Search Engine Optimization: If I Had a Hammer

Murphy’s Law states: When in the course of human events things can go wrong, they will go wrong, at the worst possible time. O’Tooles Law says: Murphy was optimistic.

What does this have to do with search engine optimization? You better believe that these laws are in full force and effect when you design or redesign your website. Any business that is modern in terms of communication with its customers should create a website. This is as essential as having a list in the phone book; it is the digital equivalent of a telephone number. Would you like your business to have an unlisted number? Probably not. If you are legitimately interested in making it easy for customers to find a website for your business, it is a must.

A year and a half ago I started a business and developed a website. It has been a great learning experience. During this period, I have written several articles on this topic, including: Search Engine Optimization for Beginners, Search Engine Optimization: The Long Road to Internet Success, Website Redesign: A Dangerous Road, and Website Design: A Tandem Approach. Little did he know how dangerous the journey would be. Murphy and O’Toole were waiting to strike at the very moment the website redesign project was “finished.”

This is what happened. It took almost three months to “complete” the redesign of the site. The site has two versions: a dynamic version that, I am told, is like a movie. This is the flash version. The images move. The flash version is “invisible” as far as web search engines are concerned. The second version is the static version. Things are not moving. Both versions are accessed through the landing page, the dot.com page that you access to visit a business site (goodcompany.com, for example). This landing page is also called the home page.

Since web designers are proud of their work and want to advertise their services, they often place a small company logo on the landing or landing page. What you don’t see is a hidden description of your business that is supposed to be for the benefit of search engines. Every time the web designer creates a website for his client that contains the designer’s logo, a link is created to the designer’s website. This improves your popularity in search engines. You tend to generate more business for them, just like your website is designed to attract more customers.

In this particular case, the home page had my company logo and the web designer’s logo, as well as links to the dynamic and static versions of the new website. Google took my company name and meta tags, plus the website designer’s description and company logo. For two weeks until Google revisited the site (after the web designer fixed the issue by removing their logo), the company described itself as “flash version | static version or Award-winning web hosting or Web hosting or Domain name registration o Web Design at Affordable Prices o Dedicated Servers … “Which, by the way, had nothing to do with my financial services business. Thank you very much Mr. Murphy and Mr. O’Toole.

“If I Had a Hammer” is a song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes in 1949. It became very popular in 1962 when it was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. It was a top 10 hit. It was considered a civil rights anthem. Here are the lyrics:

If i had a hammer

I’d hammer in the morning

I’d hammer in the night

All over this land

I’d hammer the danger

I’d hammer a warning

I’d hammer the love between my brothers and my sisters

All over this land

If i had a bell

I would call him in the morning

I would call it at night

All over this land

I would call the danger

Would sound a warning

It would sound like love between my brothers and my sisters

All over this land

If i had a song

I would sing it in the morning

I would sing it at night

All over this land

I’d sing danger

I’d sing a warning

I would sing love between my brothers and my sisters

All over this land

Well i got a hammer

And I have a bell

And I have a song to sing

All over this land

It is the hammer of justice

It’s the liberty bell

It is the song about the love between my brothers and my sisters.

All over this land

The Bottom Line: If I had a hammer, I’d like to hit Murphy and O’Toole and possibly the web designer who made my site look so silly. But I love the irony of the process and his work was technically excellent. To err is human and to forgive is divine.

Copyright © Gregg Financial Services