BUS572-3

Concept: Knowing When the Keyword is the Right Keyword

     There are four things to consider when choosing a keyword: Search volume; Competition; Propensity to Convert; and Value per Conversion. Each of these concepts gives an important aspect to finding the right keyword. Search volume is how many searchers are using that phrase to find what they want. Competition is how many other web sites out there are targeting that same phrase. Propensity to Convert is the likelihood that the searcher using that key phrase is going to convert on your site. And Value per Conversion is the average value per prospect attracted by the keyword. Without each of these concepts being taken into consideration, there is the potential for a keyword to perform less than expected. To give an example of how this works, say you were looking to set up an advertisement for red stilettos and one of the keyword phrases you wanted to use was 'red pumps'. Search volume would tell you how many people are searching for red pumps, competition would tell you how many other web sites are using that same phrase to attract customers to their sites, propensity to convert tells you the likelihood that a searcher is going to choose your site to look at, and value per conversion is the average value that the keyword is likely to bring to the advertiser. While all of these tools are valuable to writing your keywords, the book does not tell readers how to access this sort of information. Some of these values can be found by using Google Insight, but where do you find the others? Are these four keyword concepts weighted? Meaning is one of them more important than the others, so it should be more of a focus?

Concept: Optimizing Images

     Search engines cannot see what an image is depicting, therefore the search engine relies on keyword descriptors to determine when an image is relevant to a search. Advertisers should optimize their images with keywords in order to ensure that they can be shown when a searcher inputs a relevant keyword in the ad outputs. Using good descriptors for images is also helpful for screen readers which read the image description to visually impaired users. There are several ways advertisers can optimize their images such as: 

• Use descriptive file names.
• Use specific alt tags and title attributes for the images.
• Meta information can be supplied in the image file. Make sure this information is relevant.
• Use descriptive captions, and keep relevant copy close to the relevant image.
• Make sure the header tags and images are relevant to each other.

Example of Optimizing an Image Through Keywords:

I wish the book went further into detailing exactly how specific your keywords should be for your image. For example, should it just be a one sentence description, or should it be multiple keywords strung together that all describe the image? It is obvious that it is very helpful to optimize your images for searches, however I am curious for more details

Skill set: Creating Worthy Website Links

     The search engine algorithm determines the relevancy of the referring web site to the site being linked to. By analyzing various things, the engines try to determine if the links are natural links or if they are manipulative, artificial links created solely for ranking purposes. Manipulated links are worth very little compared to natural links and may lead to a drop in search engine rankings. Some sites are more relevant than others to specific terms. The more relevant a site, the more value is transferred by the link. Well-known and established news sites, government sites (.gov), and university domains (.edu) are examples of sites from which links can carry more weight. Knowing how to create links that are more trusted and therefore carry more weight is an essential skill set to any advertiser looking to increase the relevancy of their website. One important way that advertisers can see who is linking to their website versus a competitors through a noncompeting site is by using a free service offered by Site Explorer. This website allows you to see which noncompeting sites are ranking highly for your key phrases. A question that arises is what to do with the information once you have it. If you see that your website is not ranking as highly as a competitors on a specific noncompeting site, how do you go about changing your ranking? Can you adjust your link and keywords and see if that makes a difference? How long should you continue this sort of testing for? I can see how important it would be to know where your website is being linked to often, but how do you go about making corrections for other sites that you would like to rank higher with?

Overall: Search Engine Optimization Keeps Getting More Complicated

     This week definitely added some new fine details to my knowledge of search engine optimization. Most of this information is extremely helpful and I can understand how and when to use the various skills and concepts presented. There were a few times however, like those I spoke of above, where I felt like I was not sure how to implement or interpret some of the skills I was taught. I am hoping in the upcoming weeks to gain some further clarification about how to utilize some of these concepts and skills to the fullest extent. Overall though, I have been able to make massive improvements to my understanding of eMarketing and I am excited to continue learning new skills and refining those I have already acquired.