Search Engine Optimization

Here is an article that I found on search engine optimization and how company's websites lack proper programming to have them highly ranked in search engine results. This ties in with the material that we are learning in class on how to build traffic to a website.

News: Typical Websites Not Search Engine Optimized, Per Front Page PR Report

Phoenix, Arizona - (Website Hosting Directory) - March 27, 2006 - According to a recent study, more than 60% of websites lack the proper web programming to be ranked properly by Internet search engines.

According to the Front Page Public Relations report, websites, in many cases, do not contain the necessary titles, descriptions, keywords and other Meta tags required to be read and indexed properly by leading search engines, nor do they include the beneficial language in search results to entice customers to click through to their websites.

Robert Hoskins, President of Front Page Public Relations commented, ''Through working with Google's Beta Testing programs for the Google Adwords, Google Adsense, Google Analytics and Google Site Map Programs, and our client, the Broadband Wireless Exchange, our team learned a great deal on how to leverage keywords to improve search engine ranking as well as increase revenue from Google's Adsense programs. And it isn't just the ranking that companies should be focused on. Getting in the top 10 results is only half the battle. What a company's listing says in the search engine results is even more important. Search engine results should really be looked at with the same creative approach used in all advertising campaigns. If the message doesn't convince customers to click through to a company's website, adjustments need to be made until they do.''

Based in Gilbert, Arizona, Front Page Public Relations is a full service marketing communications firm that handles advertising, public relations, media relations, marketing, website design, website content development and Internet search engine optimization (SEO).

http://www.websitehostdirectory.com/news-typical-websites-not-search-engine-optimized-per-front-page-pr-report-301.html

Traffic Building Strategies of Sony

The Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate that is the leading manufacturer of electronics, video, communication, video game consoles, and information technology products. Sony uses a variety traffic building strategies and online marketing to attract consumers to their website and boost sales.

Sony’s website is designed primarily for the experiential user. Experiential users are the type of people whose activities revolve around using the internet for gaming, entertainment, social networking, and media creation purposes. The Sony website offers a variety of ways for customers to become involved. The site allows viewers to play video games, watch movie trailers, listen to songs, and shop for products. The company has a unique style and approach that targets experiential users that keeps customers loyal in coming back and visiting their site.

In order to have more experiential users visit Sony’s website, the company has created strategies to build traffic. The use of domain names, search engine marketing, mass media advertising, word of mouth, and site optimization are some ways in which Sony has decided to build traffic to their website.

A strong brand such as Sony has created an effective domain name. Sony’s domain name is www.sony.com. Customers can easily remember the name and even can guess the domain name if they are not sure because the domain name is the company’s brand name. A domain system that reflects how consumers view the brand such as sony.com is memorable and accessible to the web user.

When going to a variety of search engines such as google.com, yahoo.com, and ask.com I found that most of the Sony results were produced organically. Organic searches occur by a visitor going to a search engine and typing in a keyword and following one of the unpaid links to the site. This is a result of Sony’s use of strong content, high visibility, and search engine optimization.

However, the company did have a couple of paid search results. A paid search result is when a company pays for keyword advertising or purchasing sponsored links. Sony has a paid search result for Sony Style which is the company’s official website as well as having their Sony products linked within other company’s websites such as Dell.

Mass media can be an effective online traffic source. Sony builds traffic to their website through their advertisements in magazines, television, and online. By getting their brand name out to the public and showing off new products entices consumers to visit the company website and purchase products.

Word-of-mouth is also another way to get customers to visit a website. If a customer has a positive experience with either the company’s website or a product, they are inclined to tell another person about their positive experience. After hearing good news about a product or website, consumers are likely to visit Sony’s website and potentially buy a product from this brand. Word-of-mouth recommendations are considered the most credible information source a person will receive, consumers rely on this information to know if other consumers had a positive or negative experience with a product and whether they should buy from a company or not.

Site optimization increases traffic to a website through how the certain elements within the website are designed. Sony has increased their site optimization by using meta tags, title tags, and descriptive URLs. Meta tags embed additional information into the HTML code in order to index the site. The title tags generate quick differences in a websites ranking because the words that appear in the title tag are what appear in the clickable link of the search engine results. The title tags that Sony has for its company are Sony USA, Sony Style USA, Sony Pictures, and Playstation.com which lead consumers to their different web pages. Descriptive URLs provide unique path and file names that can help to locate information with in a site. The descriptive URLs of Sony bring consumers to areas within their website to buy different products such as the Sony VAIO notebook, digital cameras, televisions, music, and movies.

Overall, Sony does an effective job in trying to build traffic to their website. Through their use of marketing through advertisements and word-of-mouth Sony boosts and creates awareness of their brand. The use of their domain names, meta tags, title tags, and descriptive URLs increase traffic and search engine optimization. The experience that Sony has created within their website through their offering of online games, shopping, watching movie trailers, and listening to music offers a unique experience for consumers that keeps them coming back to visit their website.

Sony website links www.sony.com and www.sonystyle.com