I came across the Web Presence Optimization Hierarchy on Search Engine Watch the other day and found it interesting. The pyramid shared some similarities to how we work at First Scribe but it wasn’t completely accurate. Since it didn’t match what we do here at First Scribe I decided to make a version that suits our optimization practices better.
When you compare the WPO pyramid to our WPO cycle you will notice a couple differences. We start with keyword research and then move to building a solid SEO foundation and I also switched the pyramid into a circle because we are constantly researching and revising.
The reason we begin with keyword research is the most obvious keywords are not always the best to optimize a site. Taking the time to understand that “High Heel Pump” might be a better phrase to optimize instead of simply choosing to optimize around “Shoe” could save time fighting an impossible battle for the top SERP rankings.
Once we have gathered keywords and have a good idea of which keywords will be the most effective to target we begin optimizing a site. While we are optimizing a site, it’s important to educate the client that we may not be able to win on every phrase they want. Some websites might have more link juice, others might have much more relevant content or some might be using black hat techniques. SEO techniques are not an exact and you should always be researching new skills and refining your current ones.
After we have completed our basic SEO foundation, it’s up to the client to feed the search engines quality and relevant content. This is done by updating content on existing pages, creating new pages, posting on a blog, sharing press releases, job listings, new hires and much more. Updating your site doesn’t need to happen constantly but blog post bi-weekly or updating page content every few months will give the web crawlers a reason to come back.
Similar to creating optimized content, is engaging your fans, clients and potential clients on Social media. Engaging these audiences will help build brand awareness and extend the reach of the optimized content you have been creating for your site. Updating on social media also doesn’t need to be constant; it needs to be consistent. Remember that your content doesn’t necessarily have to be created by you; it just has to fit the voice you’re using on each social network.
Finally, make sure you have been measuring and tracking all of your work with something like Google Analytics. If you don’t track your results, you won’t have any evidence that your optimization has even worked.
Measuring your analytics will also help you decipher where your optimization needs to be improved. You may discover that some of your visitors are entering organically on a group of keywords you missed. You may also discover people are reaching a 404-page will clicking though a certain path on your client’s site.
All of these reasons above are why I feel like the WPO hierarchy should be a cycle. The web moves so quickly that you always need to be researching, optimizing, analyzing then improving.
