SEO Expert Guide - Conclusions (part 10/10)

As you have seen throughout the guide, search engine optimization (SEO) is a multi-faceted activity. Likely to be time-consuming, it is important that you spend your time wisely. By way of conclusion, therefore, I would like to (i) summarise the time/spend/effort (=cost) and value trade-off for each area I have covered, (ii) highlight from that you top five areas of focus and (iii) give you some migration tips for how to cut-over to your new, optimized site.

(a) The cost/value tradeoff

I have listed all the SEO and promotion techniques covered in the guide below, rated them for cost and value, then sorted them on a score (which is a product of their value and cost):

URL name Optimization - Low Cost - High Value (score 9)
File extension Optimization - Low Cost - High Value (score 9)
Title and Heading Optimization - Low Cost - High Value (score 9)

Domain name Optimization - Medium Cost - High Value (score 6)
Article Submission - Medium Cost - High Value (score 6)
Blogs and RSS - Medium Cost - High Value (score 6)

Navigation, Internal Links and Site Map Optimization - Medium Cost - Medium Value (score 4)
Page Structure Optimization - Medium Cost - Medium Value (score 4)
Page Image Optimization - Medium Cost - Medium Value (score 4)
Forum Participation - Medium Cost - Medium Value (score 4)
Newsletters and eZines - Medium Cost - Medium Value (score 4)

Page Text Optimization - High Cost - High Value (score 3)
Directory Submission - High Cost - High Value (score 3)
Outbound Links - Low Cost - Low Value (score 3)
Favourites, Feedback and Referral - Low Cost - Low Value (score 3)
Pay-per-click (PPC) Advertising - High Cost - High Value (score 3)
Paid Directory Submission - High Cost - High Value (score 3)

Metadata Optimization - Low Cost - Medium Value (score 2)
Search Engine Submission - High Cost - Medium Value (score 2)

Reciprocal Inbound Links - High Cost - Low Value (score 1)
Express Search Engine Submission - High Cost - Low Value (score 1)

(b) Your top 5 priorities

From the list above, you should discern that your priorities should be the site-wide techniques of Domain name Optimization, URL name Optimization, File extension Optimization, the page technique of Title and Heading Optimization and promotion techniques of Article Submission and Blogs and RSS. Ok, I know that's six, but who's counting? These methods produce the best return on investment overall.

(c) Some notes on Migration

So you have followed my advice and built a totally new site. However, your old site is not totally without merit, right? Some sites link to it and some customers have bookmarked it. You might even have a modest Pagerank on one or two pages. So how do you migrate to your new site without losing these hard-won benefits?

Meet 301 and 302 Redirects. When a browser/agent/spider requests a page or URL, the web server where the page is hosted checks a file called '.htaccess'. The '.htaccess' file can be modified to tell spiders that the page has either temporarily moved (302 redirect) or permanently moved (301 redirect).

It is usually possible to implement redirects without messing with the '.htaccess' file directly, using your web host's control panel instead. From a search engine perspective, 301 redirects are the only acceptable way to redirect URLs. Although Google can handle 302s, the other engines struggle with it.

In the case of moved pages, search engines will index only the new URL, but will transfer link popularity from the old URL to the new one so that search engine rankings are not affected.

So where you have pages with decent PageRank, use your control panel to place a 301 redirect to the equivalent new page. I would let this run for 6 months or so, then delete or archive the old pages altogether.

(d) Some final words

I hope you have found my SEO Expert Guide useful and enjoy some positive effects over time in your search engine results and web traffic. Be patient! Results can take a while to feed through (particularly as search engines take longer and longer these days between major updates). Do send any feedback you have to david@viney.com and check back every so often for updates. I plan to make available for download a copy of the guide in eBook format later in 2005 (at a nominal price).

Navigate the guide

Previous: SEO Expert Guide - Ongoing Monitoring of Results (part 9/10)

Back to index: SEO Expert Guide - Index of Contents

About the author:

David Viney (david@viney.com) is the author of the Intranet Portal Guide; 31 pages of advice, tools and downloads covering the period before, during and after an Intranet Portal implementation.

Read the guide at http://www.viney.com/DFV/intranet_portal_guide or the Intranet Watch Blog at http://www.viney.com/intranet_watch.

---

How To Select The Right Keywords

Keyword SelectionThe most important component of search engine optimization is... Read More

Google vs. Yahoo -- How To Rank High On Each One

Google likes incoming links, especially links from high-ranking, on-topic pages... Read More

Straight Talk on Search Engine Optimization

To get your website listed well in the major search... Read More

How to Get a Website Indexed Fast

Get Indexed FastWhat does getting indexed mean?The search engines keep... Read More

The Search Engine Showdown

If you're anything like me, you have a favourite search... Read More

Agressive Linking Strategies Help To Get Your Site Noticed

A good link building strategy has become an essential part... Read More

Importance of Keywords in Links to Your Website

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a very complex process. It... Read More

Link Popularity

In today scenario when we talk about Search Engine Optimization,... Read More

Search Engine Optimisation ? Why And How To Do It

In the following article I will give you some basic... Read More

The Two Most Important Things You Must Do For Google Top Ranking

Attaining a top ranking in Goggle or any other major... Read More

Optimze Your Web Site on a Shoe String Budget

Let me start off by saying I'm not a marketing... Read More

Seek Engines: What If Seek Had Bumped Out Search?

In the early days of the World Wide Web, when... Read More

Creating Search Engine Friendly Web Sites

With tons of competition and copycats online, you need a... Read More

Types of Links

Internal Linking ? An introductionThe web as they call it... Read More

How Real SEO Analysis Works

If you're serious about SEO, you need to know how... Read More

?Google Friendly? Solutions to Graphic-Intense Sites

We all know that the search engines can't "see" or... Read More

The Benefits of Organic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

If you're going to sell any type of product or... Read More

Google Rankings -- Achieve Top 10 Rankings with Free Tools

In order to get a top 10 google ranking it... Read More

What To Look For When Shopping For A SEO Specialist

When, shopping for a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company/specialist you... Read More

7 Free Search Engine Resources You Should be Using Now

Ask any business person who's website is at the top... Read More

Why Do You Want to Link With A Home Business And Affiliate Website?

No, it's not a general question for all and sundry.... Read More

Google Patent Application - SEO Highlights

The recent patent application filed by Google details numerous items... Read More

Top Ten Listing? Hmmmmmmmm

This is my question...I spend a fortune on SEO and... Read More

What Did We Learn from the Great Search Engine Experiment!

Last Week I did a Search engine Experiment. I wanted... Read More

Picking Keywords for SEO ? A Different View

The first step to developing any search engine optimization effort... Read More

Google Patent Application - User Data As Part of Ranking Process

In this third article, we continue to dig into the... Read More

Were You Bamboozled by Google?

It's still happening. "Florida," "Boston," "Ginger," and "Brandy" are just... Read More

Get Better Search Engine Rankings with RSS

RSS is the latest craze in online publishing. But what... Read More

Utilizing Popular Directories as Free Link Sources

If you're a webmaster, you've probably spent almost as much... Read More

The Power of Search Engine Friendly URLs

I recently invested quite some time into generating search engine... Read More

The Great Search Engine Experiment Revisited Who is the Coolest Guy in the Universe

A recent Search Engine Experiment Demonstrates how by combining Key... Read More

Why Articles Are Not The Route To High Search Engine Rankings

If you have any interest in getting high search engine... Read More

Building Link Popularity As Easy As 123

The most difficult area of SEO is building link popularity.... Read More