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"SEO: the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the natural, un-paid, or organic search results"

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Back to the Basics

SEO combines the methods of how search engines work, what people search for, the actual terms or keywords entered into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by target audiences.

Optimizing a website for SEO involves editing the content, promoting that site around the web, and removing any barriers possible so that search engines can index the site.


No Cheaters Allowed

Don't cheat yourself out of something rewarding to get something easy. SEO can be thought of similarly to a relationship. Your site should be accessible, have goals set for the future, always know the right things to say, know the likes and dislikes of search engines, never come off as fake, automated, or a copy-cat, and never ever bore them. Never.


The Truth of the Matter

If you would prefer to find love by going on reality television, getting engaged after 1 week, and becoming married after 1 month, then I can already guess how long that marriage will last...

But if you prefer the tried and true way of meeting someone at your local coffee shop, getting to know that person over a few dates, then embarking on a lifelong journey of happiness, you're already one step closer to understanding SEO!


Making it Make Sense

They say love is fleeting. And search engines can be just as tricky. So if you haven't figured it out by now, you have the power to choose that regrettable rush of a drive-thru wedding in Vegas or holding on to the lasting satisfaction of a relationship sustained through the ups and downs. This is similar to Paid SEO tactics and Natural SEO tactics. You can pay to feel that instant, however short-lived rush, or you can grow naturally. The results will speak for themselves.

In dating and in SEO.

Your Fun Friday Facts!

Be sure you check the rest of our blog entries to see how these SEO tools can be implemented on your own website.

Ever Googled your Insurance Agency Name?

Ever wonder what exactly makes up the pieces of the search results you see at Google? Before that question can be answered, the process of how Google delivers results must be understood. There are three key processes in delivering search engine results.

First, Google "crawls" the world wide web and accumulates information about websites and their content. The program Google uses to accomplish this task is referred to as Googelbot. Googlebot uses an algorithmic process to determine which sites to crawl, and how many pages to read from each site. Next Google compiles a massive index of all the words and locations of the sites it crawled.

When a Google user enters a query, Google returns a result they feel is most relevant. The results that are displayed are referred to as Snippets. In general, Google reserves the right to display what they feel is best for their users. However, you have a great deal of control about what is displayed about your agency on Google.

There are three primary components that make up a Snippet.

Title
The first line of the Snippet is the title. The title displayed comes from the title of your webpage. We have found many websites where the designer will overlook this very important step when designing websites for their customers. WebPages not titled will appear in search results with the title as "Untitled" or "Home Page" which does not encourage the consumer to click and learn more. Whereas a title listing your agency name and a slogan or short concise description of what your agency offers would encourage the consumer.

Description
The description listed by Google typically comes from one of three places.

• Open Directory - If for some reason, when Google attempts to "crawl" a site and they are unable to read it, Google will then sometimes rely on the Open Directory Project, which is listed at www.dmoz.org

• Within the Page - Sometimes, Google pulls the description from within the page. Google determines what part of the page it will use so the description gives some context as to what the page contains.

• Meta Description Tag - the most preferred method and where you have the most control of what description is displayed is the Meta Description Tag which is included in the code of your website. By including a Meta Description Tag, you have the ability to dictate what is displayed about your site.

Descriptive URLs
The last component displayed is the link to your website or the page on your website that meets the searchers' query. Providing a descriptive URL is another key aspect to converting a searcher. For instance, a URL such as www.sampleinsurancewebsite.com/page.php?id=5134, doesn't tell the searcher they have landed in the right spot, whereas a URL such as http://www.sampleinsurancewebsite.com/automobile/car_insurance_quote.aspx will.

Insurance Website Builder
Every website we design, we include a descriptive title, on-target description, and all of the URLS quickly identify to the searcher what they contain. In addition, through our admin console, our users can update their titles and descriptions at any time and is easy as using any word processor.

Get specific details on how to fill in the title, description and keywords for your website.

How to Optimize your SEO settings

This information should be entered in the SEO Settings section of the Administration Console. Watch a video on how to optimize your SEO settings for your IWB website.

Page Title

• Should be the Main Keyword Phrase (kp)
• Must 60-70 characters long (including spaces)
• The main kp is normally 3-4 words long in the format “Geo-target Line of Business”, e.g. Dallas Auto Insurance, Cheap Dallas Home Insurance, Dallas TX Contractors Insurance
• Only insert the main kp. The Website automatically adds “ - Company Name” at the end

Site Description

• Must be 150-160 characters (including spaces)
• Must include main kp
• Must describe the website, what it offers, what the company specializes in
• Must be a full sentence, i.e. humans read this, so it must make sense, with a full stop at the end, appropriate capitalizations etc.
• Can include areas covered, e.g. cities, counties, state
• Do not include address, hours of business

Page Keywords

Note: The top 3 search engines, Google, Yahoo and Bing do not take page keywords (meta keywords) into account when ranking a website. As such, these are not important if you want to rank in the top 3. However the smaller search engines may still use this data, so it's best to add some.

• Must be at least 10-15 keywords
• Must be comma delimited
• First keyword must be main kp
• Can include derivatives of main kp e.g. home insurance, home, insurance etc.
• Each keyword must be present somewhere on the homepage, be it in the main body or navigation.
• Can include areas covered
• Do not include zipcodes, area codes

Read more about how this is reflected on Google's Search Engine Results page.