Search Engine Optimization: The importance of SEO results for companies

Stephanie Mueller

JOUR 593

April 27, 2015

Abstract:

Search Engine Optimization is a complex concept that helps better

develop leads for companies through online searching tools. Search Engine

Optimization is used in digital marketing methods to better optimize websites for

companies. Companies can employ SEO specialists to gain new leads though

online searching. Or they can figure out the basics themselves. Understanding

how to utilize SEO keywords can help companies create a positive online

presence and more awareness in the industry.

Creating a content analysis based on the Tastefully Simple brand, one can

determine the importance of paid search and organic search. The research will

answer whether Tastefully Simple needs to invest in more paid searches, or if the

search ranks high by organic searches.

Introduction:

In todays business world, Internet marketing is becoming one of the most

used ways to create leads. Search engine optimization (SEO) is only part of

Internet marketing, but by understanding it, will help guide organizations to better

strategize and utilize the other parts of Internet marketing.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a tool in Internet marketing. When

one searches on the Internet using keywords, websites populate in a ranking

ordered based on the relevance of the keyword. The searches are done by a

consumer in a search engine such as Google, Yahoo!, or Bing. The searches are

navigational, transactional, or informational.

 Searches are not the only thing creating SEO. Organizations need to keep

their social media, websites, and blogs up to date in order to gain higher ranks

organically and create website traffic.

Search engines uses keywords and website configurations to create the

ranks. Keywords are an important element of search engine optimization.

Keywords need to be understood in the clients eyes in order to gain better SEO

for an organization. If the company specializes in recruitment in Pittsburgh, when

one searches that phrase the company would want to be within the first three

spots on the search.

SEO has come a long way since the 1990s and the development of the

World Wide Web. The beginning of websites created databases to search for a

specific topic or website using the organizations homepage URL. This did not

allow any keyword optimization since it was only the homepage indexed on the

database. PageRank and the Pay by Click model were soon introduced to a new

way to search for websites. It was the beginning of search engine optimization.

Since the beginning, SEO has been about ranks of keywords. A search

engine robot can determine the relevance of the search through the keywords.

Search engines allow organizations to create organic or paid results.

Organic search research is promising, however, for smaller companies not

always the answer. Organizations can easily get lost under the larger brands

that may overpower the market. Another option for SEO is paying for it.
 Pay per click (PPC) model began in the late 1990s. The PPC allows

organizations to pay when a client clicks on the website link. Google Adwords is

an example of PPC.

It is optimal for organizations to use both paid and organic searches in the

SEO strategy. The combination of the two will allow for high-ranking positive

outcomes. There are many tools that allows users to track website traffic, PPC

campaigns, and bounce rates. Analyzing and tracking these will help build a

strong search engine optimization campaign.

This paper outlines the importance of SEO. The purpose of this paper is

to better understand how keywords affect a brand search. By understanding

keywords in searches and websites, marketers will be able to determine the best

keywords to maximize search engine results.

Literature Review

Research suggests there is many different ways to understand SEO and

gain more brand awareness. Keywords and HTML design are two of the most

important units to create high rankings.

The literature review identifies practices for businesses to gain the ranks

in search engines. The literature offered for SEO elaborates on the types of

search: keywords, search engine marketing, and how to position a brand on

SEO.

Keywords

A keyword is a word used in a search engine to gain relevant websites

based on that word. Keywords can be generic or branded, such as food or

Kraft. Keywords are placed in webpages to gain higher rankings for search

engines.

Keywords are the essence of the search engine. By using a combination

of different keywords, the results of leads and sales from an organizations

website can vary. A study completed by Weidman examined the demographics

of individuals to see the effectiveness of different keywords. The relationships

determined that age, race, and location have a strong effect on the types of

keywords people use. However, looking at the gender there was less of a

difference.

Marketers are aware of their audience. By taking in consideration the

location, age, and race of the brands audience, it may create different keywords.

The same website could have a different tag or headline in one part of the world

than another just to pull better in the SEO results due to this knowledge.

Websites

Search Engine Optimization starts at the website. Website design is very

important for an organic search result. Search engine robots cannot comprehend

like humans. The robots only scan for the important keywords that relate to the

businesses to create SEO. There are twelve steps to make a website more SEO

friendly.

1) Permalink dont use penguin.com/eroughelfdierwou. Use a link

with meaning such as penguin.com/matingforlife. The URL:

needs to be short and keyword rich. Google says the first 3-5

words in a URL are the most important.

2) Start with a title with a keyword. Someone is searching for

penguins mating use the title: Penguins: Why they mate for life.

3) Content is important and not just text. By adding graphic and

videos with proper tags in the html, the content can enrich the

SEO ranking.

4) Outbound links help with the ranking! Having links to other

experts or information will encourage Google to boast the

website.

5) Keywords should be in the first 100- 150 words of the first article.

It helps emphasize the information on the website creating better

SEO.

6) HTML code is just as important as the words people read on the

website. Understanding to use an H1 headline (the highest level

of headlines in HTML coding) for the title is important to gain

ranks.

7) Slow pages = no leads. Make sure the page is quick on the load

so people do not get annoyed and leave the page before it

opens.

8) Modifiers to the title create a stronger pull.

9) Social sharing buttons help people spread the word about the

information and in turn boast your rankings.

10) Length is strength: longer content gets better hits.

 11) Avoid bounce rates (able to track by Google Analytics) by

creating intriguing content and information the user wants.

12) Use LSI Keywords, which are words that are related to the topic.

If one searches for a certain topic, other searches come up at

the bottom that says, search related to ___ thats the keywords

one needs to pay attention to and add to the website. (Dean,

2014)

These steps will help the search engine robots discover the website

easier, leading to a positive search result.

Searches

There are two different searches to create positive SEO. An organic

search is created based on the popularity of the keywords used. A paid search is

an advertisement paid by the brand to populate when a certain keyword is

search.

Keyword advertising works as follows. When a searcher enters a query

into a search engine, all or part of the query may trigger the display of one

or more ads on the search engine results page (SERP). If the searcher

clicks on an ad, a page from the advertisers website (known as the

landing page) is displayed. The advertiser is then charged by the search

engine (i.e., pay per click). (Russo, 2010)

Keyword searching is changing the way of search engine marketing and

optimization. Organic searching will never go away; however pay-per-click

advertising is becoming increasingly popular amongst brands.

 According to Branding Potentials of Keyword Search Ads: The Effects

of Ad Rankings on Brand Recognition and Evaluations, in 2011, advertisers

spent $12.4 billion (or 39% of total online ad spending) to achieve branding-

based objectives (eMarkerter 2012).

In 2004, Google decided to create trademarks as searchable keywords.

Brands were concerned with the outcomes, such as competitors buying ad space

for the keyword. A study completed by David Hyman proved the brands to be

incorrect. By using the International Trademark Association list of trademarks,

Hyman and his team examined over 2,400 unique trademarks in the three major

search engines: Bing, Google, and Yahoo. The results stated that 48% of

trademarks were not paid or sponsored on Bing, 29% on Google, and 15% on

Yahoo. Given these facts, the only concern would really be Yahoo for trademark

advertising.

Sales are the number one goal for any company trying to gain leads

through SEO or digital marketing in general. It is important for marketing

specialists to understand how to utilize keywords properly to gain a sale.

Advertising dollars are a valuable part of a companys budget in order to

be successful. If the company is buying promoted searches or sponsored links

through Google AdWords, money must be made.

By looking at the study: Differential Effects of Keyword Selection

in Search Engine Advertising on Direct and Indirect Sales by Xianghua Lu and

Xia Zhao, the influence of keywords can be determined. According to the study,
main products use specific keywords to generate more indirect sales where

accessory products use general keywords on indirect sales.

Marketers should be determining the type of sale (direct or indirect) the

product wants to have. Then determine which keywords to use in order for that

product or item to sell. Being able to position the brand correctly on a search

engine will also create sales.

According to the study done by Wenyu Dou, search engine results can

serve as a meaningful vehicle for creating brand positioning in the e-commerce

world (Dou, 2010). The study created two experiments of search result analysis.

In the experiments it is noted that depending on the Internet users level of

search ability affected the way the user thought the search ranking should be.

Novice Internet users generally pick the top search item, thinking its the

best offered. However, Google does not rank best offer or most amenities, only

by keyword searched, there for the top brand may not be the best brand or could

be an unknown brand. More experienced Internet users look at the searches and

determine by feature and brand which one to click.

Overall, based on the information provided through the studies, the

importance of understanding the Internet audience to gain top-ranking results on

an organizations webpage is very important.

Research Questions

Research will be conducted to continue to study how to optimize search

engine keywords through categories, regions, and paid vs. organic searches.
The results will help marketers understand which SEO keywords are successful

organically and which searches could benefit from promoted searches.

R1) How does keywords relate to a brand or product?

R2) Are generic keywords able to produce search results for specific

brands?

R3) How does the keywords in the website affect searches?

A content analysis will be completed based on the brand: Tastefully

Simple. By using the Google search trends from Jan. 2014 to March 2015 shows

the popular queries and regions of those keywords. A Google search was

conducted to find the highest organic ranked website based on each keyword.

The content analysis will be conducted on the websites HTML code to discover

the keyword optimization.

The keywords were decided upon the balance between the branded

keywords versus the generic. Internet users search different keywords to find the

same item. The keyword an Internet user selects usually depends on how well

they know the brand or product.

Research Design

As research suggests keywords are important factors of SEO. By having

strong keywords that relate to the brand and product, it shows strong SEO. A

content analysis was completed based on the brand: Tastefully Simple. The

analysis used the Google search trends function. The trends are set from Jan

2013 until March 2014 to review the keywords. The purpose of the analysis is to
determine if all keywords lead back to Tastefully Simple, or if some need

promoted/ rebranded to create positive SEO for the brand.

The keywords include trademarked products and brand names such as

Tastefully Simple and Bountiful Beer Bread. Based on the slogan Simple

Delicious Fun, the generic keywords will be simple, delicious, fun. Other

keywords include recipes, food, beer bread, cakes, bread, dips, and desserts.

The study will review 100 keywords related to Tastefully Simple by using the

questions available in the codebook (in the appendix).

Two educated coders conducted a pilot study. The pilot used ten

keywords, related to Tastefully Simple. The keywords are tastefully, beer bread,

delicious, fun, recipe, food, meal, eat well, TS recipes and freezer meals. The

ten units related to the product as a trademark, relating to the slogan Simple,

Fun, Delicious or the product of recipes and meals.

The coders used the ten units by entering them into Google Trends to

determine if they related to Tastefully Simple. By analyzing the keywords, it

allows the researcher to determine if the units would provide high SEO for the

brand. The study conducted measures searching styles, keyword categories,

brand relationship, keyword occurrence on a website, HTML title, metatag

descriptions, metatag keywords, and permalink.

Research Explained

The type of search query measures three style of searching. An

informational search is looking for information in order to answer a question. The

navigational search is intended to find a certain webpage, such as Facebook,

Twitter, etc. A transactional search has the intention to complete a transaction or

go shopping. The three searches helped the researcher determine what the best

keyword to attract a Tastefully Simple customer.

The keyword categories are important to better understand where

keywords fit. Popular keywords can show the category such as Arts &

Entertainment, Food & Drink, or Home & Garden. This helps determine if the

keyword given is related to the product being marketed. The researcher

measured if each keyword related to the brand: Tastefully Simple. The popular

three states was also measured to determine how strong each state is for that

SEO keyword.

The website, Tastefullysimple.com, was analyzed for keyword embedded

into the HTML. By observing the words used in the HTML compared to the words

the researcher picked, it can help determine the important keywords for SEO.

Research Results

Two expert coders conducted the content analysis on the ten units. The

study concluded that 75% of the keywords analyzed were based on an

informational search. 70% of the keywords were brand related. The other 30%

were too general to gain brand awareness.

 Types of Search Query
Transactional Navigational Informational

0.25

0.15

0.75

The keyword categories were spread. 95% of the keywords were

considered food & drinks. 75% of the keywords were hobbies & leisure. None of

the keywords fit into the news or law & government categories.
 Keyword Categories

Food & Drink

1% Arts & Entertainment

Health
1% 4% 3% 14%
4% 6% Home & Garden
1% 4%
Autos & Vechicles
8% 10% Beauty & Fitness
Books & Literature
7% 4%
Business & Industrial
5%
5% Computer & Electrics
4%
11% 3%
Finance
0% 1%
Games
0%
Hobbies & Leisure
1% 1%
1% 0% Internet & Telecom
Jobs & Education
Law & Government

The keyword trending in each state was interesting. The researchers

noticed the Tastefully Simple brands were most often highly ranked in the

northern states such as South and North Dakota. One reason being, the

headquarters of the company are in Minnesota, however there were not many

popular keywords in Minnesota.

The next part of the research was analyzing the website,

Tastefullysimple.com. The researcher used this website to analysis because it is

the brand and main hub of the products. By analyzing the HTML tags, the

research can determine if the keywords analyzed were in the website. The

highest occurrence was nine times for the keyword, recipe. The second highest

at seven occurrences were Tastefully Simple, delicious, and food. Fun occurred
once; the rest of the words did not appear on the homepage. In the metatag

keywords, Tastefully Simple, delicious, and food were the only three listed from

the sample.

Research conclusion

The content analysis shows that choosing keywords to create strong SEO

is important. Millions search various keywords, daily. Analyzing effective

keywords to gain the highest rank organically will help brands.

Keyword related to a brand or product by creating an association of the

keyword and brand. The keywords in the pilot study, 95% of the keywords were

associated with Food & Drinks. The first and second research questions are

answered through the result of Food & Drinks association. The brand is in the

food and drinks category so almost all of the keywords are associated with the

brand. Also, the generic keywords were associated with the brand through the

Food & Drinks category.

Through the analysis, it is proven that generic keywords produce search

results for specific brands. By using generic keywords associated with the brand

allows this to happen. Example is food, which is associated with Food Network.

The structure of the website is very important for SEO ranking. By

analyzing the website, the research question three is answered. Not all the

keywords selected by the researcher were frequent on the website. But still

shows a strong search result when searching specific brand keywords such as

tasteful, simple, simply delicious, etc.

Restrictions & Limitations

 The study is an innovative and new concept. Without the tracking abilities

for a specific website, the researcher relied on Google Trends for the analysis.

Having access to Google Analytics for a specific website would allow better

tracking and understanding for each keyword category and type of search.

Discussion

The research conducted was very broad and needs to be using advanced

tools that were not available to the researcher. SEO is an important factor in

Internet marketing. The research currently conducted is minimal and as a new

topic will continue to grow. The research will help organizations that are

interested in doing SEO for their own websites.

 CONTENT ANALYSIS CODE BOOK

Brand ID _____________ Coder ID

_____________
Brand Name ___________________________________________
Website URL __________________________________________

Part I: Keyword Analysis

Type of Search Query

Search queries define the style of searching one does

V1. Informational looking for information to answer a question

0. No
1. Yes
V2. Navigational a search intended to find a certain webpage, i.e., Facebook,
Twitter
0. No
1. Yes
V3. Transactional intent to complete a transaction such as shopping
0. No
1. Yes

V4. Other (Indicate the intent)

________________________________________________
Branding
V5. Brand Relationship
Is the keyword related to the brand?
0. No
1. Yes

V6. Keyword Category

What category does the keyword fit into?
a. Food & Drink
0. No
1. Yes
b. Arts & Entertainment
0. No
1. Yes
c. Health
0. No
1. Yes
d. Home & Garden
0. No
 1. Yes
e. Autos & Vehicles
0. No
1. Yes
f. Beauty & Fitness
0. No
1. Yes
g. Books & Literature
0. No
1. Yes
h. Business & Industrial
0. No
1. Yes
i. Computers & Electronics
0. No
1. Yes
j. Finance
0. No
1. Yes
k. Games
0. No
1. Yes
l. Hobbies & Leisure
0. No
1. Yes
m. Internet & Telecom
0. No
1. Yes
n. Jobs & Education
0. No
1. Yes
o. Law & Government
0. No
1. Yes
p. News
0. No
1. Yes
q. Online Communities
0. No
1. Yes
r. People & Society
0. No
1. Yes
s. Real Estate
0. No
1. Yes
 t. Reference
0. No
1. Yes
u. Science
0. No
1. Yes
v. Shopping
0. No
1. Yes
w. Sports
0. No
1. Yes
x. Travel
0. No
1. Yes
y. Other (Indicate) __________________________________________

V7. Keyword Trending

List three most popular states the keyword is trending in.
1. ______________________
2. ______________________
3. ______________________

Part II: Website Analysis

Review the top page when searching each keyword and look into the HTML to determine
SEO.
V8. Keyword Occurrence
How many times does the keyword come up in the HTML?
1. 0-20
2. 21-40
3. 41-80
4. 81-100
5. Above 101

V9. HTML Title (Indicate) _________________________________________________

What is the title (in HTML) of the website?

V10. HTML Header

Is the h1 (<h1>[word]</h1>) header the keyword?
0. No
1. Yes

V11. Permalink
Does the permalink (the main link on the Google search bar) house the keyword?
0. No
1. Yes
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