Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the ability to get your website ranked higher on the major search engines, which provides fantasic benefits for brand awareness and "free" clicks to your website.

At SPH Associates, we employ a 9-Step process that is designed to help you achieve higher natural or organic rankings on Google, Yahoo and MSN's search engines.

Our exclusive 9-Step process for SEO ensures that your analysis is thorough and comprehensive, with recommendations tailored to your company and designed for your success.

SEO is not automatic; it takes a deep understanding of the algrorithms and business rules for each search engine. And it requires continual updates and enhancements because, in many cases, your competitors are not standing still. Therefore we recommend the monthly engagement to continuously improve the rankings of your site.

In addition, the search channels will occasionally change the rules – and when they do, we are prepared to make recommendations based on the new playing field. Our 9-Step process is valid for Google, Yahoo and MSN, which are the primary “organic” search feeders for most other platforms (ie CNN, AOL etc). The following provides details on our exclusive 9-step process.

Step 1: Identify the web pages for SEO: Our exclusive SEO process ensures that we identify and optimize the most important pages on your web property. For instance, we will recommend specific pages for initial optimization:

Main Page:
http://www.main.com/default.asp

Sub-Page 1:
http://www.main.com/subpage1/contact.asp

...and so on

Step 2: Identify the main and alternate keywords for each web page: Identifying the right keyword that will drive results is critical for successful SEO. Our findings show that in many cases, a phrase is better than single word, especially in an online competitive situation. Our recommendation includes up to 100 keywords and up to two Title & Descriptions suitable for Google & Overture.

Step 3: Interim Client Approval: Review the webpage’s and keywords with you to obtain agreement or make adjustments before beginning the actual SEO analysis and recommendations.

Step 4: Baseline Reporting: Generate a baseline report for each agreed upon webpage and primary & secondary keywords. The baseline, as the name implies, gives us an indication of where your pages are ranked on the leading search engines, and will be used to track results. We will provide the baseline report within the recommendation document, which is the main SEO deliverable for this agreement.

Step 5: Critical element analysis: We provide a deep analysis on the key elements that, when adjusted & enhanced, leads to an overall SEO success. We will analyze and report to you on the following attributes, for each agreed upon web page:

• Content Density:
• Copywriting:
• Word Count:
• HTML Best Practices:
• Page Layout & Architecture:
• Coding best practices for SEO:
• Link Analysis:
• Popularity: Relevance:
• Other SEO Techniques:
• Affiliate Marketing:
• Blogs:
• Linking strategy:

Step 6: Recommendations: Leveraging the analysis performed in Step 5, we create a comprehensive document that addresses specific changes and additions for your site. In many cases we include sample copy and the exact HTML code, suitable for cut & paste by your programming team. Further, we will explain in detail each of these attributes and include industry standards that lead to overall SEO success. We will review this document with you in detail and address any questions.

Step 7: Programming: This is your step, your commitment to the process; the actual implementation of our detailed recommendations. If you do not have a programmer, we can arrange for highly qualified resources, quoted separate.

Once you have made all the changes, we will run an audit to verify that the recommendation was implemented correctly and identify any changes, if any.

Step 8: Submission to Search Engines: Although search channels regularly spider new & existing pages, we recommend submitting pages to the key channels. We will, as part of the recommendation, identify the key search channels where we should submit your webpage’s, and any fee associated with each. The submission fee will be charged and paid for separately before the actual submission. Submission to Google and MSN are currently free of charge.

Step 9: Monitoring and Adjusting: SEO takes patience and continuous monitoring and adjusting to achieve success – more so in a highly competitive keyword segment. As part of the monthly engagement fee, we will provide twice monthly reporting and adjustment recommendations for each of the originally agreed upon web pages. The reporting is compared to the baseline (or previous month’s results) to identify trends and help guide additional adjustments. Updating and enhancing copy is one particular area of focus, as fresh content benefits SEO. Twice monthly we will produce a report comparing the results from previous periods, by webpage & keyword – along with recommendations for adjustments.

Contact us to receive a free online marketing assessment and learn more about the possibilities for your company.

Leverage the Power of Search Engine Optimization.