Boost Your Website Traffic: 5 Easy Steps to Change Your SEO Attitude

When most business marketers decide to use search engine optimization (SEO) to boost their website traffic through organic searches, they think in terms of fulfilling their own online marketing needs.

What will "I" get out of this? How can "I" boost my web traffic? What can "I" do to increase online sales?

Let's face it, you are in business to make money, but as crazy as it sounds, this is the wrong approach to driving web traffic. The answer to all of the questions above is, "your users". You need to gear your SEO campaign to your users. Anything else is futile. The object of the game is to attract users; you need to appeal to their likes and interests. So, how you do it? You just need to change your SEO attitude so that you serve your audience's needs rather than your own.

Here are five easy steps to changing your SEO attitude to increase your website traffic:

Step 1: Know your audience. As elementary as this sounds, you need to put yourself in their shoes. How can your product or service solve their problems? What's in it for them? They really don't care about how wonderful your company, product, or service is...they care about what it can do for them. Don't think about yourself; think about your audience.

Step 2: Research the relevant keywords. Determine what keyword terms your users would search on to find your product or service. Stay away from industry-terms that may be beyond the scope of their knowledge. What is common knowledge to you, may not be to your audience; especially in the early stages of their product search.

Step 3: Dump the corporate-speak. Talk to your audience using conversational language. Don't sound too corporate or stuffy. Speak as if you were face to face trying to sell them. Use the words, "you" or "yours". Talk to them, not above them.

Step 4: Give them something to come back for. A great way to find favor with search engines, especially Google, is to give your audience loads of helpful information. Post articles for them to read on relevant subjects. Building an article repository of sorts will keep them coming back. They will want to check back to see what you've got in store for them. The more useful information the site posts, the more Google and other search engines take notice. It looks as though the site is a resource for the users...and Google likes that. Learn more about this by reading Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide at: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/11/googles-seo-starter-guide.html

Step 5: Establish and keep an ongoing relationship with your users. Now you've got them, you've kept them coming back for more useful information...it's time to build an ongoing relationship with them. You need to build trust so that eventually they will purchase your product or service. Give them a "special offer" such as a "free" report, e-book, or anything to capture their email address in return. Once they agree to opt-in to your email list, you will have the opportunity to keep in touch with them. Send them useful information and every once in a while...a little sales message. Don't always bombard them with sales messages. Eventually you will gain their trust and they will buy.

It doesn't take much, just a little SEO attitude adjustment and you will be on your way to boosting your online web traffic, establishing ongoing relationships with your users...and converting that web traffic to sales.