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15/02/2005  |  .net SEO competition - Read the full interview Here

After White Hat Media won the .net SEO competition they were asked how
they did it. Read the full interview here.


In December 2004, White Hat Media won the .net magazine SEO competition.
The objective was to get a site to the top of Google with the search
phrase 'crystalline incandescence'. After winning .net interviewed White
Hat Media about what strategy they used. The editorial has now appeared
in the March issue of .net magazine but understandably due to the
limitation of space only part of the answers have been used.

Here you can read the full interview:

.net: You came 1st in the competition. Well done!
What were your initial strategies?

WHM: Thanks. Our first decision was to build a good
site that people might want to visit and link to. This is important.

We assumed that the other competitors would be able to competently
optimise their sites with the search phrase. Therefore we felt that
other factors such as site structure and IBLs (in-bound links) would win
the competition and be the differentiator.

Unusually the phrase was set while the site could be about anything and
this was something that needed some thought.

We needed a site that could be built quickly, have multiple pages, and
use non-copyright material. It would have to enable us to build
multiple IBLs linking back to the Home Page. We also wanted a site where
the words crystalline incandescence wouldn’t look completely ridiculous.
We needed a site which we could drop into directories around the web. A
site based around humour seemed perfect.

Page optimisation is important though, so it’s worth mentioning a few
words on that. When optimising pages it’s important to consider many
factors. As well as the meta-tags also look at how many times the phrase
is mentioned in the body copy, the frequency of the phrase, its
weighting, font sizes, headings, alt tags and other factors. For
instance frequency is important with 5-15% considered optimum and at 12%
plus we knew we were pushing things. Also we didn’t want the phrase to
look too out of place.

.net: How did they differ from what you'd do for a real
business?

WHM: When working for a real business we would look at
all aspects of their site and fully understand their business first. We
would plan what should be done and what is to be achieved. We would
carefully work with the client on deciding what their target words and
phrases should be. We would look at the site structure, code, content,
links, and make any necessary changes to the site. We would mount a link
building campaign over a period of time and increase the number of links
to the site. This would all be carefully monitored and reported back to
the client.

.net: Did your approach change over time?

WHM: Because the people in second position were using a
page which simply mentioned the phrase many times with multiple sub pages we
had to build more IBLs internally than we planned. We increased the
number of these twice during the competition, the last time three days
before the end of the competition. One thing we didn’t want was to be
copied.

.net: Were you surprised by the final result?

WHM: No. We have been working with the web for many
years and spend a considerable amount of time keeping up to date with SEO
techniques.

.net: Would you have done anything differently?

WHM: We would like to have spent more time on the
actual design of the site. Due to the pressure of having many client projects running
at the time we had a specific amount of time we could dedicate to the
competition.

We would also have liked to spend more time on the content making the
use of the key phrase more subtle than it was.

.net: Did you monitor your competitors’ strategies?

WHM: We did but having said that we were in no way hung
up with
what the others were doing. We simply do our job to the very best of our
abilities. We do the same for all our clients.

.net: Did they have any ideas you wish you'd adopted?
WHM: No.

.net: Any that you thought were unfair, or wouldn't
work in real life?

WHM: Nothing was unfair about the competition. We did
feel in real life that one or two of the other sites would have found it
difficult to have as many outbound links on their home page with the
phrase in them. This did strike us as strange though as Google doesn’t
score outbound links from a home page so why bother building multiple
outbound links from it with the phrase?

We were also surprised by the lack of sitemaps on some of our
competitors’ sites as Google has stated publicly this helps (See
p30 .Net magazine Issue 123, May 2004). Also the use of anchor text was
missing in some cases on some of our competitors’ sites and on some
sites alt tags were missing as well. There were other aspects of what
our competitors did, that surprised us.

.net: What about the test itself -- was it a reasonable
reflection of your abilities?

WHM: Hey, we won. Seriously though, as mentioned we
spend a great deal of time on what we do and in understanding how Google and other
Search Engines position sites. This does change often and we keep to
date with all the latest thinking on the subject. We are active members
of the major forums and have written various papers on the subject. We’d
write a book if things stayed the same until the ink dried.

.net: Would you have constructed it differently, and if
so, how?

WHM: No, not for the competition. We knew we had to
have multiple IBLs with the key phrase as anchor text and that we had to do this
rapidly. There simply wasn’t time to develop a significant link
campaign with other external sites so we had to have multiple internal
IBLs. We also built some small sites and pointed links from these back
to the main site to increase the number of links back to it. Normally we
would spend time in building relevant external links to the target site.
Having said that you’ll see the site in few directories around the web
and the number of external IBLs to it grows every day.

.net: What did our test not reveal that might be shown
up in
other ways?

WHM: Meta-tags were once considered to be of huge
importance.
They are less important now. Then it was the thing to build your phrase
into your body copy properly and this is certainly also important. Now
although these have their place certain things are paramount. Build a
good site that people will visit, and having optimised it properly, have
as many relevant links to it as possible. One thing that was clearly
revealed was the importance of internal links and how well they can work
for you.

With regards to external links though avoid link farms as these may
actually work against you. Oh yes, and be sure to include a sitemap.

.net: Who do you think were the real winners?

WHM: Now you’re being cheeky! Seriously though apart
from White Hat Media we hope it’s the .Net Readers. SEO is a fascinating subject.
If you want to more about it, there are many great sites on which you can
find out what you need to know. If you want someone else to do it for
you, then you know who to call.

.net: What conclusions can you draw from the results of
the test, if any?

WHM: Build a good site, optimise it properly, structure
it properly, generate as many relevant IBLs to it as possible and you will
raise your position on Google. Alternatively pay a specialist to do it
for you, preferably people who eat, sleep and breathe SEO. You know who
to call.

.net: Are there any lessons for our readers, for their
own sites?

WHM: Build a good site. Ensure that it complies with
W3C and Bobby Standards. CSS2 is also preferable but not essential as file sizes
will be smaller. Decide what words and phrases you want to be highly
positioned with. Ensure your pages are optimised properly. Ensure the
structure of your site is good. Use the target words as appropriate such
as in anchor text and alt tags. Encourage traffic to your site.
Encourage links to your site. Include a sitemap. Learn about SEM or use
an expert. Also and this is important, be patient. Do not be conned by
so called quick fix offers. Getting a good page position usually takes
time and effort.

.net: And talking about the readers... What are the
ten most important pieces of SEO advice/ tips you can give them?

WHM:
1.Build a good site and make sure it is structured properly. This is
singularly the most important factor if you want a good position.
2.Ensure that the content of your site is relevant to what phrases you
want to be found under.
3.Encourage traffic and links to your site. Find out who’s linking to
your competitors sites using the link: <URL> command or linkdomain:
<URL> command and if you can get them to link to yours.
4.Optimise the pages. This means much more than just mentioning your key
phrase lots of times. Look at frequency, weight, font sizes, use of
headings, titles, alt-tags and other factors.
5.Use anchor text where and when appropriate if you want to be found
with specific words.
6.Include a sitemap. This is so that Search Engines can more easily find
pages on your site.
7.Talk about your site in forums. Use the main keywords as anchor text
to it.
8.Be patient.
9.If you decide to do it yourself learn as much as you can about the
subject and then keep up to date.
10.If you decide not to do it yourself, use experts. You know who to
call.

.net: If readers want to find out more about how Search
Engine
Optimisation works, then where can they go online?


WHM: You can visit our own site at
www.whitehatmedia.com where
you’ll find information and links.

The .net magazine site at www.netmag.co.uk is also very good for free
articles about SEO and many other subjects as well.

Other excellent sites on the subject which are all packed with
information, and have lively well run forums are:

www.webworkshop.net
www.webworldpro.com
www.searchenginewatch.com

Do you have any other favourite resources you'd like to recommend?

www.wordtracker.com - Find out about your words and phrases.
www.pandia.com - Lots of information and resources here.
www.searchengineforums.com - Lively forums on the subject.


.net: Some readers may think SEO is all very easy, and
they can do it themselves with a little thought. What do you think of software
packages that promise to do the work for you?

WHM: We don’t recommend software packages for SEO other
than site monitoring software. We use matrixtstats to monitor site traffic and in
particular finding out the names of referring pages, URLs, Search
Engines and the words and phrases used to find pages as well as other
important information.

Software packages that auto register your site can actually work against
you and are best avoided.

There are some software packages that analyse pages with certain fixed
rules but we believe you can do it better yourself and in a more
flexible way.

.net: Why should they consider paying for your services
instead?

WHM: The team at White Hat media have many years
experience in both building and optimising sites. The algorithms that Google and other
Search Engines use to score sites and thus position them are complex and
change often. We spend a considerable amount of time in ensuring we keep
ourselves up to date and use this knowledge and expertise for our
clients’ sites.

.net: What typically might you charge?

WHM: Depending on what is needed, SEM work can cost
from few
hundred pounds. Ideally it is something that should be done regularly
though and a reasonable budget should be committed. This can be spread
over time.

.net: And why should readers consider you,
specifically? How are you different, and better than the competition?

WHM: Well for one thing we’ve just won the .Net SEO
competition against some superb companies. We have considerable experience in the
sector and provide an excellent service. We explain to our clients what
we are doing and provide regular reports. Everything we do is measurable
and we have been responsible for many successes.


.net: What is your background, and how did you get into
the SEO business?

WHM: White Hat Media was founded by Jeremy Spiller and
Kevin Elliott, both veterans of the web industry and who have been working in
it for over ten years. Some time ago White Hat Media was asked to do
some Search Engine work to get a site to the top of various Search
Engines. The project went extremely well and White Hat Media decided to
offer the service to other clients. Many recommendations came in and the
business grew from there and continues to grow.

.net: How many clients here?

WHM: We have many SEM clients, both large and small.
Having recently taken on a number of new clients we are extremely busy at the
moment.

.net: Anyone the readers will know?

WHM: White Hat Media works for Chauffeurforce, Blue Gem
Eyewear, Hunter Wellingtons, the Communications International Group and Lets Talk
Music among others. We also work for other agencies and their clients,
some of which are major companies.

.net: What other services, if any, do you offer?

WHM: SEM is one of our main core services and is a
rapidly growing part of the business. We also offer site design and development
and applications development. We believe that SEM now requires a level
of technical expertise coupled to marketing expertise as well as an in-
depth understanding of the subject.

.net: Any interesting business success stories you'd
like to tell the readers?

WHM: We have many business success stories. One good
example is Lets Talk Music. Music is a very crowded area on the web and there are
many forums on the subject. However by keying in the phrase ‘Talk Music’
the Lets Talk Music appears in first position. We usually get high
positions for our clients when asked to do so for certain
keywords or phrases. This takes time though.

.net: How do you see the SEO business developing in the
future (both yours, and overall)?

WHM: Businesses will continue to want their sites to
appear in first position on Search Engines and the market will become increasingly
competitive. The subject will become more complex and the need for
significant expertise will be even greater than it is now.

.net: Any trends or developments of interest?

WHM: Personalisation is an area which most of the major
Search Engines will pursue. We might also see self learning Search Engines.
This might result in returns being different for different users.

Geographical targeting is another area which is gaining increasing
popularity and which the major Search Engines will implement more.

In the future and as the number of sites continues to grow it is
possible that specialist Search Engines will be more popular and become
more main-stream.

To counter this it’s possible that the major players will offer more
specialised services and will definitely continue to offer more
sophisticated Search Features than they do at the moment.

.net: What will happen if MSN
Web Search, for instance, becomes a serious Google competitor, and sites
want to optimise for both engines?

WHM: Microsoft is a major force to be reckoned with but
Google has continually introduced new features to stay in the top spot and
maintain its position as the most popular Search Engine. This will
result in enormous competition between the two companies. It’s
definitely going to continue to be a fascinating field to work in.