Onsite vs. Offsite SEO

Onsite SEO refers to anything you can do to improve your own website or blog so that search engines give it a higher PageRank, where as Offsite SEO refers to anything done externally of your web page that improves your PageRank. Some examples of Onsite SEO include Keyword rich content, more content then less, and images containing alt tags. Onsite is more important in terms of organic searches, meaning not influencing search engines with $$. Examples of Offsite SEO include backlinks from twitter, facebook, and other social media sites. Offsite SEO is also important because it is where a majority of referrals come from. As you have probably noticed that both Onsite and Offsite SEO appear to play an important role because they serve two different purposes that also complement each other. Where Onsite SEO sets the ground work for making your site search engine friendly; ultimately, Offsite SEO plays a larger role in driving traffic to your site. I spoke earlier of Keyword rich content

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when referencing Onsite SEO. Keyword rich means that the word or words you would most associate with your website, is used multiple times. The more times you post those keywords in your blog or website to more they are indexed by Google in association with your site. Google also deems words that have a Heading 1, 2 & 3 more important, along with bolded items carrying slightly less weight. I also spoke about having a lot of content on your page. When you have very little content on your page, there is nothing for a search engine to index resulting in a low PageRank. PageRank algorithms also like to see original pictures. These pictures carry extra weight when they are partnered with an alt tag referencing the key word you wish to be searched.

PPC Advertising

Search engines such as Google, Bing & Yahoo, provide listings on a per-bid or flat fee basis. This is in addition to their standard search results, all of which is still determined by a combination of keywords

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found on your web site, link popularity and other factors. This per-bid basis is Paid Per Click (PPC) advertising, and is most noticeable when you search for a term on Google and the top results are highlighted and called sponsored results. These web pages that are highlighted as well as the web pages listed on the right column all pay Google a fee every time someone clicks on that link. To determine how much a website pays for that click depends on the amount of websites that all bid on that key word. These ads are sold in an auction format and the website with the winning bid has a better chance at being ranked number one in the sponsored results. Google’s version of Paid Per Click advertising is called Adwords. It is considered their flagship advertising product and is also their main source of revenue. In 2010 Google’s advertising revenue was $28 billion. Adwords gives you the ability to target your ad campaigns to local, national, and international distribution. This allows companies both large and small to effectively utilize Adwords. Small to medium sizes companies benefit from Adwords because it is a way to get your name out there and reach a larger market share. If a potential customer has never heard of you, how would they utilize your product or service. For instance, I recently was looking for glass block windows for my house, however I had not a clue what companies sell and install them. I did a Google search with the term “glass block windows”, to my surprise there were close to ten companies in the metro Detroit area that sold and installed them. I ultimately did not go with the sponsored result from Google, however I did call the sponsored company first. Adwords allows companies to specify which IP addresses they wish to target so that they are not wasting ad dollars in markets that they do not service. Large scale companies may not need to get there name out to the market, but they may need a leg up in a very competitive market. Assuming that large companies have a bigger advertising budget may utilize Adwords to push their name ahead of the competition.

PageRank

Google uses a link analysis algorithm that assigns a numerical weight to hyperlinked set of documents. In other words, the rank value indicates the importance of a particular page. Google assigns this rank value to every website that is indexed, and the value of that website determines its position on the Google search page when a relative keyword is searched. For example; if I do a Google search for the word “

fitidogurous

”, I would receive multiple results of web pages that all include or are associated with the word “

fitidogurous

”. The results would be displayed in descending order with the highest valued webpage displayed first. The largest factor when assigning a rank value is the number of pages linking back to that said page. In other words, a page would be ranked higher as more pages are linked to it. Who and how important the site is, linking back to your site is even more important. Content rich sites then to have a better PageRank as well, especially when you use the key search term multiple times use H1, H2, H3, and bold print of those key terms adds value to your page rank. If you have very little content on your page there is less information for search engines to index, resulting in a lower PageRank. Having images on your web page helps especially if it has an alt tag attached. PageRank is a trademark of Google and is patented. What I found to be very interesting is that the patent is held by Stanford University. Google only has exclusive rights on the patent from Stanford. The reasoning was that PageRank was developed at Stanford University by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; the founders of Google Inc. The university received 1.8 million shares of Google in exchange for use of the patent which was sold for $336 million in 2005.

Overview

This blog was created for a Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Competition @ Wayne State University.

The purpose of this project is to create a webpage / blog about a fictitious word

(fitidogurous)

that is not indexed by Google.

My class will be competing to see who's page shows up at the top of the search engine results page (SERP)

For marketers, the difference between being number one and two can mean BIG $$.  Not being on the first page can be disastrous to a product or service.

Through out the course of this project I will update this blog with post of what I have learned.  This will serve two purposes:
 1)   Increase my chances of moving to the first page when anyone searches the term  

FITIDOGUROUS

 2)   Give you the resources to move your webpage to the top of a search engine.


Thank you for visiting


Damian Stone