provide a chance for free promotion. 

If it is taking a long time to get a break, the producer can be addressed with a letter that can be followed up by a telephone call or in-person visit.

During the visit, the nature of expertise can be discussed about the business, which will be of interest to the viewers of the particular channel. 

Public Friendly 

Once a business person gains the status of being public-friendly, more offers start pouring in.

 
Bulletin Boards

Free bulletin boards located in the neighborhood, like in grocery stores, libraries, and salons, are another good idea. 

Advertising circulars can be posted on such boards for free. 

Circulars

Circulars for mass distribution can be handed out at the mall, shopping center, bus stops, particularly on weekends when there is a big rush.

Students can be hired on part time basis for this purpose.

Promotional Advertising 

Promotional advertisement can be printed on the envelopes used by the business firms. 

Both the sender and the receiver can view this advertisement.  

Promotional offers can be sent to customers by postcards, which should be utilized to its full, leaving only place left for writing the address. 

Publications

Some of the new mail order publications offer free first time advertising and seasonal deductions for advertisers.

Other publications offer pay per inquiry space. 

Inquiries can be made about stand-by space, which means that the publication holds the submission of advertisement until the space is not sold and in that case, thirty three percent saving can be achieved.

Add Sheets

If the business is involved in ad sheet or catalog publishing, other publishers can be contacted for the purpose of bartering an advertising exchange.

They can place advertisement in their publication, in return for placing their advertisement in the business’s publication.

Advertising Free offers

Free offers can be provided to the customer. 

This can be done by emailing or printing newsletter about information regarding the area of interest of the targeted customers and can be made popular by using tag lines. 

Advertising Coupons

Attach a free coupon with it, which the customers can use it for shopping, if a criterion is met like minimum purchase of $ 50. 

 
Summary 

The basic ingredient for advertising for free is imagination and research.

Opportunities should be searched and a strong working force should be applied to increase the sales.