1. The vast majority of clicks are going to bounce instantly.  Whether this is because these people are Digg addicts who open everything in a category or that you’re just not offering what they think they want, this is a hard fact.  With a toolbar at the top of your site that gives them access to the next shiny thing on the internet, you’re having to struggle with a short attention span and an urge to see what else is out there.
2. Short, on-message videos or funny pictures, charts, and graphs seem to work best.  Your 50-page PDF about office organizational systems is not what they’re looking for, but a comic strip about someone’s travails in their new office environment might be.
3. It’s completely possible for your site to get 50,000 or more visitors from Digg and not see a single conversion or even a click on an ad.  Unless you’re selling a cheap item that’s relevant to their interest like ThinkGeek or offering an mp3 or the like that they can download and enjoy instantly, the siren song of the toolbar and the “next” button is likely to be stronger than your own call to action.

Social media can drive traffic to your site and build brand impressions, but in an increasingly noisy space where thousands of companies just like yours are competing using the same methods, it takes a savvy mind to be able to profit from that traffic.

What are the three things that people are looking for when they’re visiting your brick and mortar operation’s website?

1. Your Address. They want to know where you are so they can come there and give you money.
2. Your Hours of Operation. They want to know when they can come to your business and give you money.
3. Your Phone Number. They want to be able to call you and get answers that may allow them to give you money or make reservations to give you money.

If these are not immediately viewable above the fold on your front page, then you’re going to lose business.

What are people not looking for when they visit your brick and mortar operation’s website?

1. Fancy splash screens. If they want to watch cartoons, there’s a whole network dedicated to them.
2. Music, unless you are a music store. Are you selling music? No? Then there should be no music on your website. If you are selling music, then make it optional.
3. PDFs. Restaurants, I’m talking to you and your menus. If you’re that worried about the formatting, offer it as an option, but there’s no reason I should have to fire up Adobe Reader to check to see if you’re offering clam chowder.
4. A link going to your MySpace page instead of any actual content. That this happens in 2009 when there’s any number of high-quality, free content management systems is galling.

Should your site be well-designed?  Of course.  Should it reflect your business’s overall aesthetic?  Undoubtably. Should your site make people work to get to the three things they want?  No.

When you make the effort to arrange the data on any given page to be as pleasing and accessible to the average reader as possible, Google and other search engines pay attention. These four tips can be implemented on almost every website to improve their rankings and increase the amount of time visitors spend engaging your site and your message.

On-Page SEO Core Principle #1: Use Proper Headers

When you’re writing a lot of copy, it’s tempting to be cute. While “We’re Number One!” states how you feel about your product, your customers are likely scanning the page, looking for keywords. “Red Widgets Are Our Specialty” includes the keyword (at the beginning, natch) and makes a statement about the company in the same line. I’m also fond of using the Question/Answer format: “Why buy red widgets from WidgetCo?” with a beefy answer that includes keywords, links to relevant pages, etc.

On-Page SEO Core Principle #2: Real People Read Your Site

Unless you’re working in a highly competitive field, keyword stuffing will only hurt your ranking and drive readers from your page. Focus on using one or two keywords per page wisely. To get an idea of what I’m talking about, take a look at these two examples:

Red Widget Specials At Your Red Widgets Source

Get red widget information from WidgetCo, the source for red widgets and red widget accessories today! We’ve helped thousands of businesses looking for red widgets find the red widgets they need with low red widget prices and special red widget deals. Buy red widgets from us and get the best red widgets in the industry today!

versus this:

WidgetCo: Your Source For Red Widgets

Red Widgets have been a core part of WidgetCo’s business for the last three decades and with over two million happy customers, it’s easy to see why. While other widget manufacturers have moved into other fields, red widgets are our specialty and we work hard to ensure that each product we deliver meets our clients’ exacting standards. Still not convinced about our red widgets? Take a look at the red widget reviews we’ve received over the years. We offer special pricing on volume orders and our red widget accessories are the best in the business.

The first may have a high keyword density that meets the old-guard ideas of what SEO looks like, but it’s the second one that makes a better on both the search engines and the people who visit your site.

On-Page SEO Core Principle #3: Link Wisely

The second example above shows how linking should be used on any website: make it keyword-relevant whenever possible. Not only does it tell the search engines that “red widget accessories” are located at www.widgetco.com/accessories/red-widget/, but it gives readers a visual clue of what to expect when they click on a link, much more than using “Click Here.” You should also look at the NOFOLLOW tag and how you can ensure that an individual page’s rank is used properly. For example, if you’re required to have a Terms and Conditions of Site Usage document linked on every page, the NOFOLLOW tag could be used to make sure that your high-value page’s “link juice” is being passed to the proper pages on your site. In addition to this sort of link-sculpting, many high-profile websites automatically add NOFOLLOW to any links that are added by users in areas such as blog comments, which prevents spammers from getting using your site to further their agendas.

On-Page SEO Core Principle #4: Meet A Minimum Word Count

If you can’t generate at least four hundred words of good, readable copy on some aspect of your business and its attendant keywords, then it doesn’t deserve its own page and can be folded into another. Search engines (and visitors) love content and if it’s properly formatted (see the above comments about headers), it’s easy for both to scan and identify the relevant content on the page for their needs. One of the reasons that Wikipedia pages so frequently appear on the top of search results for any given keyword is that they are very text heavy.

Using Wikipedia as an further example, if one sets aside there’s also the huge amount of trust given to the domain by the search engines, and the sheer volume of inbound links, most Wikipedia pages provide a good example of how to format your material for visitors. The next time you’re looking at that Gossip Girl entry, take note of the page structure and how easy it is to understand and follow.

Huh.

While Alterations By Sofia is a tailor in Los Angeles who definitely gets a lot more female clientele than men, she does accept tailoring jobs from male clients as well, me included. Ever since this tailor in Los Angeles was able to make me a suit that I actually liked, I was hooked. Now, I don’t go to other tailors. When I have tailoring needs, I go to them because I know they will make a suit in the exact specifications that I need.

…show how little he understands about how important the human element is when it comes to search and on-site copy.  When composing for the web, keep keywords in mind, but this sort of density does nothing but turn off your potential customers.

If you live in any of the counties associated with the Third District, please take the time to look at his website and review his platforms and positions.