According to Matt Cutts, leader of the anti-web spam team at Google, there are well over 100 factors that affect search engine ranking. But, as I can tell you, there are just a handful of factors which have the strongest impact on rankings. Most of those you have control over as webmaster. Allow me to give you some solid direction.

1) Every web page should have a descriptive Title Tag and Meta Description which must be unique. This will help prevent duplicate content which can slowly kill you in Google. Most webmasters think duplicate content comes OUTSIDE of their domain from articles and content being replicated on other domains. No. It mainly comes from internal pages and Google’s PERCEPTION of duplicate pages, which mostly comes from … duplicate Title tags.

2) Make good use of H1 and H2 tags (heading tags) to use for your Headlines and Sub-Headlines. Keyword phrases can be used here, but you are better off focusing on effective headings like an ad.

3) If you have a dynamic site, make sure you are using Mod_Rewrite in order to feed search engine friendly URLs to the browser so Google doesn’t “choke” on your database code.

4) If you are using Session IDs (SIDs) make sure you shut off SIDs if GoogleBot is detected. This way you won’t give Google the same page over and over again causing endless spider traps.

5) Use hyphens instead of underscores in your filenames. This will allow for you to get a slight advantage over your competitors.

6) If you have a Google Webmaster account, and an XML Sitemap, you don’t need to worry about having a “shallow” site structure, you can go as deep as you wish knowing that the sitemap will allow all of your pages to be crawled.

7) Don’t link to bad neighborhoods – you know who they are.

Start a blog, or POST to your blog 2-4 times per week. Just make sure you include Google in your pinging list.

9) Target keyword phrases that currently sell on your site. If you don’t know – find out.

10) Get more tips and help from Jerry West’s Free Webmaster Tip Sheet.

Over at Webmaster World there is a discussion regarding using a dictionary and thesaurus for keyword research. Thus, no need for a computer since those two books are available at any public library.

The point is that many keywords can be discovered that would otherwise be “missed”. An example is the origin of the word, which can be used to further expand the list. While these seems like a good idea, I feel what you will end up getting is an unmanageable list pretty quickly. Using those two books would be better served in helping generate words to use in the copy on the page, instead of generating keywords.

The bottom line is, if you spend hours researching new keywords, you still have to create the content, the offer, the points of difference. And if you create a “monster list” how long is it going to take you to create all the pages for effective conversion? Exactly. Personally, I think we spend too much time in analysis and not enough time actually doing the marketing.

And, the more obvious issue, is just because you find some really cool words in the dictionary related to your product doesn’t actually mean:

a) prospects are using those terms to search;
b) those are do use the terms, actually buy your product.

This isn’t about getting top ranking in the search engines. This is about getting qualified traffic and making sales. You also have to get a positive ROI in the time that you spend. You can literally waste your life away finding keywords where one person will buy a month. I feel that is a big waste of time.

While I have not verified any of this information (as I never used the product that is referenced here), the point isn’t that the story is true or not, but that trust must be deep and you must be sharp.

While attending Webmaster World in Las Vegas in 2006 I finally got to speak uninterrupted to a top affiliate that I had been chasing down the last few years. He shared something that he did, that while extremely unethical, is a strong reminder that trust goes beyond your words. It is verifying the information you are given.

He is an affiliate, a good one. He markets a product that is highly competitive. He wouldn’t tell me which product but that it was on the same level as Viagra in terms of payout and competition.

There was a software application which I will refer to as “PRODUCT A”. Now, “PRODUCT A” was real good at generating a massive number of web pages, including AdSense code, and getting the pages spidered by Google. The result? Lots of five figure AdSense checks for nearly any webmaster who used the software correctly.

Google’s response?

They systematically banned any site using the system (due to a “footprint” code left by PRODUCT A on every page it generated). Because of this sweeping ban, the affiliate and his partners had an idea.

They set up multiple “dummy” SEO companies around the country. Ordered cell phones in the local area and put up web sites.
They then contacted their main competitors and posed as “SEOs” and offered to do SEO on the unsuspecting owner’s site without a setup cost, just a piece of the increase in sales. They shared their research of the market, dazzled them with
analysis, and gained trust by showing areas in the market that had not been exploited. Each major competitor signed on, and
gave them full FTP access.

No background check. No verification on how long they had been in business. No reference check. Nothing.

What did they do with their new found trust? They went into each site and uploaded the “footprint” code from PRODUCT A into
the main pages. It took about a month or so, and one by one, each competitor’s entire site was de-indexed and banned by
Google. As soon as the first site dropped, they shut down their fictitious websites, cancelled the cell phones and just
disappeared.

The result? Even a year after this was done, the competitor’s sites are still banned and the “offenders” are enjoying top listings for their major keyword phrases. The competitors are regulated to using AdWords, and spending thousands per day to keep their businesses running.

His reaction? No remorse. And lots of gloating.

Don’t let this happen to you or your client.

Right now, sit down and make a list of everyone who has FTP access to your servers. Who inside your company and who
outside? Write them down. All of them. If there are individuals that you question their trust, you might be best served restricting their access. State there has been an “elevated threat level” on the server … hey, it works at the airport. If you are the owner of your business, your first responsibility is to the data to ensure it is safe. If your business counts on Google for the bulk of your traffic, you better have full trust of all the people who have access to your server. You don’t want to suffer the fate of those companies mentioned above.

If you do SEO work for clients, call them one by one, and ask them the same. This would also be a good time to remind them of
the business relationship that you have together, the trust, the bond, etc. Thank them for their business and their trust and reemphasize that you will never violate that sacred trust because you value their business. Make an appointment to discuss with them their goals for the next six months so you can make sure the SEO strategy that was put into place months or years ago can fulfill those goals.

Here are other areas you can hit to ensure you are meeting your client’s expectations. If you don’t take clients, look to see if you are meeting these areas too.

Do you prefer to work with Organic Search or Paid Search?

With the massive changes in the way that the SERPs are displayed, if you are an “organic only” shop and you service clients, you could be out of business in the near future. With more paid search results displaying at the top of the results, local results and Google Desktop results, is forcing the organic listings further down the page. Because of this, the demand for top organic listings is dropping quickly based on survey results.

So, ensure that you are offering both services, as doing paid search is really an extension of organic search. Remember, if you have a #1 ranking in the organic listings, it is still a smart plan to also have a listing in the paid results area. Even if the client resists, the test results that I have show that a top listing in the organic area as well as the paid area increases the click through rate AND the conversion rate. The reason is that the “recognizability” of the domain is heightened and trust is built before they even getting to your site. The thought is, “Wow, this company is here multiple times, they must be good.”

Bam. Click and conversion.

Both Google and Yahoo! offer services to “certify” you in their Paid Search programs, which will greatly enhance your trust with your current clients and prospects. Get them.

How extensively do you sharpen your skills as a keyword researcher?

Many SEOs have lost their ability to focus on the RIGHT keyword phrases for their client’s campaigns. Do you first test your
keywords in PPC to ensure they will convert before starting that big organic campaign? If you don’t, you could end up with
a #1 ranking for a keyword that doesn’t convert. The happiness your client has will be short-lived with a worthless #1 listing
when they ask why no one is buying their product.

Focus on the keywords that will drive buyers, not just traffic. You can ask your client what they would prefer: a ton of traffic with a few sales, or average traffic and a lot of sales. It is clear what they want. Make that cash register ring and you will be the “Rainmaker” for your client.

The best way to do this is to spend time each week expanding your skills as a keyword researcher. Scrape the keywords from
competitors, analyze them, use new tools, use old tools in new ways, etc. Shake things up and expand your knowledge. Do you
see a trend here? Most “seasoned” SEOs are “stuck in a rut” when it comes to keyword research and they miss the best
keywords because of it. Don’t let this happen to you.

Do you track conversions at the keyword level?

It is said that 50% of all advertising is wasted. The trouble is, you don’t know which 50% it was. That is until now. With PPC, you can know that information, you just have to track at the keyword level. All that means is inserting a tracking code on the order page, so you know exactly which keywords are driving sales. Knowing this allows you to make key changes to the PPC / organic campaigns or to the landing pages themselves.

For example, if a keyword phrase gets 500 clicks a day, but is only producing 2 sales, that is a keyword that should be dropped. Conversely, a keyword that gets 70 clicks a day and also produces 2 sales is one that should have its campaign aggressively increased. By getting rid of the under performers and pushing hard on the converting keywords, your overall spend may be the same, but your conversions could go up as much as 50%. And that is something your client will smile over.

If your client tells you that their current eCommerce solution does not have the ability to track at the keyword level, tell them they need a new solution or get on the phone with their provider and tell them what they need and why. There is no reason that you can’t track at the keyword level. By not doing this your marketing campaign is just guess work, and that isn’t a smart way to do business.

How are you measuring results?

If you are measuring results based on ranking, you are living in the dark ages. Results are unique visits, returning visits, page views, and sales. Period. These are the results that your client wants to see. Change your approach to one that they can
understand, and they will thank you for it. Here is an example:

“Anna, let me go over the figures for your site last month. Your unique visits increased 13% over the previous month due to
better overall rankings that we achieved for you in Google thanks to those links I suggested that you buy. Your returning
visits increased 27% in part to the autoresponder we helped you install … and your sales increased by 12% over last month
based on our marketing plan and the great job of your staff. Keep it up and we expect more of the same next month.”

Each section you discuss the increase or decrease and the reason for it. If it increases, usually the plan is “stick with what we are doing” whereas if it goes down, state what you propose, and make it clear and easy to understand with any additional costs discussed and agreed to. If there are two options, have them printed on paper – one per page with large type and an action plan for each and let them choose. Honestly, they will love this approach over the “keyword rank report” (which you can still supply if you wish), but you review the real numbers. The numbers that matter to them which is usually the difference between profit and loss. And they will smile each month when they write you your maintenance check.

Do you offer copy writing services?

Good PPC campaigns need good copy writing. I bet there is an English major waiting tables in some local coffee shop that would love to have a job as a writer. Not everyone is a good copywriter, but you never know where you will find the next great writer. A good copywriter is invaluable and your client will love it if you offer this service, but don’t try and do it on your own. Your other parts of your business will greatly suffer.

How much are you focused on link building that matters?

Are you after quantity or quality? Are the links you are getting driving traffic? Are you not focused on paid links because you are nervous about the “Wrath of Google”? Be smart and be focused. Look at the recent article back in January on the new linking strategy and make it a point to focus traffic to your client’s site with links and take PageRank increases as “frosting” on the cake.

Seriously, here is a wake-up call.

SEO has become a game of adding content and getting links. Master the rate, quality and quantity in your industry and your
job will be a breeze. In this rapidly changing industry of Search Engine Optimization, it is the shops that offer full-service to their
clients that seem to be growing, while the “specialized” shops are shrinking.

Focus on Trust. Focus on the Relationship.

Fire the clients who don’t measure up. Raise the bar for clients you will take. And watch your revenues climb while your
stress plummets.

Trust Yourself. Trust Your Judgment. But Change Your Passwords.