An article by Frank Orman

Here's a predication that I know will irritate the technically oriented Kings of SEO: Looking hard into my crystal ball, as one does, I reckon that their days are numbered and that they are a dying breed! Now before the techies swarm around LeadGenerators HQ with pitchforks and flaming torches ready to silence the web-marketing heathen, allow me to explain...

Those of you who know me are no doubt well aware of my healthy disregard for the techno-centric view of internet marketing. In my mind, instead of technical considerations dictating what we should try to achieve, we marketing managers should dictate what we want and then find the technical solutions to achieve it. I know that this attitude annoys the technocrats who seem to dominate the online marketing world, but my approach has proved successful in its own right.

I have always seen SEO as a two-stage process. The first is to make sure that a client's website is search engine friendly. This process analyses the structural elements of the site to make sure that search engines are able to see ALL the pages of the site and are able to rank (judge) each page in its own right. It's a lengthy analysis that covers many aspects of the site but it's largely a one-off project. Once done, and once the site has been improved accordingly, the techies' work is more or less done.

The larger, second step is all-important and all about the content of the site itself.

For a site to achieve good rankings, we need to first select the right keywords. I won't go into the science of keyword research and selection, but once the best ones have been selected for a client, we need to move into the realm of writing, sprinkling certain keywords strategically throughout the text and the code of each page. This is an ongoing process which we divide into what we call 'streams'. A few of the major streams to improve the rankings of each page for its specific keyword mix are:

• KEC: The process of enriching the texts in the site with the right amount of keywords and phrases.

• Coding: Adding in the right keywords for each page into the meta tags.

• Links: (reciprocal and one way): Getting good links from other sites that are well ranked for the same keywords that we are using. This includes forum participation, involvement in social media and other elements of Web2.0.

• Web PR: Submitting keyword rich articles to the syndicated news feeds for the purposes of achieving both links and market exposure.

The common denominator for all the above tasks is good writing and communication skills, combined with good old-fashioned common sense, which most technically minded people aren't best suited to provide. It is the writers and communicators - not the programmers - who have delivered our best results in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

There is a rather tacky expression in the SEO community that says "Content is King". I would like to get a little tackier if I may: If content is King, then the up and coming Princes of SEO must surely be the writers and communicators.

Just a thought ... and I look forward to comments.

Frank Orman is the Managing Director of Leadgenerators, an online travel marketing agency.

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