By D. Offer, Daniel is the owner of the Facebook chat application, Chit Chat. Chit Chat is a Facebook chat program which enables its users to send Facebook messages from their PC rather than their web-browser.

Most people are aware of the importance of SEO, but there are some advanced optimization techniques that can be added to any website that will not only enhance its appearance and performance, but will add a new level of professionalism and impress any visitors.

1. Include Keywords in File Names

Adding keywords to the file names of images, graphics and web pages can improve the SEO of a website. Search engines read text, and look at file names, and placing a keyword in place of a generic file name can assist with boosting SERP rankings.

Instead of using “image2.jpg”, a file should be named using a keyword, such as, “weight-loss-tips.jpg”.  This tells the search engine that the image is relevant to the site content, and the renamed image could end up featured in the organic listings, or images section, of a search engine.

2. Use Hyphens Instead of Underscores

Use hyphens when naming files and pages in a website. Search engines find it easier to distinguish words separated by a hyphen. It has been suggested that search engines counts underscores as characters. By naming a page, “dog_training”, a search engine would include the underscore as part of the title and that is a worthless keyword.

3. Don’t Underestimate Spelling and Grammar

Spelling and grammar should be perfect on a website. Nothing screams out unprofessional and lack of quality louder than a badly edited website. The site could have fantastic content and incredible design, but a few sloppy spelling errors, and erroneous grammar, could cause a visitor to assume that no real care or effort has been made. There is no point spending days on content if a visitor cannot understand it.

4. Customized 404 Page

If for some reason an internal link is broken – or a visitor types in an incorrect URL – they will be confronted by a generic 404 page that simply states, “Page not found”. Not only does this look unprofessional and ugly – it can drive a visitor away. A customized 404 page can include links back to a site and its important content.

5. Add an Address Bar/Bookmarking Icon

When some sites are loaded in a browser, they display little symbols, or logos, that can be seen in the address bar, right next to the website URL. They are also displayed in a bookmarks list, if the site is bookmarked. Referred to as “Favicons”, which is an amalgamation of “Favorite Icons”, they add a professional touch to any site.

6. Non-www Redirects

If a site has “www” extension and a visitor types in the website address but omits the “www” part, they may not reach the site. The same applies if a site does not use “www” in its address and a searcher adds “www” in front of the URL. A site should be organized so that it automatically redirects the misspelled, or mistyped, URL to the main website.

7. Header Link

It is now common practice for all header graphics, or logos, to link back to the main index page of a site. This means that no matter what internal page a visitor is on, they can simply click on the header graphic, or logo, and be taken straight back to the home page. If a website does not have this function, it should be added, as it is a widely used and expected function.

8. Include a Copyright

All professional websites include a copyright at the foot of the page. It displays a sign of authority and legality that lends to trust. One vital point to remember is that it needs to be kept in date. Even if the content of the website is regularly updated, a copyright notice that ran out last year suggests that nothing has been done to the site since then.

9. Correct Graphic and Image Sizes

Large image and graphic files will seriously reduce the load speed of a website. This is bad for two reasons: A visitor will get bored waiting and leave before they even see the homepage, and Google has now included page load speed into its search engine ranking algorithms, so a sites SERP position could suffer. Resizing images, and graphics, to the correct size will speed up the site. Another good tip is to stay clear of Flash graphics – they can take a long time to load.

10. Spring Clean

Unnecessary graphics and garish ads should be removed from a website. People visit a site for information, not to admire the pretty pictures. If a visitor cannot find the content hidden amongst all the tacky-looking adverts and flashing banners – they will leave and probably not return.

Advertisements may add some income to a site, but not if they look cheap and cover the site like a rash. No one will be around long enough to ever read them, never mind actually click one.  A site needs to be kept clean and accessible.

Look Professional and Boost Performance

By adopting these 10 simple improvements, a website can dramatically improve its appearance and convince visitors, and search engines, that it is professional and authoritative.

A site probably only has 5-10 seconds to capture the interest of a browsing visitor and the first thing they see is the layout and appearance.  If a website cannot immediately grab a visitor’s attention with its clean professional design, any important content will not be read.

These advanced techniques are designed to improve overall SEO, increase search engine rankings and keep hold of the extra visitors that should start appearing as a result of the new professional optimization.

No longer is social media just the “cool thing” to do – like rocking an 80’s inspired flat top hairdo in 2010.  Social networking now has a definitive effect on your SEO efforts, and as such, it must be monitored closely.  While previous social networking efforts were generally tied to connecting with a business’s customer base, Google is now including real-time social media into their search results – resulting in increased (and practically effortless) SEO opportunities.

Twitter and Facebook has always needed to be somewhat strategic for businesses, but now it’s more important than ever to have social media content that utilizes strict SEO guidelines like potent keywords, pertinent links and updates ripe with useful content and hashtags.

Real-time social media search results are also strategically placed on the first page of Google search.  These real-time updates are not only pulled from Twitter, but will soon be streaming data from Facebook and Myspace as well (as long as the content is open to the public, and not private). This means that any status updates, wall links, and posts can – and will – be picked up by Google’s search algorithms to add to their search listings.

What this means for companies is that social media is a much more integral part of search engine optimization, and where some companies chose to forgo the Twitter accounts and Facebook pages, they can no longer ignore the colossal impact that these tools now have on online marketing efforts.  And instead of using social media and SEO as separate marketing tools, these attempts will need to be combined to work together for optimal performance.

While still new, it’s important for companies to jump on board quickly as companies will soon be syncing their social media efforts with SEO practices and by taking advantage of this now, small businesses can possibly get prime search page space by utilizing carefully crafted keywords and targeting popular subjects in their social networking efforts.

Social media has always been a great way to connect with consumers and get the word out to large base of people, but never has it been so integral to online marketing and SEO efforts.  And it greatly increases the possible ROI for business social media endeavors.

Saying “no” to social media may have been a semi-acceptable response in the past for businesses – especially ones that cater to other businesses rather than the general consumer.  But with these recent game changing real-time results, it’s opening doors for SEO that weren’t previously open.  Social media and SEO now go hand in hand – like a skinny jean wearing hipster and Brooklyn.  Don’t be the square that falls behind.

As naïve as I was at the time, I knew this wouldn’t work, as she wanted a quick and easy solution to reduce her chubby middle section.  And we all know that there’s no gain from no pain.  As most people know, the best way to reduce “chubbiness” is to increase muscle gain, which requires a significant amount of resistant training, and in most cases an expensive gym pass to a health club.

How does this pertain to online marketing?  Well, some might say that the difference between weight loss scams and actual exercise and acute dieting is directly correlated to PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  One is a fast and easy solution, while the other one takes a bit more time and effort.

Marketing Collaborative is an advocate for PPC advertising, as we have several accounts that contribute in a small way to Google’s pocket book.  However, there’s a significant difference between the two advertising mediums that can be compared to the resistance weight training and quick fat-reducing methods mentioned above.

SEO, at the very beginning, can be a slow process that builds little traffic- although there are exemptions to this scenario.  It takes more time and effort, is generally less money, and will produce more over a period of time.   Once given enough momentum to build upon itself, SEO will generate more traffic and will return a greater ROI than its PPC competitor.  In fact, it’s beauty lies in the fact that you will not be penalized for SEO’s ability to generate a lot of traffic to your website. The reason why is organic listings (the spot to the left of the page- the place where SEO lands you) is more trusted by searchers, and generates around 75% of all clicks.  It is like going to the gym everyday to lift weights- it’s slow and painful in the beginning but pays huge dividends in the end (or so I’m told).

PPC on the other hand is like the vibrating belt apparatus.   It’s fast and easy — a campaign can be up and running within a few minutes, and will start generating traffic to your website immediately.  PPC advertising tends to be expensive and temporary, and will not get better over time.  Once you stop paying, all of your traffic will go away.  To make matters worse, the keywords used in PPC advertising will only become more expensive over time as more businesses move their advertising dollars to the internet, thereby increasing the cost per keyword.  This will reduce Pay-Per-Click’s ROI significantly.   In the future, there will be a bidding war that will greatly favor advertisers with huge marketing budgets.

So, there you have it.  Would you rather have a fat reducing shaking machine as your advertising program, or a muscle building-fighting machine?  The decision is yours.

Take this story from a real estate agent client who hired an SEO provider to increase her traffic and search engine ranking.

Our estate agent client was promised top positioning on all major search engines for a mere $200 a month – an unusually low price.  After an uneventful four month period with no traffic increase to her website, she requested a status report from the SEO marketing firm.  Within that four month period, only 5 incoming links had been placed (a good rule of thumb is to shoot for 10-15 links a week).  To make matters worse, her site was being paired with websites completely unrelated to her industry:  a cookie manufacturer’s site, two limousine company websites, a fabric manufacturer, and a ballroom dancing site.

After requesting more information about why her incoming links were so unrelated to her real estate industry, she received the following response:
“It is not done to get you traffic from people visiting these websites. It is not there to tell the search engines where you are located or what it is that you do. All of that has to do with your keywords and phrases. It does not matter that the site does not do the same thing you do or that the PR (page rank) is different from yours. It is done to make the search engines return to your site more; that is the plan. It is truly as simple as that.”

While it isn’t truly as simple as that, it is still easy to get quantifiable results from an SEO campaign.  Our SEO guru, Toby, says that there are a few basic truths that everyone should be aware of when it comes to SEO marketing.  One is that search engines act as a school counselor, in order to be one of the “cool kids”, you need to have inbound links to your website from similarly related industries.  Not only do these links give search engines a barometer of a site’s popularity, they aid in determining the topic and relevance of a site in relation to its targeted keywords.

Creating backlinks to dubious websites in unrelated industries, such as a cookie manufacturer linking to a real estate site, is a perfect way to cast yourself as the “bad kid”.  And once you’re tagged by the search engines as a bad cookie?  Well, good luck moving over to the good side.

To make sure you’re receiving truly unparalleled SEO results, make sure you’re playing on the right team by checking your detailed SEO monthly reports for the following:

• SERP(*) results showing all targeted keywords and their page rank on each search engine.
• Requested Links – Marketing Colab typically goes after 10-15 links per week on average.  Gaining more than this usually tips of search engines and is viewed as “un-natural”.
• Active Links – This list should grow over time.
• Links should all be related in some way to your industry.
• Number of monthly visitors – These numbers should also be growing consistenly over time.
• The paths from which your website traffic is coming.

With a little know-how and the right tools, SEO doesn’t have to be a small business’s marketing nightmare.  It can be as simple as finding the right links.

* Taken from Wikipedia- A search engine results page (SERP), is the listing of web pages returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query. The results normally include a list of web pages with titles, a link to the page, and a short description showing where the keywords have matched content within the page. A SERP may refer to a single page of links returned, or to the set of all links returned for a search query).