THE LOGO DESIGN PROFESSIONALS

In the Click

Want all the right people to notice your business? Then you need to make the most of today's hottest marketing method--search engine optimization. by CATHERINE SEDA

Gather your Web design and marketing staff; both teams are required. Understanding search engine marketing basics will help your team execute a strategy in-house or outsource it to specialists. The sooner your site is visible for relevant keywords, the sooner future customers will find your company.

How Do Search Engines Work?
Many business owners are unaware that search engines feed their results to each other. For example, if you type a keyword into MSN Search on Microsoft's consumer information and entertainment site, the Web site listings displayed could be from Inktomi, Microsoft or Overture. Overture provides search results not only to MSN Search, but also to AltaVista and Yahoo! Could a top site on Overture then appear as a top site on a distribution partner's site? Yes. Unfortunately, these distribution relationships change frequently, making it difficult to determine exactly where results come from.

The challenging part, however, is figuring out how to land a top position in the search engines. There are two complementary yet completely different types of methods: optimization and advertising. Read on...

Determining Keywords for Your Web Site

by S. HOUSLEY

The formula is a little tricky -- you will need to locate terms that are popular and relevant to your site. These terms may or may not be terms that you feel are relevant terms. The optimal terms in a site should be terms that a potential customer would use when searching for a website with your content. In order to achieve success, your Web site should be optimized with terms and phrases that are descriptive, related to your content, and which receive a significant amount of searches. The caveat, of course, is that you want to find terms and phrases which have little competition, so you quickly achieve high ranking in the important search engines.

In short, keywords that are relevant and popular with searchers but not with competitors are a shortcut to success.

Markets saturated with other sites competing for search terms make it difficult to find quality keywords. Sometimes it is better to optimize for a less popular term if it is one that is more targeted at your visitor, as it will likely have a higher conversion rate than a less-specific popular term.

The first step to determining keywords is brainstorming a list of logical terms and phrases that relate to your product or offerings. This should be done by a number of individuals; sometimes people have very different ideas for search terms, and by identifying a variety of people and their search terms you may tap words that hadn't occurred to you. There are also a number of free and low-cost tools available online and for download that will allow you to expand and research terms that have been brainstormed. Read on...

7 Ways to Boost Your Web Visibility

By the Sloan brothers, head coaches, StartupNation with Daniel Kehrer

For a new business -- heck, for any business -- visibility is vital. If prospects don’t know who or where you are, you’re sunk. A well-done Website offers great potential for boosting your business visibility. But with a zillion sites vying for clicks, it’s easy to get whooped in the visibility derby.

Search engines are your secret weapon and the key to Internet success. Every day, millions of people use search engines by typing in words or phrases to describe what they want. If your name pops up in the results list at Google, Yahoo!, Lycos, HotBot, AOL Search, AltaVista, MSN, Ask Jeeves, Excite or any of dozens more like them, the benefits are golden. Read on...