SEO best practice guide created
Companies have been given a simple
SEO checklist to maximise their chances of getting and retaining conversions.
Rand Fishkin, chief executive of search consultancy
SEOMoz, identified seven steps towards achieving a holistic SEO strategy:
- generic research
- niche research
- brand discovery
- brand investigation
- brand navigation
- purchase
- evaluation
Turning to generic research first, it was suggested that even if a business cannot afford to compete for hyper-competitive keywords like "Europe vacation destinations", they should still look to add references to Wikipedia pages or influence press and web directory coverage on the subject. For niche research, he urged companies to remember the value of less obvious keywords such as "Croatia travel" as well as directly relevant phrases.
The benefits of keyword research
It is also worthwhile researching which relevant keywords have the highest conversion rates and examining the SEO strategies of competitors to ensure your organisation stands out for brand discovery, he said. SEO reputation management campaigns may be needed to improve results for brand investigation queries like "Hotel Bellevue reviews", while investing in
paid search on branded terms like "Hotel Bellevue, Dubrovnik" could boost conversion rates.
Managers may find they can attract cost-conscious consumers by offering discounts to browsers who type in phrases like "discount code" and "coupon code". And he concluded that it was a good idea to conduct keyword research in long-term queries like "Hotel Bellevue wi-fi access" to improve the customer's experience post-booking.
Dr Peter K Meyers, president of company website consultants User Effect, recently set out his own SEO best practice manifesto. He argued that practitioners need to focus on robots, search engine rankings, the relevancy of keywords and overall conversion rates.
