Data Choices

We compile. You decide.

Search Engine Optimization Experts!

Data Choices SEO for a Digital Era!

Top Ten Blunders and the DCI Calculator

Time to convert from analog to digital? Your television is doing it, so why shouldn't you?

First let's talk about some of the analog rules that are still in play, which was previously posted as Data Choices Top Ten List of SEO blunders:

1. Do NOT submit your website right away! That's right! If you just purchased a new domain the last thing you want to do is submit the "under construction" site to a bunch of search engines that will begin cataloguing your far from complete domain. Instead sit down with a whiteboard (or a big sheet of scrap paper) and draw out a logically linked sitemap. Then get some substantial content onto these pages before you consider submissions.

2. Don't SPAM the engines. We all know how much we hate SPAM cluttering up our email boxes. SPAM means something different to search engines, but they hate it as well. SPAMMING means repeatedly sending them excessive links to your site. "Excessive" can either be the number of links sent or the frequency of the submissions. Either way you risk getting a lower ranking or even de-listed all together! With a logically and correctly designed site there is no need to repeatedly send different links to the same engines. But with an incorrectly designed site some of your website content may never be found!

3. Don't be a turkey! We all like a little stuffing with our turkey, but stuffing your site with keywords is the wrong approach! Sure, there are still quite a few smaller search engines out there that will bump you up through keyword stuffing. But the "Big Boys" don't play that game anymore! Quality matters! So go for the quality search engines by not stuffing your web pages and the smaller engines will fall into place as well. The truly sad part is that many companies stuff their site without even knowing it! The anti-stuffing algorithms are out in force as the search engines try to combat this unethical procedure. Unfortunately some are not up to the task and legitimate sites can be held low in the rankings without the site owner ever knowing why!

4. Don't be a Bird of Prey! Cloaking works for the Klingon Birds of Prey but it won't work on your website! Cloaking is basically any act that delivers one page to the spiders and another to human surfers. Although there are several techniques the most common is having META tags that do not match the content of the page/site or writing code that identifies the bots and redirects them to pages not seen by human visitors. Many larger search engines will ban your domain if you use cloaking!

5. If you can't read it - delete it! Hidden text or links is another common way to get banned. If the font on the page is substantially similar to the background so that a human being cannot read the text, it is hidden text and very likely to get you banned! Design your site to be people friendly first, and search engine friendly second.

6. Avoid the Clone Wars! Duplicating one of your pages and spreading it like wildfire throughout your site is an exercise in self - defeat. Even substantially similar pages can be "cloned" pages. Again, just ask yourself if a human being would likely read both of the similar pages on your website. If the answer is no then it will likely be seen as a clone by the spiders as well.

7. Misspellings of well known web sites. This is an old tactic that the search engines have been onto for some time. Don't try to ride on someone else's coat-tails by misspelling their domain name. It simply won't work.

8. Un-ethical Search Engine Optimization. Organic search engine optimization means doing everything the search engines like, and nothing they don't. This is no small order! Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com and others all use different algorithms. Google's is particularly impressive in that it goes a long ways towards simulating the experience of a human web surfer. Expect the other major players to enhance their programs to do the same in the near future. As these changes take place you may find your rankings drop if you utilize unethical search optimization. And again, if you are doing real estate Internet marketing, the last thing you want to be is un-ethical!

9. Failing to supplement organic search optimization with pay per click (PPC) advertising. Despite recent lawsuits dealing with click abuse, using a reasoned strategy with pay per click advertising is a good choice for brand new websites waiting for their organic SEO efforts to pay off. Do not overlook this valuable Internet marketing strategy.

10. Spending too much time on your core business! Believe it or not this can be a detriment - though it doesn't have to be. If all you do is work your core business and ignore Internet Marketing and search optimization, then all those potential customers will find your competitors, who are utilizing effective Internet marketing strategies. If your company can afford a full time IT staff then make sure part of their daily routine is working on search engine optimization and marketing your website.

Now that we have the old analog rules down, let's take a look at the Data Choices Digital Solution for Internet Marketing!

Digital Internet Marketing Solution:

We previously introduced the Data Choices Index which helps to consolidate the Keyword Effectiveness Index into a Pay per Click campaign. KEI has largely ignored PPC campaigns because the idea behind KEI was to promote organic search engine placement. But as we mention in item nine above, it makes perfect sense to run a PPC campaign while you are waiting for your organic SEO to pay off!

Since it can take ten months or more for moderately competitive keywords to rise to the top of the organic heap, a bit of help in the PPC arena would be a nice tool to have. While KEI exponentially rates the number of searches for a given term and compares it to the number of results on a given engine, the Data Choices Index, or DCI takes a straight look at the click through rate that you have received for a given keyword and the cost per click for that term. When the click through rate is higher and the cost per click is lower, you have a better PPC keyword. But, in the end, if you are looking for you PPC campaign to simply supplement your organic work until you can eliminate PPC all together then you need to incorporate the Keyword Effectiveness Index into your formulations in order to determine where your advertising dollars are best spent. The DCI Calculator, or Data Choices Index Calculator does exactly that!

We have also provided a link to a UK site which can quickly show you the number of searches for a given term. Then take data from your own PPC Campaign and use that data and the DCI Calculator to determine which terms may pay off for you in the long run! Remember to re-check the numbers monthly as your data will change and continue to optimize your pages for the most effective keywords. But don't disregard your own marketing expertise! Just because DCI is higher for keyword one than keyword two doesn't mean you should use only keyword one; especially if keyword one has a low conversion rate as compared to keyword two! What ingenuity from this Internet marketing site and search engine marketing specialists!

In the end it is all about conversions, but for companies in their first year the Data Choices Index can help intelligent Internet marketing specialists become more effective in a shorter period of time.

So embrace the Data Choices Digital Solution today!

Domain Pro Supersaver SEO 12 Month Package

Home Services Search Engine Marketing Specialists Internet Marketing Specialists DCI Calculator