No two sites are alike, therefore it stands to reason that no two sites should be optimized in the same fashion. At CINIVA, we recognize the need for a business to stay on top of search engine results for their desired key phrases. As a design company, we take SEO to heart because we want to be found on Google and Yahoo, too! We also realize, though, that what works for our site in terms of SEO might not work for another client. Therefore, when we take on your project, we look at the big picture. We don’t just ask, “How can we get you page one search results?” We also ask, “How do we get people to buy once they are on your site?”

That said, with every SEO project handled by CINIVA, ten core tasks come into play over an indefinite period of time. Some tasks are performed immediately, some only once, and still others are performed continuously in order to secure and maintain high rankings in Google, Yahoo, and MSN search on specific keywords. As the business of search engine optimization continues to change, so may this list over time. We invite you to browse our Marketing section for more information on the core elements of our SEO plans, as well as additional procedures tailored to specific clientele. Travel and tourism companies may benefit from podcast and RSS marketing, while companies geared toward industry may find growing article content beneficial in attracting Web traffic.

When you’re ready for your site to be seen, contact CINIVA at 757.499.1990 to learn more about our SEO packages.

Note: for more information on search engine optizmiation in general, visit our online guide at HighSearchRanking.com.

The business of SEO is volatile, in that tricks that worked seven years ago definitely do not work today. It used to be that having solid metadata integrated in your site guaranteed results, but these days the major engines look for other factors. When you sign CINIVA on to handle the SEO of your website, you can expect major tasks to be performed to suit the current SEO climate:

Validation of all META, TITLE, and ALT Tags

If you are a new CINIVA client optimization is underway before your site goes live. We look at the various HTML tags that are important in SEO – the META tags that define the site’s content through detailed descriptions and relevant keywords, the TITLE tags that will displayed in search results, and the ALT tags that accompany each image found on the site. This content, seen only by search engine spiders as they crawl webpages to gather data, can help determine a site’s position in specific keyword searches. Many SEO experts warn not to emphasize all SEO efforts into these tags, and we agree. Ultimately the freshness of your site’s content will determine your position in search, yet we do and will optimize your META data for quality to enhance your site’s relevance and listings in various engines.

Validation of search engine friendly site content (text and HTML)

It is reported that the two most important factors that determine a site’s importance to the search engines are age and content. The cleaner the HTML code and the more relevant the content, the better the opportunity for good search results.

Consider your website’s HTML code – this is what the spider sees as it crawls a webpage. How clean is the code? Is it bogged down in javascript and Flash and other tags it is unable to read? Muddled code can actually prevent a spider from crawling a site, causing it to leave the site altogether, and therefore prevent important data from being cached. A site that is not spidered is, in the determination of a search engine, a site that doesn’t exist.

Look at the content of the site, the text a web user sees when he/she visits your site. Is the text grammatically correct? Are words spelled correctly? Is the content rich in relevant keywords, enough to emphasize the relevance of the site, but not overloaded with keywords so as to look like SPAM? Is there a good balance of text content and image content? Do the keywords under which you wish to be found in search have priority placement in the text…is that content the first thing seen as the site loads? Do all the hypertext links work? Are all outbound links leading to relevant data?

As site content becomes more important in SEO, we will continue to optimize for good, relevant content as seen by consumers and spiders. Content optimization is often an ongoing process, as websites need to be updated regularly with fresh content (news, updated information, new items and images) so the spiders will notice as they revisit your site.

Submission of URL to Search Engines

Once a site is live, we will begin the process of submission to the search engines. SEO experts recommend manual submission to the major engines (Google, MSN, and Yahoo) to prevent possible SPAM aversion techniques employed by the engines. Minor engines, including smaller engines powered in part by Google, etc., and specialized engines (business search, regional search) may be alerted in the initial submission process as needed.

Submission of URL to Major Web Directories (Yahoo, DMOZ, etc.)

Directory listings are an important factor in the optimization of websites. As the Open Directory powers the directory search of thousands of minor engines, a listing in DMOZ can improve a site’s link popularity (i.e. number of non-reciprocal inbound links to a site). As Yahoo is the most respected and visited directory on the Internet, it is important to be listed there. Submissions are made immediately to these sites, where applicable, and to other minor directories of importance and/or relevance. We will look for topical directories that correspond to a site’s content and, in the case of paid directories, make recommends for applying for listings. We will not subject your site to “free for all” sites or useless link exchanges.

Weblogs and RSS Feeds (Where applicable)

With regards to Google, weblog or “blog” content takes precedence in search over static website content. As weblogs provide fresher content to the Internet, so Google gives blogs priority (Google also owns Blogger, the best known free blogging software available). Once a site is live, if blogging is applicable, we will create a blog for the site and train you to update with fresh content. Blogs may be updated once daily, several times in a day, once a week…any time at all. Having a weblog attached to a website also allows for the opportunity to submit to weblog specific search engines, thereby increasing awareness of the site.

Sites that allow for the opportunity to generate updated, fresh content can benefit from offering an RSS feed. Real Simple Syndication is the process by which news bytes and promotions are offered to consumers through special content readers, not unlike a news headline ticker. Consumers may click through to site from RSS readers to obtain more information on relevant data. Once a site is live, if syndication is applicable, we can create an RSS feed for the purpose of distributing site information RSS readers searching for relevant data. Consumers are exposed to the site through impressions made in their RSS readers and through click-throughs to the site. Having an RSS feed attached to a site also allows for the opportunity to submit to RSS specific search engines, thereby increasing awareness of the site.

Link Building

While age and content presently play the most important roles in effective SEO, link popularity is equally important. Search engines will give precedence to websites to which outside sites have linked, without the benefit of reciprocal links. The more relevant websites that link to your site, the better the opportunity for high search results, as search engines will view your site as authoritative.

Link building is an ongoing process in SEO. Here we research relevant sites and negotiate links, yet we do not request links from every site encountered. The quality of an outside site that links to yours also determines your site’s SEO. It is better for a website with a Google PageRank of 5 or 6 to link to your site than have a “link farm” site with no PageRank link back. As thousands of new websites are launched daily, we will work to sift the wheat from the chaff as we find relevant quality sites with whom we can building linking relationships.

As SEO continues to evolve, the above list will change. More tasks may be added, some may be removed and others may be enhanced. What will never change is the need to make SEO an ongoing process in the maintenance of your website. Don’t feel disappointed if you don’t see immediate results. Some website may take weeks to see the impact of SEO, while others even longer. Indeed, we have seen this with past SEO clients, yet almost all of them ultimately found the traffic, and sales, they wanted as our efforts took hold.

Don’t wait to be seen in search, and let your competition take away your customers! Contact CINIVA today at 757.499.1990 for information on our SEO services.