Oct 31, 2008

SEO on a Shoe String

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) may be a time consuming project, but it does not need to be expensive. It all depends on how eager you are and whether or not you are prepared to do some homework. In times of economic crisis, I think, we'll find more and more people willing to do their own homework so cut costs and save money.

Before we talk about how to conduct a successful SEO project on a shoe string, let's take a look at what a typical cost of an SEO project ran up to now:

Small SEO Project for a Non-specialized Consumer-oriented Website

- keyword analysis - somewhere between $250 and $1000

- 10 pages of new content @ 350 words + 5 outbound links per page = $500 (general consumer topics only!),

- 100 inbound links @ 12 per link = $1200

- 50 additional outbound links @7 per link = $350

- site's folder structure optimization = $250

- 20 existing pages optimization @25 per page = $525

- PPC AdWords campaign (setup and management) = $300 for 6 months

- custom landing pages = $150 per page (one page per campaign)

- blog postings (social media marketing) @ $10 per blog = $200

- PR distribution @ $300 per release distribution plus $200 for release writing (2-3 paragraphs)

TOTAL: roughly $4000

It is also important to consider that it will take 2-3 months for the SEO project to be completed and bring results. It is also important to consider that a typical SEO project would position your site for only a few keyword phrases (1-3 on average) for this price. Furthermore, some of the costs are recurrent, such as PPC campaign management. All this can add up to a handsome sum!

So what can you do to cut costs without sacrificing quality. Here is a plan:

- purchase $80 monthly subscription to WordTracker and check to see whether your keywords are really popular with users. If not, select other keywords. This is the most important step in your entire SEO campaign. Expect to spend 2-3 hours

- set up your own PPC AdWords campaign, just follow Google's instructions. Use Google keyword tool to add more keywords to your list. use Google Suggest tool to see how popular these keywords are (in addition to WordTracker). Use Google Sponsored Links tool to see who else is "buying" these keywords. Expect to spend 2-3 hours on campaing setup and 2-3 hours on additional keyword research.

- Note: the effectiveness of your SEO campaign is indirect correlation to the amount of time and care you devote to your keyword analysis.

- Subscribe to Google Analytics (free) and link your AdWords account to it (follow step-by-step instructions provided by Google)

- Watch your statistics for a couple of weeks and note which keywords generate the most clicks and impressions. If you get enough impressions, but no clicks, then you need to edit your ad, tweak to make it more enticing.

- Find a good foreign-based partner to build one-way back links. Back links are the most important thing for your SEO project. Make sure to partner with a reputable SEO firm. Expect to spend roughly $10 per link. The more links the better.

- Write your own press release. Do not make it too formal. ePR is different from traditional PR in that the style can be simple and conversational. Get it reviewed by your family members and friends. Use free PR distribution services: http://www.annatulchinsky.com/Resources_SEO_Blogs_Social_Media.htm . Use several of them at once. Make sure to include a link back to your site! Create and distribute your press releases every two months, as most sites do not store documents for more than 3-6 months, so you'll use your back links if you don't distribute press releases regularly. Store all your press releases on your own website as well, under a separate section.

- Based on the best performing keywords you've discovered through Google Analytics and Google AdWords, create 5-7 pages of content, 500 words per page, and make sure to repeat those keywords IDENTICALLY as often throughout the page as you can without sacrificing quality of your text.

- Do not worry about META tags, ALT tags, etc.

- If you do want to do some "optimization", the main thing for your home-made SEO project is to re-name all your web pages by including your most important keywords. So, for example, instead of 'Products.html', rename your file to be: 'Products_my_best_keywords.html'

- If you want to be very responsible, change your page Title tag and H1s to include your best keywords as well.

- Include these keywords inside the links you provide as additional resources. For example, instead of saying: for more information, click here. Say: "for more information about products with my keywords, please visit our products keywords page".

- It is very good to use links in the body of all your pages. Just don't forget to use your best keywords

- Focus on press releases and back links. Use your keywords there as well!

- Ask as many people as you can to bookmark your site on Del.icio.us. This alone will boost your ranking! Just don't expect everyone to comply. It might take 2-3 weeks before you get 20 people to bookmark your site. The more bookmarks you have, the better.

- So, in a nutshell: here is the work you'd need to do for your SEO project:


1) run a PPC campaign on Google AdWords, having done a good keyword research
2) create a Google Analytics account and link it with your AdWords account
3) create 10 pages of text for your website containing your most desired keywords, based on what you've observed on Google AdWords. Place outbound links inside those pages leading to reputable sites in your industry. All your links should contain your best keywords as well.
4) write a short press release (350-500 words) and submit it to free press release distribution sources. Submit to a few of them, not just one.
5) get friends to bookmark your website
6) build one-way back links, continuously. Check results: www.marketleap.com

TOTAL: $80 without back links. For back links, even a 100 links would generate great results. So if we assume $12 per link, your total would run to $1280. That's 70% savings compared to $4000. And if you skip link building, but capitalize on PR distribution, your costs will remain under $100.

If you work hard, the whole project can be completed in 2 weeks, as opposed to 2 months. Why? Because you don't have to rely and wait for other people, you don't need to depend on their schedule.

Note that your SEO results might take another couple of weeks to show. And your SEO efforts need to be continuous. However, the bulk of your SEO efforts, 80% of it, will be done in the first 2 weeks. The rest is maintenance: more PR distribution and more back links! Note that by storing your PR releases on your website, you automatically add more content to your site.

Good luck, and if you need help, contact me via http://www.annatulchinsky.com. Your first 30 minutes are free.