The big "take away" for me was the services that I am already providing my clients were reinforced. Index-able sites, good content, links from other sites and customer reviews are all very important. I will reference Google in the following examples because if it works for Google it will work for Bing/Yahoo and the other search engines.
Index-able Content:
Seems very simple right? Google has to be able to see your site and read your HTML to be able to add your site to its index. Google then will be able to display your page when people search by relevant keywords. Many things can cause Google to be unable to index your site:
- Improperly used meta tags: noindex, nofollow
- Image Navigation rather than CSS
- Overuse of FLASH to build site
- SEO black hat techniques employed causing search engine to ban your site
- Improperly built site that Search engine cannot "see"
You have to have content on your site that is well written and relevant to your topic. The content has to be relevant for up to 3 keywords per page. Create separate pages for each product or service and write targeted content for each. Trying to have one page to target 15 keywords dilutes the value of all the keywords.
Links From Other Sites:
This is one of the most important points. This is a popularity contest like high school. The most popular kids got the most attention. The most popular sites (based on who links to your site) will get the most attention and will rank higher in the search engine results for appropriate keywords. If a lot of sites link to your site, you must have content worth reading.
Customer Reviews:
Google is looking at reviews from your customers as another key indicator that you have good products or services. Ask your customers to review you on Google+. Give them a card with your Google+ Business page URL and instructions on how provide a review. Google is placing more emphasis on reviews, especially for local businesses.
I have been providing SEO service for 3 year with documented results. I have conveyed expectations to the client, utilized on page best practices, documented increased visitors, documented increased external links through proper link building and provided monthly progress reports with recommendations.
Results? Every customer has renewed for this service each year.
