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Secrets Your Web Designer Isn't Telling You
By Kalena Jordan (c) 2008

If I was to ask you right now "Are you absolutely certain that
your web site is optimized for high visibility in search
engines?", what would you say?

What if I was to ask "What position in the major search engines
does your site appear in for your target search terms?" Or how
about "Does each page of your site have tailored Title and META
Tags?"

If you would answer "No" or "I don't know" to any of these
questions, you would be amongst the 60% of web site owners whose
web sites are missing out on traffic because they are not
designed for search engine compatibility. Has your web designer
optimized YOUR site for your target keywords? Have they made
sure it is visible in Google and the other major search engines?
More than likely, you don't know because they haven't told
you. Ask them today!

But what exactly is search engine optimization? Simply
explained, it is the technique of attaining a high ranking in
search engines and directories via changes to your site code to
make it more search engine compatible.

In my experience, web designers keep a lot of secrets. One of
the biggest ones is that they have no clue about what makes a
web site compatible with search engines. Another is that they
like to build expensive, flashy sites and so convince their
clients that an attractive web site never uses a lot of text.

So your web designer may have included target keywords and
phrases in your Title tag and META tags (in the HTML code of
your site). They may even have explained to you that these are
very important references that search engines use when ranking
web sites for search relevancy. I've met many a web designer who
claimed that this was all it took to optimize a web site.

But did you know that you need to tailor your Title and META
tags for each page of your site? Did you know that optimizing
your site meta tags is only a tiny fraction of the job? Did you
know that search engines actually need to find target keywords
within the visible body text on your site pages in order to find
it a relevant match for related search queries? Did you know
that they also need to find those same keywords and phrases used
within the text links that help people navigate your pages?

It's true. For search engines to rank your site highly for
particular words or phrases that you would expect potential
visitors to type in, each individual page of your site MUST be
built with those words and phrases in mind.

For example, if you are a Miami florist, you should have logical
search phrases such as "flowers", "Miami florists",
"bouquets Miami" and even target search terms such as "Miami
weddings", "Valentine's Day gifts" etc integrated in your
title and meta tags, as well as in the visible text of your
site. Better still, build and optimize a page for each product
or service that you offer. That way, if anyone types in those
phrases in a search engine, your site is more likely to appear
higher in the search results.

Can you honestly say your web designer has built your site with
your target search terms in mind?  If not, it might be time to
schedule an appointment with them.

So why wasn't your site optimized for search engines when it
was built? Depending on who developed your site and how it was
built, you'll find a million different reasons for this. Many
web developers believe it is the site marketer's job to ensure
the site is found in search engines and vice versa. Most don't
bother checking that your site is found in the important search
engines, assuming you or your marketing department will do it.
Or perhaps it wasn't discussed in your original development
budget.

Not many web design firms know how or have time to optimize a
site successfully, no matter what they tell you. They might feel
it is outside their core business, or they might believe it is
not part of the "design process". Consequently, your site can
be launched for many months without the search engines having
any idea it exists.

Some web development firms don't include even the most basic
META tags in your site code when building it. Or those that do
include META tags without close consultation with you, resulting
in the wrong search terms used and poor performance. This is
quite typical! Remember that search engine optimization requires
both client interaction and constant monitoring to be
successful.

The bottom line? If your designer can't show you substantial
search engine traffic they've achieved for other clients,
chances are they won't be able to optimize your site properly.
Search engine optimization (SEO) specialists have sprung up to
fill the need for these services. Many SEO's will work either
directly with you or with your web site designer to ensure your
site gets the exposure it deserves in the most popular search
engines and directories. My suggestion is to pay a little more
for a specialist with a good track record and reap the rewards.

Remember, search engine users generally only explore the first
10 or 20 search results. If you site isn't in the top 20, you
won't be found, it's as simple as that. Always include search
engine optimization into your marketing budget or your site
could be as effective as a billboard at the end of a dead end
street.
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Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine
optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and
respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as
running a daily Search Engine Advice Column
(http://www.ask-kalena.com/), Kalena manages Search Engine
College (http://www.searchenginecollege.com/) - an online
training institution offering instructor-led short courses and
downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization
and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.
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