In SEO in Pittsburgh: Understanding Search Industry Jargon A-Ba, we discussed a number of important terms related to internet marketing, search engine optimization and search engine marketing.
These and other related terms are critical for local Pittsburgh businesses to understand because top positions in the industry are determined by factors related to these and other optimization efforts.
In the previous installment we discussed affiliate marketing, analytics, anchor text links, article syndication and backlinking. In this installment we'll go over questionable tactics, search bots, bounce rate and content – all of which are important parts of making your products and services more visible to online consumers.
*B la - ck Hat SEO
These are rogue strategies that are so widely condemned by the search engines that we're not even willing to spell it out right here, because we don't want to be associated with such practices in any way whatsoever. These tactics involve link spamming, hiding text in the background, using sneaky redirects, using software to mask stolen content, using stolen or adulterated content, spinning content, or any other type of optimization strategy that could be considered spammy or deceptive.
These tactics should never be used because major search engine algorithms are extremely advanced and can easily identify these types of shady efforts. If caught, your website could suffer a significant loss in ranking, or even be removed from the indexes altogether.
This is why it is critical to understand these industry terms, because if you're not aware that what your webmaster or Pittsburgh SEO professional is doing is against the T.O.S. of most search engines, then your business could be at serious risk. Only work with a firm that uses legitimate, industry-accepted practices.
*Bot
A bot is a specialized computer program that is designed to accomplish a specific task or set of tasks. This could come in the form of a search engine bot, which might perform such tasks as sitting on a website cataloging new content, or it could be used to scan a web page and collect information.
Other forms of bots on the internet include programs that automate processes, such as auto-submitter programs and scraping tools.
*SEO in Pittsburgh – CRITICAL TERM TO REMEMBER: Bounce Rate
If a person arrives at your website and immediately leaves without visiting any other pages on your site, this is considered a "bounce." This measurement is important because it tells the search engines how relevant your site or page is to the search query or link that a visitor used to get to your page.
High bounce rates imply less relevance – in general you want people to come to your site and then "dig" deeper by clicking through to related pages and posts to reduce your bounce rate.
The lower your bounce rate, the more likely it is that you'll improve or retain your search rankings because Google believes that you have relevant and useful content related to the search query that a visitor used to find your site.
Remember, Google's mission is to help people find what they're looking for and they use a number of metrics to try to determine if this is the case with your site. A visitor coming and quickly leaving is an indicator that Google sent that search customer in the wrong direction.
When websites are having difficulty improving their rankings, bringing down the bounce rate is often the most powerful – but difficult – cure.
A secret weapon in helping to improve your website's bounce rate is to add some relevant web video to the page that is suffering high bounce rate. Video is known to "suck people in" and keep them engaged on a web page. Just tell them where to click or what to do next at the end of the video and watch your bounce rate begin to heal.
If you're in Pittsburgh contact us today for a free consultation on our professional web video services and ask how we can have a pro camera crew setting up on location at the scene of your choice to grab and market some top notch web video online like this one that we recently did for a local multi-touch technology company:
*Content
Content can be anything on your site – articles, web pages, blog posts, videos, music, files, data, games – virtually anything that is designed to offer value to site visitors is considered content. The more content you have, the better. And the higher the quality and greater the relevance that content has when compared to what the user was searching for, the more weight your page will be given from an organic search standpoint.
In the next installment of SEO in Pittsburgh: Understanding Search Industry Jargon, we'll discuss contextual relevance, conversion rates, CPC and other terms related to website domains. But if you need professional services right now to get to the top of organic search results for terms important to your consumers, call the number at the top of your screen now for a free, confidential consultation.
Our Pittsburgh SEO services can get you to the top of any market – both locally and globally.
