January 2005

Typical SEO / SEM / Site Development Services

Preparation

• Evaluate the current site and search engine situation
• Plan a strategy to address deficiencies (and exploit opportunities)
• Prioritize and set a rough schedule

Basic Research

• Keyword research
• Competition research
• Learn about the business as much as feasible

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) (on the page)

• Page titles
• Meta description
• Meta keywords
• Alt text for images
• Headings
• Bold, italics, bullets
• On-the-page text
• Keyword rich copy writing

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) (off the page)

• PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising (if warranted)
• AdWords (primarily)
• Overture (and/or additional if desired)
• DMOZ submission
• Submissions to specialized and/or industry specific directories
• Froogle (if qualify)
• Google catalog (if qualify)
• Pay for inclusion directories (if warranted)

Links

• Develop a links strategy and policy
• Reciprocal links?
• Links page (directories/resources?)
• Seek high quality inbound links
• Site linking structure
• Anchor text (int./ext.)
• Submit to directories (especially industry specific)
• PR

Site Development

• Check and optimize all images and graphics
• Scripts to external files (.js .css)
• Check and validate code
• Cloak email addresses
• CSS refinements
• Favicon
• Robots.txt
• Custom 404
• Privacy statement
• 301 redirect (if required)
• Logo (if necessary)
• Eliminate identified problems (Flash, JavaScript reliance, image maps, etc.)

On-going

• Collect data and analyze
• Site stats (analyze metrics and suggest content)
• PPC stats (analyze and manage)
• Additional misc.
• Numerous reports and supporting documents prepared

There is a continuing study, research, and updating of my knowledge of the SEO/SEM field.
This includes:

• Frequent visits to search related web sites
• Subscriptions to (and lots of reading of) numerous search and webmaster newsletters (prime among these is a subscription to the members-only section of Search Engine Watch, the premier search-related site and info source, with a bi-weekly search news newsletter)
• Frequent (almost daily) visits to major search related forums (the very best place to get the pulse of the industry).

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There are a host of immediate SEO chores and site development/enhancements which are done.  Then there are a host of on-going and continuous SEM efforts  (such as PPC management, links management, stats analyses, and site content development).  The priority of any particular item varies according to site -- every site is different and has varying needs.

Mainly, when I am hired to do SEO/SEM work for your site  (at whatever level of participation), I am endeavoring to do everything I can to make your site a success.  There are innumerable things that can be done to promote and develop a site, and together we decide which ones are appropriate for your site and will benefit you the most -- then we start chipping away at a long list of things-to-do.  It is a continuous process, and a certain amount of faith and persistence is required, as very few efforts have an immediate payoff.

Additional Content Here are a few suggestions for additional content for a site (if not already present):

• Testimonials
• Organized/categorized specialized link directories (or resource pages)
• News / Specials
• Site map
• Privacy statement
• Links policy

If a site remodel is done, attention is paid to the site navigation and internal linking structure, and the naming of images, files, link titles, etc., to provide keyword-rich text.

Puerco Pibil (slow-roasted pork)

Recipe by Robert Rodriguez
(traditional dish from the Yucatan)

from the movie, Once Upon a Time in Mexico
director: Robert Rodriguez
starring: Johnny Depp, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayack

(The dish that CIA agent Sands always ordered -- and shot the cook because it was too good.)

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Ingredients:

The major spice used which gives the dish it's flavor and color is Annatto seeds  (also known as Achiote), a hard, earthy-looking seed.  (You need to get a cheap electric coffee grinder to grind the dry ingredients very finely.  Use this grinder for spices only -- never for coffee.)

The dry spices (to grind):

• 5 tablespoons of Annatto seeds
• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon of pepper  (black)
• 8 allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves  (little sticks)

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The wet ingredients:

• a couple of Habanero peppers -- finely chopped
  (take out the seeds and veins)
• 1/2 cup of orange juice  (bitter, if available)
• 1/2 cup of white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 8 cloves of garlic
• the juice of 5 lemons
• a splash of the finest Tequila you can find  (and afford)

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• 5 pounds of pork butt

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• 4 or 5 large banana leaves
• a large, shallow roasting pan
• a large zip-lock bag
• tin foil

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Instructions:

This is a simple traditional dish of the Yucatan.  Although simple, there is some preparation required.  We will be making Achiote paste -- the characteristic spice that gives the dish it's unique flavor and color.  You could buy prepared Achiote paste, but it is weak -- so, let's do it from scratch!

• Measure all of the hard, dry spices into a grinder and grind them until powdered -- really pulverize them.
• Pour the orange juice and vinegar into a blender.  Add the Habaneros, the garlic cloves, and the salt.  Then add the powdered spices.
• Blend all until liquified -- the smoother, the better.
• Then add the secret ingredients -- the juice of 5 lemons and a generous splash of the finest Tequila you can find  (and afford).

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OK -- now we've made the essential Achiote paste for the dish.
Time to marinate the meat.

• Cut the pork butt into roughly 2" squares.  (You don't need to be precise at all, just cut the meat up.  Don't trim off any of the fat from the meat -- it moistens and flavors the dish.)
• Place the cubed meat into a large, heavy-duty, zip-lock bag.  Pour the marinade mixture, our Achiote paste, over the meat.  Close and seal the bag securely, then ensure that all of the meat is covered by the marinade -- toss and manipulate the bag to cover the meat thoroughly.
• Once all of the meat is covered with the marinade, you can proceed with the recipe -- or you could marinate the meat in a refrigerator for an hour or two, to develop the flavors some more.

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• Line a shallow roasting pan with banana leaves, leaving a good amount of the leaf hanging beyond the rim of the pan  (to seal the top).
• Pour the meat and marinade mixture onto the banana leaves in the pan.  Cover the top by folding over the excess banana leaves, using additional leaves as necessary to cover the meat completely.
• Wrap all of this up nice and tight with aluminum foil.  You don't want any steam escaping, as that is how the meat cooks.
• Roast it slowly for 4 hours in an oven set at 325 degrees F.  You do not need to watch it -- just let it slow cook for 4 hours.  (Go drink some of that Tequila while you wait  ;-)
• After 4 hours, remove the pan from the oven.  Carefully unwrap the tin foil  (the steam will be hot), then unwrap the banana leaves.
• Serve over white or brown rice  (maybe with a Jalapeno on the side).

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This dish is so good, that you might get whacked just for making it -- in order to balance the forces of the universe.

Enjoy

the essence of SEO

I recently stumbled across what for me was a new way of looking at SEO. The main thrust was that SEO is mainly about removing obstacles that keep a search engine spider from doing it's job.

Instead of trying to manipulate the SERPs with various "white hat / black hat" SEO techniques -- just remove anything that would hinder a SE spider from traversing your pages. Most of SEO is junk removal. Remove the junk that is interfering with those spiders.

Of course, you need to have good content (and plenty of it). SE spiders just want to identify and grade the content of your site so they can extract the essence of what each page is about. The better they can do that -- the better they can match up a search query with your content, and the happier you, the searcher, and the SEs will be. Provide lots of relevant content (to the query made), and you will match well, and rank well for that query.

All of this relates to how well you address the quality of the user exerience through understanding your visitors' needs -- and this is best gained through an analysis of the search queries as found in your server logs. Mine and analyze that data. Then provide the content those queries demand. And make it easy for spiders to find and index that content.

Basic and simple really -- but an eye-opener for me. Once a site is SE friendly, 90% of the site-side of the work is done.

diving headfirst into blogging

Well, the title says it all. This is our first attempt at blogging. Therese and I are spouting off to each other and pontificating about one thing or another all of the time -- so we just figured we might as well look into this "blogging" thing and see what it was about.

We might as well spout off in a forum that might get our thoughts before others.