Picture it now, you just came up with the next
million-dollar idea and everyone you know thinks it could be the next Facebook.
The problem is you only know so many people. You may have created a website
that could make you millions yet no one may ever know about it. You cannot just
throw another link out there and hope it gets noticed amongst the billions of
Internet searches. There is more to having a great website than just creating
it. If you are thinking about building your brand online there are things you
should know or your website may never go anywhere.
What if I told you your site may never go noticed without
SEO research. Do you even know what SEO stands for? Michael Sansone makes a
living by utilizing the Internet to do SEO research. What is SEO? It stands for
search engine optimization which is research done to maximize the amount of
interaction to your website. Look at it this way, normally when you search
something on Google and the results come up you click on the first site you
see. When do you even ever bother going on to the second page of results? Almost
never. So if you have a site out there, the best chances of viewers clicking on
your site is if it is on the first page of results and even better on the top
of the list. Michael will help you find your way to the top of that list.
Without Michael, your site is useless and very few people may never find your
page even if you have the exact products they are interested in purchasing.
Typically, when you picture working online, you see a lazy
man who works from his couch at home with a mouse in one hand and a handful of
chips in the other. Michael is not this person.
He is constantly busy and extremely enthusiastic about his work.
About two years ago Michael took a
job at Worx Branding and Advertising
in Prospect, CT. He took this job
because like SEO research, this small business has made a name for itself in
the past years by winning multiple awards for their services. As you walk
around the building almost every orange painted wall is covered with framed
awards. Of course these designers are all about being artsy to the point where
their awards are hung in no set order. It just looks like a collage of plaques.
That’s the thing about this company they’re not all about the awards they’re
more set on what they will do for the future and their clients. To them, the
dozens of awards aren’t to show off they just merely use them to make yet
another piece of art much like the work the graphic designers do for the
websites they build. The employees at Worx make a great team, but Michael’s
assistance has really been that missing link that Worx Branding needed. All of
there websites are professionally built and Michael is the one that gets your
eyes to the page.
A day at work for Michael consists
of arriving before everyone and staying latter than most. By the time rush hour
hits, everyone wants to leave to beat traffic, but not Mike. Because his work
is done online, he sometimes even takes his work home with him to get ahead.
So if Michael can do it from the
comforts of his own home, why can’t a college student find work online? Sure
he’s been in the business ever since websites were invented and has lots of
connections but how hard can it be? College students especially first year
students like myself, are afraid to venture out of the dorm. With the Internet,
not having a car to drive to work should not be an excuse.
Starting a business and attending
school might be too much to handle at the same time. Michael is a businessman
when it comes to his work, so we have to realize what it is that we intend to
use SEO research for, whether it be on the macro or micro level. If you are
like myself and are just trying to simply get your blog noticed, SEO research could
still apply so through out the interview take this important information and
apply it however you feel is necessary.
So why am I interviewing Mr.
Sansone? Because Michael started developing websites with his father as early
as 1995. He had his own website even before big name companies like Disney and
ESPN. His site is no longer up with the advancements over the years. A website
back then would be nothing like it is today. The Internet is still fairly new
and Michael has been with it since the beginning, so he has seen where it has
been and where it is going.
As for how Michael became a pro at
SEO, he learned straight from the geniuses at IBM located in his home state of Connecticut.
There are not many people out there
with Michael’s expertise so if you can figure out what it takes to generate
viewers to a website, it may just be what puts your site ahead of the rest.
Making a website to generate money
is not just going to happen over night. Michael knows all about getting
yourself noticed on the Internet. In this conversation he will explain how.
Q: Were you using SEO research back when you first started
your online website?
A: That came later.
Back then there were no search engines it was all directory based. You
would have to register you business online like you would with yellow pages
under your one specific category.
Q: So basically, you could only be found under one specific
address like in a phone book?
A: correct.
Q: When the SEO research did come into play what was it that
originally got you interested?
A: We realized quickly that clients were putting the time
and effort into building these websites but they were useless if they could not
direct people to their websites. Google was released and there was a firm
called Overture who worked with Yahoo. They were the one company that focused
on directing traffic to sites ads, and placement of your URL. We got involved
early on because our clients were very progressive with the Internet. Two of
our clients were Titleist and Footjoy and they were using banner ads by
sponsorships. Titlist for example would be a sponsor on the ESPN golf page.
Q: Did Google get their ideas from the linking strategies of
Overture?
A: Google filled the need of, there’s so much out there, how
do we find it? Overture and Yahoo were more focused on the link building
strategy.
Q: So then Google became dominant because of the ability to
track and search keyword terms.
A: When Google came out with their algorithms they would try
and match up what people have been searching with all of this website data they
had stored and compiled. If you are typing something in and are say, all right
where can I find this in the context of all of these individual websites and
pages. So people were saying oh, wait a minute now what do I have to do in
order to optimize my site? There were a couple of guy who were actually
figuring this out from IBM located in Farmington Connecticut and I actually got
hooked up with one of them. The man even wrote a textbook on search engine
optimization.
Q: Wow, what was this mans name?
A: His name is Bill Hunt. Coming from IBM he worked with me
on some of these SEO techniques and after working with Overture and Double Click
on just the banner ads I said holy cow, I see where this is going to go.
Q: Basically you started right when SEO research first came
out. So I am guessing you worked with a lot of websites that were not yet
popular on the web. How does someone get there site noticed like say even me
for instance who just started a blog site?
A: The process that I was taught starts with identifying the
various search terms that people would use to find your products and services.
Then you have to find a keyword list that fits your company.
Q: After you have your keyword list how does that work? Do
you then take all of the keywords and embed them in text?
A: You start with this big long laundry list of keywords and
then you do what I call a three-point check. Number one is, does the keyword
promote or describe the business? Then number two is, are their people
searching on that term? Check number three would be, how it shows up when you
search on that term?
Q: Oh, when you say who shows up you mean your competitors
on Google?
A: Right, so say you search business furniture, do we belong
in that search category or is what is showing up a bunch of bedroom furniture
stores? Once all the keyword passes all three checks then that is a word you
want incorporated with your website.
Q: Now with this list that you’ve created you would send it
to Google or do you manage that yourself?
A: No, we take that list and then we begin to collect them
and I determine were they belong page by page with the website sitemap. If
someone searches one of these keyword terms the goal is not to directly take
them to the homepage but to the page within the website that matches their
search query.
Q: Now, focusing on this blog, I am creating a blog that is typically
its own homepage and that is about it. Would I have to create multiple blogs
and link them together to do something like you just explained to build up
these directories and get more site trafficking?
A: Exactly, lets say you are righting a blog about youth
sports. What you don’t want to do all in that one blog is write about multiple
sports. Because now it confuses the search engines. To me, the recommended
method that I was shown is write the blog much more specific to the individual
sport and maybe even something like coaching.
Q: So do you then link them all back to one main blog or do
they all have the same URL? Is that how they are connected?
A: Good question. They should all link back because Google
likes when you use multiple links. Links coming in and links going out of your
website also makes the site more visible. Is the content clear, concise, and structured?
Google then looks to see how many critical links are coming in and out of the
site to determine if this is a big or little site.
Q: If I am posting daily and bringing in outside information
into my site by accrediting others with links that will build more notice with
Google?
A: Absolutely,
Q: Then the more I post the better?
A: Right, there was a saying “likes are the new links.”
Google recognizes this and even followers as well will boost your site. For
example Google is saying, if Justin Klanica’s Blog has more critical mass then
Mike Sansone’s blog then it should be ranked higher. Then to structure your
blog lets say you have a broad URL like Justin Klanica and you add slash youth
sports then slash baseball.
Q: So, after every backslash you are then adding another
page that links to you original page?
A: Correct, Google sees these like categories or like
chapters in a book. If you do this Google has a better understanding of what
your website is which adds to the critical mass of your site.
Q: So with search terms and keywords the more specific the
better?
A: Right, that is what Google wants you to do because there
are so many searches done on common words like baseball.
Q: Now we have a good understanding on how to get noticed
online. As a college student how is it
that someone like myself can make money online and do you use any online sites
to generate your own personal profit in your free time?
A: At one point in time, I used an online service called
E-commerce. When we got great search visibility to the site it then becomes the
typical business. Which then comes down to, do you have a better product and is
it priced better? Even as big of a difference SEO research makes it still comes
down to quality and pricing of your products. Now for college students, in
order to find a way to become noticed is all in the content. You need to come
up with some idea that is unique and specific yet powerful so that it will move
up on the listings on a Google search. If you can generate enough clicks to
your site then you can run ads on your site. Another site I saw was Teachers
pay Teachers.com.
Q: My Father was telling me a little about this how does it
work?
A: This is where teachers pay for good content in which they
can then teach their class with. Content is king.
Q: I agree, now it is just up to me to expand on the content
of my blog. Thanks Michael. I would like to leave you with one last question. Do
you see SEO research still being a necessary tool for businesses in the future?
A: I do, I think like all technology, it’s going to change.
You’re always climbing the technology ladder. But getting yourself visible and
being seen is always going to be relevant.
