The other day, a client asked me to present a proposal of how I to improve his ranking through SEO. The main problem was that the client didn't have any idea exactly what SEO was or entailed.

My first objective was to present the information in a simple enough lauguage, as well as leave some space for curiosity so that the client, would want to find a little more on their own. I always find an informed client easy to work with, besides, the level of commitment, they put in filling the blanks for themselves, give me an idea on the commitment they have on the project. Unlike, other forms of web services, SEO requires patience and research and a greater commitment on the part of the client that other services.

This is my take when evaluating SEO

Before I present the plan, there are a few very important questions I always ask my clients, as they ultimately determine the success of their project:

1. Who currently has control over the website?
2. How much are you willing to allow for the site to be altered, to help achieve the results you want?
3. How much are you willing to invest to get the traffic and ranking you want; time and financial commitment?
4. Are you willing to consult with me after the improvements have been implemented before you make any major changes on the site?
5. How much do you know about SEO on a level 1 to 10?

My analysis starts with the most obvious of SEO components that a lot of SEO experts tend to ignore. For me there is no need to sell you a service if the market doesn’t exist! Therefore, to gauge the true value of what we are trying to achieve without much supposition, I will first evaluate if the traffic for your services is already there by referring to current PPC (Pay Per Click) trends.

Second, I evaluate if based on their services and the prevailing market, SEO is the best option to consider or if other forms of marketing need to be adopted. You see, SEO is sold on the basis that the client will get an increase in rankings. So what? An increase in ranking is meaningless unless it translates to a desired action. I have often viewed traffic, solely, as a poor metric of evaluation. Ultimately, the traffic needs to turn into a relationship, a sale, or an inquiry. Marketing spend, in all businesses, needs to be justified in terms of the bottom line. Everything, eventually, comes back to revenue. This is my basic approach to SEO.

The Possible Approaches to Consider and things to evaluate

Off-Site SEO

Off-site SEO includes things like link building and social interaction. Website credibility issues like public relations and branding also play a big role in off-site optimization. The question to ponder here are:

• Do people know who you are well enough to search for you?
• Do they trust you enough to buy from you?
• Have you built good will through community participation?
• What makes your site remarkable enough for others to talk about?
• Do you give people marketable advice/services that they want to share with others?

Link building modules to consider

• Anchor Text. Its importance and how to influencing it on your site.
• Evaluating Link Quality. What types of links would search engineers count as votes on your site.
• Web Directories. An easy source of links to help get new sites indexed. Also includes information about DMOZ, Yahoo! Directory, and niche directories.
• Authoritative Ideas. Coming up with remarkable ideas that people are easily emotionally attached to.
• Self-Reinforcing Market Positions. Identifying strategies to keep ranking top for years to come.
• Free Links. Ways to get free links and how to get links as a side effect of your business and brand.
• Deep Links. Importance of deep links.
• Link Analysis Tools. Evaluating your back link profile and compare it to competing sites.
• Affiliate Programs. How can affiliates help you build brand exposure and link authority?
• Reciprocal Link Exchanges. Identify what link trades make sense.
• Creating a Publishing Network. Does making a network of sites make sense for your business?

Social interaction modules to consider

• Blogging. Evaluate the power of blogging in your case. Blogging is a popular and effective marketing technique.
• Tagging. Tagging search results and user feedback covers how user acceptance and information sharing may shape search relevancy.
• Editorial Ads. suggestions on how you can boost your profile by participating in community sites and syndicating information
• Viral marketing. How to compete with old sites and how link bait can work for your business.
• Word of mouth. Relevance of relying on friends and social filters to find important news about your business.

Search Engines

The Major Search Engines to optimize for:

The following search engines are reviewed in order of search distribution from the best of my knowledge. The order of these listings has nothing to do with the relevancy or quality of the search results. They all provide quality results using somewhat similar algorithms.

• Google.
• Yahoo!.
• Microsoft Bing.
• Ask.com.
• Local Search.
• Vertical Search Engines.

Writing for Search Engines

It does no matter how powerful your keywords are if your content has not been written with SEO in mind. Period!

Writing for search engines involves:

• Keyword research. Discovering what your customers are searching for.
• Search results. Understanding how users interact with search results, including page titles and meta descriptions.
• On page optimization. Creating pages that rank well and convert well.
• Site architecture. Focusing link equity on key pages and designing your site so it is easy for search engines to index it.
• Robots control. controlling how robots crawl and index your site

Implementing a Holistic approach to Optimization

Every website and every idea starts off incomplete and needs refining. The more you learn about the web, the more you will learn how ideas overlap. Good usability is usually good search engine optimization.

Each and every page is a chance to capture or lose customers. On the web, when you lose a customer, it is usually forever. The last thing you want to do is draw prospective customers into a minefield they are sure to regret.

Some people stress mechanical search engine optimization so much that they forget about their visitors’ needs. SEO is just one part of the site-building puzzle. Ultimately, it is your social impact or cash in the bank that is a measure of success, not where you rank for some random search query.

Creating brand awareness and a large organic traffic stream OUTSIDE of search makes your income more stable. Higher conversion rates allow you to pay more for customers.

If you can commit to include some of those little extras that make your site better than your competition’s site, you will find that others will do your marketing for you. That is why I think it is more important to understand the concepts of the web and the goals of search engines versus just learning the flavor-of-the-moment optimization. If everything else is good, then you do not need to worry as much about optimization. This is the reason why in the first instance i look at the design and structure of the site, even before considering SEO.

Remember the following when evaluating for SEO

• Target Your Market
• Public Relations Builds Links
• Organization & Personal Relevancy Build Profit
• Bad Marketing Wastes Time
• Good Content Creates Revenue
• Social Media Featured Content Plays the Role of Public Relations

Interactive Elements & Suggestions

Action Items for you to consider while you evaluate your SEO needs:

• List five problems your product or products solve. Which of these problems are most important to your target audience?
• Is there a problem your product solves that no other products do?
• Do you have a UNIQUE value proposition that will help you stand out in the crowd? (This could be being better targeted, more up-to-date, faster, more reliable, safer, biased, unbiased, etc.). What do you do better than anyone else?
• List ten terms or phrases your target audience would search for to find your products.
• Calculate the time you spend prospecting clients and the value of that time.
• Calculate the money you will save if you cut that time in half by ranking well for a few of the terms you listed.