Your guide to understanding SEO
Natural search engine optimization is a cost effective and specialized technique that can get your site ranking prominently in the search engines without the use of additional pay per click services. The process, also called organic search engine optimization, involves appealing to the search engines guidelines through the proper use of keywords, site structure, content, link building. All of these combined actions will help to increase your websites popularity and relevance and thus you will achieve higher rankings in the natural results of the major search engines.
There are many things that go into raising a website’s presence in the search engines. Common search engine optimization tactics include writing new content for our clients (since Google and Yahoo love fresh, updated content), “social bookmarking” the content, building links from other websites to that content (sort of like a roadside sign point the search engines to your great new content), and distributing that content to other sites. We’ll look at each one of these techniques in a little bit more detail below, and I’ll add new content pretty frequently updating these ideas and techniques in the Blog section. Simply follow the links on the right side of the page for the category you are interested in: Webdesign, Search Engine Optimization, Video Marketing or any other topic.
Now, onto the good stuff! 
Link Building
Link building is the heart and soul of any organic SEO process. Search engine algorithms determine page rank based on a formula that factors in quality of content, number of links, and the quality of the sites where those links are posted. Simply putting them anywhere will not help you to attain better organic rankings. That’s a very old “black hat” technique that no longer works. Search engines have started weighting links according to the quality and editorial standards of the site they are placed on.
When the internet was initially going through growing pains, quality was something that often ignored. Search engines calculated page rank based on the overall volume of back links and did not take into account duplicate content that was created by submissions to multiple directories. Many of those directories have now been shut down.
Search engine optimization is a science. Our experts have put in a lot of time applying the scientific methods necessary to think like a search engine and bring your company to the top of Page One. Link building is a big part of that process and we have gotten very good at it. Paying attention to the changes being made in search engine algorithms has helped us to refine our organic SEO campaigns and develop custom systems that work for each of our clients.
Our link building strategies involve putting your website URL out to a variety of search engines, local, national and international directories, social book marking sites, article directories, and other websites in your industry that get good traffic and have a good search ranking themselves.
If you’re looking for link building that will give you real benefits and help you reach search engine placement Page One for keywords in your industry, you want the knowledgeable professionals at L7 to handle your link building for you.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the highlighted words that you see on a page which are actually click-able links. It can be used to create internal links on your website and also external links that jump to other sites. For search engine marketing, anchor text can be used to create a link back to your site from other bodies of content such as articles and social bookmarking descriptions. The anchor text is embedded in the content and turns one directory link into multiple individual links for you.
When you’re posting content at an external site or directory, anchor text can be used to point at different landing pages within your website. If you’re promoting various products or services, we’ll create articles on the market itself with anchor text pointing at the individual pages that promote your different products and/or services. While reading, users may click on the link and end up viewing a page of your site, eliminating the need for them to get all the way to the resource box.
Have you ever looked at Wikipedia, you’ll notice a number of words highlighted in each of the main pages that describe encyclopedia entries. Most of these connect to other pages within Wikipedia but some go to outside sites. This is one of the most effective uses of anchor text as Wikipedia is a website with high traffic that gets good weight in the algorithmic formulas that are used to calculate search engine placement.
At L7, we know the most effective ways to use anchor text and where it is allowed or not allowed. It’s a great way to protect links or offer multiple links in one document without crowding the document with dozens of different URL’s. Employing this as part of our overall search engine marketing strategy will raise your total link count and improve your search engine placement position.
Article Marketing
There are very few SEO marketing techniques more powerful than targeted article marketing submissions. From an organic SEO perspective, an article submitted to the proper directory can provide a back link that will be given weight in the search engine algorithms and a body of text that we can fill with anchor text that links back to your website. The content itself is also a powerful promotional tool and will lead readers to the resource box at the bottom of the article where the URL to your website is displayed.
The threefold advantage of a backlink, anchor text, and a visual link from the resource box makes article marketing a preferred strategy for SEO companies. Much like it is in other aspects of the business though, there is a right way to do article marketing and a wrong way. Our team knows the right way to do it so that you get the maximum benefit out of article marketing.
The process begins with knowing where to submit articles. We look for human edited article directories like Ezine.com because they are weighted more heavily when the search engines calculate your organic ranking, or page rank. If you’ve been contemplating using one of those “automated” article submitters, don’t waste your money. The links you’ll get from those are worthless in the organic SEO process. Any article directory that accepts automated submissions is either discounted or banned in search engine algorithmic calculations.
The other element in successful article submissions is the writing itself. At L7 we have some of the finest writers in the industry working daily to put together quality content for article submission. Every article we post is an original and grammatically correct. We don’t outsource to cheap writing firms and sacrifice on quality. Those articles that we submit have your name on them and we make sure they are something you’ll be proud of.
Article submissions get results. We guarantee that any article we write will appear within 48 hours on the 1st page of your local Google search keyed to your industry. If you are looking for real progress in your organic SEO journey to Page One then let us handle your article marketing and search engine optimization program.
Social Bookmarking
What exactly is social bookmarking? Everyone has become familiar with the term “Social Media” and most of us have accounts now with Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace, but what is a social bookmarking site and what benefit does it give to you as a business? It’s not really all that complicated. Social bookmarking is simply posting your link on a social network where it will be viewed by those who have an interest in what you have to offer. There are hundreds of these networks out there and they all have a following of some kind.
Social bookmarks are good links to have in an organic SEO program. They can also bring you referred traffic if you present them the right way. There is usually a two or three line description that goes along with the bookmark and what you say with those words is very important. Use your keywords and make it interesting enough that users will want to click the link when they read it.
Some of the more popular social bookmarking sites are Digg, Delicious, Sphinn, Mixed and Stumbleupon. Google and Yahoo both have bookmarking as does MSN and Alta Vista. Social Bookmarking is one area of organic SEO where sheer volume counts. Social networks and bookmarking sites get a lot of traffic so the links placed there carry significant weight in the search engine algorithmic calculations to determine organic rankings. In simple terms, they will help us bring your business to Page One for search results in your industry.
As with all of our services, L7 offers social bookmarking as a stand alone service or as part of a search engine optimization service. The latter is recommended. Depending on what industry you’re in and how popular your keywords are, you could need thousands of links and social bookmarks to attain that first page ranking. Allowing us free reign to use all of the weapons in our arsenal is the best way to make sure you get there and stay there.
Directory Submission Service
There are literally thousands of local, regional, national and international directories on the web and a high percentage of them are good places to list your business. The rest are not, and they will cost you in the organic SEO process if you place your link there, essentially affiliating you with that directory. Many of these directories are no more than link farms that were developed in years past for companies that were doing automated submissions.
Link farms and other similar directories have been banned by most major search engines and are not included in the algorithms used to calculate your organic rankings. Only legitimate directories are counted and our teams at L7 Marketing Solutions know which directories those are. We will do a submission process for you that will help you, not hurt you, and should even bring some additional referred traffic your way in addition to providing a quality link.
In years past, consumers looked in the Yellow Pages for a listing when they were shopping for a specific product or service. Today the Yellow Pages is online and it’s in full color with videos and flashy banner ads attached to it. You can click a link on a Yellow Page listing and get an interactive map that will take you to the physical location of the business. This is the modern day equivalent of that big yellow book that you used to look to for contact information.
There are thousands of directories just like that. Some are city or state directories and some are national or cross international lines. Some are industry specific, or niche directories. These can provide great links for organic SEO because they are so relevant to what you have to offer. Accurately matching your business to the right directory is an important part of the process. L7 knows how to do this and we target all the directories in your particular industry that we can submit your business to.
Local Search Engine Marketing
Local search engine marketing is the process of hitting that small geographical area with everything you have from every conceivable angle. There are local search engines and directories that offer you an opportunity to not only post your link but to also set up a profile for your business that will tell potential customers who you are, where you are located, and what you have to sell. When a consumer does a local search for a product or service you sell they will be presented with your profile high up on the list because you are a local company.
The existence of these profiles or even the local search engines and directories themselves is not well known by the average small business owner. Even less well known is the amount of time it takes to fill out all the information on the profile pages and complete the process of registering you with each directory and search engine. For this, you need an SEO company like L7 Marketing Solutions. Our team does submissions all day long and we’ll be happy to include your business in our regular routine.
When someone does a search on a major directory or search engine, it is these small local directories and search engines that produce the bulk of the listings for them. The history of the internet and the World Wide Web has been a series of smaller databases and networks being linked together to form larger ones. Local search engines and directories are the building blocks of Google, Yahoo, MSN, Alta Vista and others that consumers search regularly. Having us submit your company profile to each of the smaller entities will help you attain a better organic ranking with the larger ones.
We hope this section provides you more information on what, exactly, is Search Engine Optimization; how we apply various search engine marketing techniques; and the benefits of these various techniques. Taken as a whole, they represent a very powerful way to dramatically increase your visibility online