Search Engine Optimization for Web Portfolios & Blogs

Since we build websites and blogs for individuals to help them establish and control their online identities for career management, most often we are thinking about their search engine rankings when someone is looking for them by name.

If you have an uncommon or unusually spelled name, like Kirsten Dixson or Brandego, then you will probably get the results that you want organically — without a lot of effort and investment. If you also have a presence on a very popular site, then you might need to work a little harder to get your own site to rank higher.

If you do have a common name, like our client William Reed, then you will have to optimize for your name and your niche — for example, William Reed Healthcare Finance. Try Googling that. The results just aren't the same if you only type in William Reed. If he also consistently uses William F. Reed, and people know to look for him by that in the search engines, then he will come up near the top of page one in Google.

Here are 10 Search Engine Optimization tips from our fabulous personal branding client and the Search Marketing Insider, Jessica Bowman:

1. Identify what users enter in search engines with Overture's keyword suggestion tool and WordTracker, and include them in your site's page copy. 
2. Create
   unique meta data for each page, this is a "behind the scenes" change
   that does not appear to users who visit your site, but often appears as
   the description in the search engine results.
3. Create unique
   page titles for each page. This is the content that appears at the top
   of the browser window (typically a bar). This is also the copy used for
   the link in search engine results. If the page title is the same
   throughout your entire site, search engines are unlikely to list other
   pages within your site.
4. Increase the links pointing to your
   site. Links pointing to your site are considered votes for your site.
   In search engine marketing, "all votes are not created equal." A link
   from a relevant site that has many links pointing to it is
   significantly more valuable than a link from a site that has very few
   links or that is on a topic unrelated to your site.
5. Submit
   to search engine directories, but do your research first. There are
   many best practices and guidelines to know before your submit to
   directories, and the rules for each are different. Also, keep a record
   of the directories to which you submit in case you need to question why
   your website hasn't been listed.
6. If you aren't in a search
   engine, submit your site. You must submit your site to each engine
   separately. Once you are in a search engine, you do not need to
   resubmit your site. If there are links to your site out on the
   Internet, most search engines will find your site on its own. A lot of
   companies offer this as a service, but it can be done for free.
7. Add a site map.
8. Update
   page copy no less than quarterly for pages you want to appear in search
   engines. Anecdotally, sites notice an increase in rankings for a few
   months after updates.
9. Do not use too many hyperlinks on a
   single page. Think of your page as a ship and the hyperlinks as holes.
   If your ship has too many holes, it will sink in the search engine
   results. You need to effectively balance the links with the page copy.
10. Use
    keywords throughout the entire page. On any given page, weave your
    keywords throughout the entire page (beginning, middle and end). Search
    engines prefer to display pages that are all about the user's search,
    rather than a page that mentions the topic in one section of the page.
    At least one search engine specifically looks for keywords at the end
    of the page copy. On a blog, this is really easy to do for your name.
    Just make sure that the "posted by" information in the footer includes
    your full name.

Keep in mind that SEO never ends. Search engines change their formula for what makes a #1 site, and you have no control over what your competitors may be doing.

The unexpected thing about SEO is that it gives you a new way of thinking about your website and offerings. When you dive into identifying what people actually type into search engines, you see your site more objectively from the users' point of view.

You really can execute SEO yourself. As Jessica Bowman always says, "Search engine optimization isn't rocket science, It's just different than anything you have done before."

Comments

[orange county seo]

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. thanks for the post.

-faith-

[Joseph Hollak]

Kirsten,

Even though I am just finding this post about a year and a half after it was written, the content is still amazing and very relevant today. Classic advice.

Keep the great advice and help pouring out.

Joe