search engine optimization

SEO software comparisons probably aren’t what you expect on this blog but I think it’s appropriate. Anyway, I’ve written an article on my web site comparing the two SEO software packages.

I actually use them both for search engine optimization. However, I use them for different things because each is stellar at some SEO requirements and not so good at others.

They really aren’t that expensive for all they do and I believe they are the premier SEO software packages available to day. Mainly because they are regularly updated and they were the first SEO software packages on the market that really were useful.

The short answer? No. Google Page Rank gets bandied about quite a bit by people who really don’t know anything about SEO but want to pretend they do.

Google Page Rank is really all about trust. Google looks at a number of factors when anointing web sites with Page Rank but none of them have much to do with Search Engine Optimization.

Mostly, Google looks at how long your web site has been around. Their theory is that the longer your web site has been around, the more likely you are a going concern that isn’t going to shut down next week.

Yesterday, I was a guest on WCCO Radio and I was stressing that almost any business could be adapted to the Internet. The example I gave was a residential window washing business.

You might wonder how a window washing business could be adapted to the web. Here’s how he did it.

The guy had a residential window washing business. He contacted a web designer and had a web site designed where people could sign up for window washing service in his city. Next they designed a calendar with week days between Monday and Friday and times  between 9am and 5pm where people could sign up for window washing service.

When was the last time you had your web site checked for broken links? I know I can sound like a broken record sometimes but the search engines really don’t like badly maintained web sites.

Regular maintenance of your web site is an important part of search engine optimization and keeping your web site rising in the search engine rankings. It’s also good for business.

How many times have you gone to a web site and clicked on a link only to get an error message? How do you react? what do you think when a site seems to have problems or isn’t well maintained?

I don’t know about you but I get approached all the time by companies (mostly from somewhere in the Southwest) telling me they can get me first page listing on Google by search engine optimizing my website for me. Obviously, these morons haven’t even looked at my website or they’d know I DO search engine optimization.

What should that tell you? There are some pretty shady individuals out there offering to do search engine optimization. even worse, I’ve had people complain to me that SEO doesn’t work because they paid some firm thousands of dollars to SEO their website and nothing happened. Then I check the code and the copy on their website and it’s obvious that nothing was done.

Dick Powell from Sales Force XP forwarded me an article from Chief Marketer Report about “Five Ways To Make SEO Work For You.” While the article was mildly interesting, what really got me going me was the article’s opening comment:

How much attention do you pay to search engine optimization? Many marketers give it short shrift, not understanding that it can be the difference between success and failure.