Press Release: Banking on their ranking. Companies find it pays to be near the top of search engine results
November 03Press Release on SEO, Google Rankings,Internet Marketing in Sarasota/Bradenton.
Banking on their ranking. Companies find it pays to be near the top of search engine results
ROBIN ROGER
Herald Staff Writer
Bradenton-based Pad Printing recently signed a contract worth more than $1 million with a company in New Jersey. The New Jersey company did not find Pad Printing through a trade magazine or business directory. They found Pad Printing through the Internet.
Pad printing uses something called search engine optimization, a method of getting Web sites listed in the top results for a Google, Yahoo or other Web search engines. Companies like Pad Printing are looking to move up in the results rankings, and local advertising agencies are adding the service to their lists of offerings.
Pad Printing has a broad reach with customers in California, Maine, New Mexico and Nevada. These clients will not find Pad Printing in their phone books. The company, which does all its business online and spends $700 a month on online advertising, draws specific customers to its business using search engine optimization.
Pad Printing, on 62nd Avenue East in Bradenton, prints text on medical, electronic, industrial and specialty products regardless of the shape, size, material or surface of the products. The new contract means the company will be marking 30 million aluminum seals on medicine vials, used by one of the largest veterinarian drug manufacturers.
"I'm dealing with a sophisticated audience looking for a specific service," says Doug Schuler, owner of Pad Printing. "There's very few pad printers and laser markers in the southeast."
When someone searches Google using certain keywords — medical device, flexible plastic, print on glass — he will likely find Pad Printing on the first page of results. The company usually ranks sixth in search engine results, Schuler said.
"You only have a couple of seconds to capture them when they're looking for something," he said. "It's rare that you go to page four, five or six of the results."
Pad Printing is a client of Fox Advertising Agency in East Manatee. Suresh Babu, Internet project manager for Fox Advertising, works with Pad Printing to ensure that its Web site is at the top of the list when anyone searches for a company that can print on medical vials.
"At first people thought the Internet was only for geeks and techno people," Babu said. "Now people cannot live without the Internet."
While some tech-savvy business owners may know how search engine optimization works, Babu said many people still have questions.
The most common question, he said, is whether Google ranks its results alphabetically. Unlike the phone book, in which AAA Aardvark cleaners ends up at the top of the list, Google uses a set of sophisticated algorithms to determine who's on top.
Google uses more than just keywords these days. In the beginning many companies misused Google by attaching certain keywords to their sites, Babu said. That is why a search for ice cream could bring you farfetched results like a list of liposuction services in Louisiana.
Now Google uses hundreds of factors to determine page rank, including relevance, popularity and fresh content.
"They change the algorithms every week," Babu said. "You have to keep on top of that."
Although no one can guarantee a particular ranking, Babu said there are certain guidelines that every Web site should follow to get it close to the top.
Search networking
Google gives preference to Web sites that link out to other Web sites and receive reciprocal links to theirs. It also favors Web sites that keep updating content so a regularly updated blog or Web log can help a Web site's ranking. Blogs are also interactive, which Google treats as a plus.
While a business can pay to have its name appear on Google's search results, the sponsored ads on the right and at the top of the page have no bearing on Google's main search results.
Dr. Mario Perez wants to catapult his clinic's name to the top of the results for local searches. Right now, he said the only way to get his Web site to come up on Google is to enter its name, Vitale Skin Rejuvenation Institute.
"If I put in skin care, aesthetics, skin rejuvenation or words that might be related to my clinic, it won't come up," he said.
Instead, he gets listings for plastic surgeons in Ohio, even when he specifies Sarasota. He said he hopes the company he hires will be able to work on his Web site and get it higher in the results.
Ranking at the top
Getting a top ranking on Google can be a critical element of a company's marketing strategy.
In this day and age, if a company does not have a presence on the Internet, it's likely to get overlooked, said James Curran, assistant professor of marketing at University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.
"As long as your competitors are on the Internet, you need to be there as well," he said. "And if you do a search for certain things and you find you're on the 15th page, you might as well not be there."
Curran suggested that companies speak to an expert to find out how to get their Web site on the first page of a search engine's results.
"There is a system out there and businesses need to figure out how it works," he said.
Google offers tips on how to find a reputable search engine optimization firm, and offers helpful guidelines in its Webmaster Help Center. It recommends that Web sites avoid "sneaky redirects" and other tactics designed to get a higher page placement.
If a site does not follow certain guidelines, Google warns that it may block the site from the index.
"Google feels that it's important for webmasters to design sites for users rather than for search engines," said a Google representative. "Webmasters who spend their energies upholding the spirit of basic search principles will provide a much better user experience and subsequently enjoy better ranking than those who spend their time looking for loopholes they can exploit."
Balanced marketing
Joseph Navas, founder of SearchLamp Web Analytics, a Bradenton-based search engine optimization company, recommends a balanced approach to Internet marketing.
"Everybody focuses so much on placement," he said. "You might get the first page placement on a search engine, but you can't stay there. It's a constant battle."
So many companies jockey for that top position, he said, that companies need to continually update their site, which takes a lot of work and money.
Navas suggested balancing search engine optimization with a paid placement program, like pay-per-click advertisement or sponsored links. Companies should make sure they have traffic coming from at least four different search engines and they should cross promote with other relevant sites.
And business owners should keep in mind, Navas said, that it does not matter how good a Web site is or how high up in the results, if it does not result in customers.
"It's just like an advertisement," he said. "You have to draw people in."
Source: Herald Today
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/15880802.htm
1 comments:
very nice
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