SEO After The Fact
October 5th, 2005 Edit
I’ve read forum complaints from other SEO firms about clients hiring them to get high rankings for the client’s site, but the SEO firm isn’t supposed to change any content. This leaves only the title and meta tags to be edited and voila! - the site will magically appear in top ranking positions at all the search engines. Fortunately we at Web-Kare have only run into this problem once.
Most of our clients are told upfront what will be needed to get their site high rankings. Often this may be a site redesign. While no one likes to hear this, especially if their site was designed recently, these extra expenses could have been avoided if the client had gotten the SEO firm involved at the start of the project - not the end.
High rankings are affected not only by some keywords put into meta tags and title tags but by site architecture and content as well. To get the most bang-for-your-buck, you need to assemble an SEO firm, a designer, and a content provider at the start of your site development. Some SEO firms, like Web-Kare, can do it all — others will work with your design team and content provider.
In any case, the content of your site is the most important factor in ranking assuming the design is search-engine-friendly. Content needs to be rich with quality information about your product or service. So full of information that other sites will want to link to your site as the “authority” on the subject.
Some clients require terms to go through a compliance screening to meet qualifications for accreditation or legal purposes. That’s fine — let the compliance department work with the SEO firm to find suitable terms that can get the site the rankings it deserves. Simply having the compliance department hacking out the non-compliant terms after-the-fact is like shooting yourself in the foot.
What I’m saying is really very simple: get together a TEAM to create and maintain your Website. The team should consist of a designer, content provider (this might be you, the client), and the SEO firm at minimum. Include someone from compliance, if that’s something your firm requires. SEO is an ongoing process, so expect to be making content changes to your site throughout the year.
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized, Search Engine Optimization