In today’s medium of sophisticated online marketing, optimizing a website really is a separate art requiring some specific skill sets. I will boldly state that the majority of webmasters today do not have the proper training or knowledge to utilize optimization techniques to properly craft a marketing message, or to position a website for the right target audiences. Relying on your webmaster alone to handle your search engine optimization is about as crazy as hiring your mechanic to decorate your house.

This seems to be a reoccurring topic with numerous people I speak with, all claiming that they “don’t need to optimize their site” because their webmaster does it for them! Unfortunately the phrase Search Engine Optimization has become so overused that anyone stating they “practice optimization best practices” are not measured against any type of industry standard.

Can you imagine if you had to pass an optimization certification to practice SEO? I wonder what that would look like and if any of today’s webmaster’s would be able to pass it? I know I am venturing into dangerous territory here, as I may not receive the most popular vote from webmasters out there; however I never claim to have the knowledge to program a site.

Let’s break down the steps of optimization and see if you or your webmaster can pass the test. The first question I would ask anyone claiming to be an SEO expert, “Do you also consider yourself an Online Marketing Expert?” I believe this will eliminate numerous candidates immediately who do not want to claim expertise in marketing online or may even be confused as to what marketing has to do with optimization.

Why the focus on marketing? The true core of optimization is to translate your website into a language that search engines can understand so they return it as a relevant result to the consumer using the actual keyword phrases they use when searching. It is also maximizing the use of your free search engine real estate with a call to action marketing message. I realize that sounds like a mouthful but let’s examine that statement in further detail.

Basically there are four important steps to successful Search Engine Optimization:

1. Keyword Research - Understand what terms and phrases are actually being searched for that best describe or relate to your products and services. (the words and phrases you think your target audience are searching for may not be the correct ones!)
2. Search Engine Translation - Taking the various keyword categories or segments and incorporate them into the Title, Meta and Description Tags. Also, insuring the internal text links and image alt tags correspond with the back end tags, providing as I describe as, “eyeglasses” to allow a search engine to read what is on your page.
3. Write your Ad Copy - Every title tag on your website should be viewed as ad space with unique “ad copy” written for every page. With a limited amount of characters available to convey your advertisement to the consumer, (as the title tag is how your website appears in a general search result) your ads (tags) should be keyword rich, but not stuffed. It should be written like a headline identifying the most important message on the page for both your consumers and the search engines.
4. Call to Action - Any trained marketer knows that just telling people what you have is not enough, you need to have them take the next step. (the purchase of a product or a newsletter sign up for example.) Your titles or as I call them, your “online ad copy” should contain a direction leading your potential customers to that next step. This goes hand in hand with providing the relevant content on the landing page.

Optimizing a website is not just about the tags. Your optimizer should have clear understanding of the keyword market you are targeting, have written or at least optimized the front end content of your website, be trained in writing ad copy and have the credentials of running a successful marketing campaign.

When your webmaster tells you they “do” optimization, ask for a portfolio or case studies of ads they have written and successful optimization and online marketing programs they have directed. If you do feel confident that the webmaster understands search engine optimization, then you should feel equally confident to allow them to also write the content for the front of your site.

In the meantime while you interviewing potential optimizers for your site, you may want to stop by and see my new 360 Turbo Charged Hemi Chandelier!