search engine optimization & submission

How will we get your site listed on the search engines?

We use two strategies for maximizing exposure to your target audience. One is to "naturally" optimize the site and the other is to simply pay for ad space. At Rahvalor Interactive we focus on natural web site optimization, and we will recommend paid options that may benefit you and fit your budget.

To naturally optimize your site for a "free" listing we can:

• Develop Keywords - We can analyze your market and target audience to determine appropriate keywords and phrases through intensive keyword research.
• Develop Content - We can analyze and edit the content of your web pages to be sure it works within search engine guidelines and includes keywords in the right places. We can also develop new content and keep your site updated on a regular basis. Search engines love a site that's fresh.
• Develop META Tags - Some search engines use them and often people will see them as part of your listing. Two common search related tags are the keyword and description tags. We can make sure this invisible code is appropriate and effective.
• Develop Page Titles - Titles appear across the top of your web browser, and quite often they are the first thing a person will see in the search results. We can write and incorporate effective titles into each page of your site.
• Convert HTML to XHTML - XHTML is the new coding standard set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This standard will clean up your code and ensure that the site is accessible and displays properly across browsers.
• Improve your site's code - We can develop stylesheets, work with frames, JavaScript, dynamic pages, image maps and other elements of your code that affect how search engines index your site.
• Set up incoming links - we can research quality, relevant sites that may be willing to link to yours (perhaps in exchange for a link from your site to theirs). Good incoming links can boost your site's "popularity" with the search engines.
• Maintain a blog - We can incorporate a blog into your site and maintain it on a regular basis or provide you with the tools to maintain it yourself. Blogs are a great way to keep your site fresh.
• Recommend paid options - We cheated a little here, because paying for a listing is different than "natural" optimization, but we strongly recommend including paid options in your budget. Should you choose to use paid options, we can set up and manage your paid accounts.

What we won't do

There are a number of "tricks" that can be used in search engine optimization, but they will often get you banned from search engines altogether. At Rahvalor Interactive we employ only trusted, search-engine-endorsed methods for listing a site. We will not.

• Create "doorway" pages. These are search-engine-specific pages, generally stuffed with keywords and considered spam by the search engines.
• Join "link farms". Search engines penalize sites that set up links indiscriminately to boost rankings. If you are linked to a site that violates search engine rules, you will be considered in violation also.
• Use automated submission programs. Some search engines disallow automated submissions and others ban sites that employ them. We submit key pages of your site individually and by hand to the major search engines.
• Do anything that can be considered "questionable". We follow only approved methods of optimization set forth by search engines and the search industry.

Are you going to be number one?

While no reputable company can offer this guarantee unless you pay the search engines to list you in a particular position, we can tell you that we have achieved a number of top ten and number one positions for customers who subscribe to our search engine program, leading to increased exposure to a targeted audience, increased site traffic and finally, increased business leads. The key lies in the marketing.

You might not see a number one position unless you target the correct niche. For example, imagine you are selling flowers. You would expect "flowers" to be a very competitive keyword - lots of people are selling, showcasing or talking about flowers. To get into a number one spot for a keyword that general, is, dare we say, nearly impossible - and not necessarily beneficial.

However, if you have a rare orange African daisy, there's a much greater chance of being number one for a search on "orange African daisy" than "flowers". Our goal is to find the niche and put you at the top of it.

Once you're in a good position, can you forget about search engine marketing?

We cringe to think of it. Search engines are dynamic, always changing entities. Today you're number one, tomorrow you're gone. At Rahvalor Interactive we offer ongoing site maintenance services to ensure that once we achieve an optimal rank for you, your site stays there. This requires monitoring and tweaking of your site to please the search engine gods. We will check your rank across a number of keywords and repeat the optimization process on a regular basis to ensure that you are reaching your target audience.

Which search engines we submit to

Our focus is on the major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo!, AOL and MSN. No, we do not submit your site to 75,000+ search engines. We bet you can't even name ten. Over 85% of searchers will use one of these top search engines. We focus our efforts on optimizing for these engines for maximum efficiency and exposure.

We can also submit your site to a number of common secondary engines and we may submit your site to industry-specific engines. We can research options and submit your site as necessary to engines that represent your market.

The Bottom Line: How much does it cost for the "free" program?

The work that we can do for you is entirely up to your budget and marketing goals. Search engine marketing programs can easily range from hundreds to (yes) thousands of dollars a month for optimization, maintenance and paid advertising.

If you absolutely, positively have no dollars to spend on online advertising, we can still help you achieve free placement in the search engines by focusing on natural web site optimization. We always begin a search engine optimization program by evaluating your site, if you have one, or outlining a plan for a new site. We can then offer you options for optimizing your site and for ongoing support and maintenance to improve your rank.

To learn more about our search engine marketing programs, Contact Us or for new customers or existing customers with a new project, take advantage of a free initial consultation and no-obligation project planning for search engine optimization.