Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Achieving Organic SEO Rankings Through Campaign Management
Written by Laura Thieme, President

How do you achieve better organic search engine rankings in Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.com?  Organic SEO is time-consuming, involves a lot of research and patience.  It is not an overnight sensation, which is often difficult for experienced paid search marketers to accept.  There are three crucial elements to beginning your SEO campaign:

1. Competitive market assessment & keyword research
2. Getting your pages indexed by each of the leading search engines
3. Page title optimization based on business objectives, competitor analysis & keyword research

One of the first things a search marketer must do is their research, which is not limited to Wordtracker or Hitwise, Overture or Trellian (keyword research tools).  For example, let's take a company that sells pet supplies, specifically dog supplies.  How should we market their website?  First, we need to determine the most popular keyword phrases.  According to Wordtracker.com, 2,244 searches are predicted on a daily basis for "pet supplies".  "Discount pet supplies" are the next most popular keyword search, projected at 251 searches per day.  "Pet grooming supplies" is a very popular search, projected at 109 searches per day.  A pet supply company needs to do keyword research and traffic projections on every single brand name they sell, and the related generic term for that product.  Our research indicates that if a website has top ten rankings for each target term in four major search engines, it attracts about 10% of the monthly traffic projection indicated by Wordtracker.  Every client should review the keyword list, the associated traffic projection, and relevant competitors alongside their business objectives.

Once the company then reviews the top organic and paid competitors and determines who has the most marketshare for their target terms, optimization strategy can begin.  Just because the top traffic projection references "discount" and "wholesale", the pet supply company may not want to target these keyword variances.  However, if the pet supply company sells a lot of grooming products, keyword research can be expanded on these keyword phrases.

Sometimes, a new client will not want to target anything other than "pet supplies" because that's where over 60,000 monthly predicted searches are taking place.  However, regardless of whether you believe in the "long tail" concept or not, there are likely thousands of keyword phrases a pet supply company can target.  The question is which 25 to 50 keyword phrases should they initially target?

Let's target "pet grooming supplies" and see how long it takes to get a first page ranking for this target term or a related term.  Our client is not currently ranked for any grooming related terms.  The first thing we have to do is determine how many relevant products our client has with respect to grooming supplies.

I found the most relevant page, referenced in their navigation:

Pet Grooming Supplies

Note their current page title does not say "Pet Grooming Supplies", while their page heading does.  I've recommended the page title change on grooming.php to be changed to "Pet Grooming Supplies - Company Name".  Of course, it's also important to note that the page is indexed in each of the major search engines, and whether or not any of the current page title keywords are ranked for this page.

If we expand "pet grooming" in Wordtracker, we might get some additional keyword suggestions for which to optimize. 

Some popular searches include "grooming pet shears", "mobile pet grooming", "pet grooming", "pet grooming equipment", "pet grooming shears", "pet grooming tools", "pet grooming clippers", "pet grooming tubs", "pet grooming brush", "pet grooming glove", .  I review the client's site and notice that we're not optimized yet for the majority of these terms.  We'll now target the grooming.php page for multiple related keyword phrases to pet grooming.  We can also optimize the grooming tools page in addition to this page.

We haven't even begun to optimize for "dog grooming".  It's easy to figure out why keyword research can be so expansive.  In fact, doing some initial keyword research and we determine that "dog grooming" is a heckuva lot more popular than "pet grooming".  We redirect our focus accordingly.

In addition to making sure that relevant pages are optimized for all relevant terms, the client is also notified that they should be advertising for these terms as well.  A review of their paid search Google Adwords campaign indicates a need for adding keywords here as well.

It's important to note the top organic and paid competitors.  Does shopping search show up in the first page search results?  Is the client listed here as well?  This is just the beginning of Organic SEO Campaign Management.  Monitoring improvements and drops is another part of campaign management.  Noting click-thru rates, conversion rates, and competitor landing pages/prices is all part of true organic campaign management.  If sales aren't increasing with all this added visibility, there may be a business reason, a websute usability issue, or something else that is keeping visitors from becoming consumers.  If search engine visitors don't stay, and the problems aren't fixed, organic rankings can be lost over time. 

We began the keyword research relevant to the page listed above.  We're in the process of getting client approval.  Once that's done, we'll optimize and post results here in the next couple of months. 

You may not have realized how tedious search engine optimization can be, or comprehensive keyword research, competitor analysis and search campaign management.  We've trained 30 or more search marketers in the past ten years.  It's always interesting to note personality types that make good organic search marketers, versus paid search marketers.  Organic search marketers require detail oriented mentality, the ability to catch things others can't, interest and willingness to read HTML code, along with strong research, communication and reporting skills.  It requires patience, long-term patience.  It requires investing in the long-term relationship with a client, and helping the client to feel better when organic rankings fluctuate.  There is a LOT of education on the part of organic search marketing, perhaps moreso than paid search.  Organic requires technical knowledge, often beyond that of a paid search marketer. 

If your company is in need of a good SEO company, contact Bizresearch at 614-846-7560.