What is Connecticut Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing your site to rank for selected keywords within major search engines.  Using my site as an example, I spent one weekend researching key terms that I had the potential to rank for.  I decided to optimize portions of my site to rank highly for “Connecticut WordPress Developer”.  Within two days of going through the steps, I was ranking on the front page of Google for both “Connecticut WordPress” and “Connecticut WordPress Developer”.

How is SEO important for my business?

SEO is one of the most effective forms of marketing you can do.  You are putting your company’s website in front of thousands (if not more) of people.  Traffic to your website will increase through organic search results.  Within 3 days of optimizing my website for “connecticut wordpress developer“, I was contacted by a company in Stamford, CT who was looking for a local WordPress developer for a large project.  The majority of my clients report similar immediate results.  Everyone’s results will vary based on your target market and the key terms you are trying to rank for, but with ongoing and one-time search engine optimization your business will be exposed to a larger audience than before.

I was contacted by an SEO firm that promised me front page rankings for a sizeable fee. Should I trust them?

Anyone who ‘promises’ you front page results is ripping you off.  Long gone are the shady SEO tactics of the past where you could pay for large amounts of backlinks and quickly rank your page.  Numerous updates to the Google algorithm have weeded out and penalized the companies who used the tactics.  There are no shortcuts or silver bullet to SEO – it is a very deliberate and carefully executed process.  Be very wary of anyone who is dodgy about what tactics they use to get your site to rank.  Ask for specifics as to how they will rank you for key terms and how they conduct their research.

What steps are involved in your SEO process?

1. Client Questionnaire – We start by going through a comprehensive questionnaire to give me an idea of your goals, company mission, target audience, competitors, marketing efforts thusfar, and potential keywords that pertain to your company.
2. Keyword Research- I start conducting keyword research based on the information gathered in the questionnaire.  Keyword research involves choosing terms such as “connecticut organic market” or “connecticut farm stands”.  For each term, I gather the following:
   • The number of times per month this term is searched
   • The relative difficulty it will be to rank for this term
   • Alternate terms that may be more appropriate to rank for
   • The top 10 competitors for each of these terms, how many sites are linking to the competitors, and the relative ‘importance’ of each competitor in the eyes of Google
3. Gather Benchmark Statistics - Using Google Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, Quantcast, Advanced Web Ranking, and SEOMoz Pro, I gather benchmark statistics for your site, including but not limited to: what key terms people are using to find your site, which sites are linking to you, how many sites are linking to you, any on-page crawl errors, the amount of people currently visiting your site, the top referrers to your site, impressions in search results, click through rate, and your current ranking for each of your selected key terms.
4. On-Site Optimization - Once we have determined which key terms you have the potential to rank for, I meticulously comb through your site to determine how to best optimize the structure and content of the site to rank for these terms.  I try to optimize each page for one set of keywords.  I analyze page titles, header tags, body content, internal and external links, keyword density, image alt tags,  meta data, and URLs to make sure you will be found for your key terms.  I also make sure you have a valid XML site map and robots.txt file.  If you don’t I create them for you.  I check for duplicate content which could be penalizing your rankings in search engines.  I work with you to re-write content that can help you better rank for your key terms.  In some cases I work with copywriters to help with this process.
5. Ongoing Maintenance- Every month, I continue working with you to collect data, analyze it, and use it to create a specific strategy to attract more visitors to your site and prompt them to convert to customers.  I use data gathered from Google Webmaster Tools, Advanced Web Ranking Software, SEOMoz Pro software, and Google Analytics to measure the key terms that people are using to find you, traffic to your site, conversion rate, click through rate, current rankings for select terms, and which sites are linking to you.  We then work together to help increase those metrics through the following:
   • Blogging – Creating relevant, SEO-optimized blog posts that will help you rank for your key terms
   • Social Media Press Releases – Publishing Social Media Press Releases that will put your business in front of thousands of viewers and generate backlinks to your site
   • Link Building Strategy – Organically build links to your site through guest blogging appearances, submission to numerous social bookmarking sites, social media marketing, and developing relationships with others in your field.

If this is a service you’d be interested in, contact me today for a free consultation and review of your site.