Bankrate, Inc. (Nasdaq: RATE) is one of the top financial sites on the Web. And one of the main reasons it does so well: organic traffic.
Huh? Well, this means that when you search on popular terms and phrases on Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), Bankrate's site is often on the first page. This is essentially free traffic.
So, how can you benefit from this? Of course, there are many strategies. But, there are some things you can do to get started. Let's take a look:
Optimize your page: You want to make it easy for search engines to index your pages. This means making sure that each web page title is unique and reflects the key search phrases that your users enter (the process is known as "search engine optimization" or SEO).
What are the phrases? True, there are a variety of tools to help out.
But a quick-and-easy ways is merely to type in some phrases in Google and you will see a drop-down box that has related phrases.
"You are telling a story to the search engine of what each page is about," said Chris Kenney, who is the associate manager for search marketing at VistaPrint (Nasdaq: VPRT).
Automated Help: Although, there is one tool you should definitely check out; that is, Google's Webmaster Tools. With this, you can put together a site map, which will make it easier for Google to crawl your site.
What's more, the tool has a variety of ways to track and monitor the progress of your organic traffic efforts.
Content Is King: No doubt, a big reason users visit Bankrate is for the rich content. In fact, it's common for users to link to this content – which is a key to building stronger search results.
Thus, spend lots of time crafting good copy. Or, you might want to retain a qualified writer.
Something else: setting up a blog can also be a big boost. Search engines like sites that have fresh and timely content
Leverage Social Media: Let's face it, millions and millions of people use platforms like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and so on. And, these can be great places to build exposure to your site as well as links. For example, when you have a new blog post, why not make an update to Facebook?
Patience: Now, building high search rankings can take time and some experimentation. But it's well worth it.
"Overall SEO isn't something that can happen overnight because there are so many changing parts and evolving methods," said Kenney. "SEO needs to be managed for the long haul and cannot be viewed like other marketing channels."
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and the founder of BizEquity, a free online business valuation tool for small businesses. You can reach him on Twitter.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-16-2009 @ 11:03AM
Doug T said...
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3-17-2009 @ 12:41PM
Ron G said...
Good article Tom. It's good to see that someone who has a least a portion of the public's ear understands and "gets it", writing an article on how the systems really works.
It seems that, for the most part, the "gurus" out there don't "get it". They preach SEO from the stand point of constantly trying to out smart the search engines at their own game. Constantly trying to stay one step ahead of the search engines is a losing battle.
There's no way anyone is going to out smart the brain trusts that Google, Yahoo and the others employ. Anyone who says they know how to beat the algorithms used by the search engines is lying.
If one wants a web site that really works then, as you say, "Content Is King". The way to make the search engines like you is to over deliver on your content. Of course there's a bit more to it than just content but content is the engine that makes all of the other parts work together cohesively toward a common goal, results.
There's a company out of Canada that has put together a complete suite of products and tools to make web site building a productive endeavor. They provide EVERYTHING necessary to make it possible for anyone from a complete novice to experienced webmasters to build web sites that constantly out perform those built using even the best known "services".
With more than 60% of their client's sites ranking in the top 3% of Alexa rankings, I'd say they're on to something. When a complete web site building novice, that would be me, can build a web site in a very competitive niche and rank in the top 2% in less than 8 months, I'd say that's pretty darn good. Wouldn't you?
If anyone is interested in building a web site that not only looks good but actually delivers results you can check them out at http://www.sitesell.com/erudition.html Simply put, their system works. If, after honestly checking them out, you don't agree then I really do wish you good luck in your efforts. You're going to need a lot of it.
3-16-2009 @ 3:31PM
John said...
Ny URL is www.Jwriteaworld.com for purposes of critiquing and accessing notices of my novels,
"Portraits of Grace" (about Art and artists and their struggle to become famous--and infamous);
and "Mansend" (a political science-fantasy about what could happen if we suddenly found an alien governing from the White House). See both and other, shorter, tales advertised on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. JCM
3-16-2009 @ 6:29PM
MSEntrp said...
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3-17-2009 @ 7:45AM
bob said...
For a niche site, my site ranks very well on search engines. Most of the search terms I target return page one results - handmade silver jewelry, custom made silver jewelry, silver chain etc. There are several reasons. The number of incoming links, the age of the domain and the on - page content are key. There are no short cuts. On page optimization is important; but without the other two factors in play it just isn't enough. The age factor is huge; newer sites can never overcome this. I have seen sites with horrible content at the top of the listings simply because the domain was the oldest in the group of sites on page one.
3-17-2009 @ 2:03PM
Clay said...
I am shocked the article said nothing about link building.
I would rank a very close second behind content but far above the other items you mentioned.
3-18-2009 @ 2:46AM
K. Johnson said...
this is a pretty good article on (SEO) link building. I hope this helps out someone.
http://turnkeywebsitearticles.wordpress.com/
What do you guys think about FX or forex will it continue to be profitable?
4-07-2009 @ 10:22AM
a1shahid77 said...
this articla is totally focused on page. nothing linkbuilding
4-13-2009 @ 9:36AM
yetihunter said...
I like the article and use seo with my site Free Dish Network Installation http://dishinstall.synthasite.com
The search " Free Dish Network Install" does best for me on Yahoo and MSN, but Google seems to prefer the old sites that don't update as often, a little confusing.
5-24-2009 @ 12:48PM
David Abrahams said...
Great article....The more you read, the more you learn....Wordpress blogs are great for getting top search results fast. david Great for beginners...
http://blogging-success-secrets.com/?p=1964
6-09-2009 @ 6:09PM
Randy said...
My business partner and I just started a clothing line company very recently called Ryce: Revolutionary Young Cultural Effect. Our shirts include sayings that have double meanings like Let's Pho. My business partner is in charge of the website and he's constantly telling me that "Content is King".
Within our niche, we're number 1 already and we're very new in terms of a few months only. I always read everywhere online that cross-linking with other websites that are very similar to yours is also key. You can type in a keyword that is similar to your website and then ask the other websites that show up if they'll link to you. Most of them will want you to link back, and I heard this is a good way to get your website up in the rankings of the search engines.
You can find us at http://www.ryce.biz and if you can figure out how we got to number one, please let us know. Cuz I don't, haha. Thanks