The 5 SEO Basics Every New Website Should Have

Search engine optimization is about making your site easy for search engines to find.

If someone does a Google search for "Web Design Company in New York,"and that’s what your company does, good SEO will increase your chances of your site showing up in that search. And of course, your site needs to show up so that your prospects can find you.

SEO is a cost effective way to market your business. It can help you reach prospects who are searching for your services at the exact time when they need it. Top placement in search results is not guaranteed, but by following five basic steps, you will improve your chances of getting good rankings.

While Pay Per Click advertising is the only surefire way to get front page placement, SEO is an effective, low cost marketing technique. When done properly, it can have a significant impact on your business. You don’t have to be a professional search engine optimization company to implement some basic SEO that will help the ranking of your site. (If you need a refresher on the basics, check out our basic introduction to SEO.)

Here are the 5 basic SEO techniques that every website should take advantage of:

1. Keywords. You should understand which keywords and phrases your prospects are searching for so you can use them throughout your site. But, it’s not about which keywords are the most popular. It’s about which keywords best describe your business. The phrase “search engine optimization” is very popular, but the phrase “affordable SEO in New York City” might better describe your business. Check out the Google Keyword Tool for keyword ideas.

2. Use keyword rich content throughout your site. The search engines read the content of your website, and use it to determine your ranking. So it’s important that your keywords are present in your actual website text. It’s important to remember that the content of your site has two jobs, to appeal to the search engines, and to appeal to the reader. See our article, Your Website Content has Two Jobs." Another great way to have constantly updated, keyword rich content in your website is to have a blog.

3. Use descriptive page titles. A page title is one of the most important things search engines use to find your site. (The title is what you see at the very top of your internet browser.) Remember, titles aren’t just seen by the search engines, they are also seen by your websites visitors. Don’t overload your title with keywords or phrases, just concentrate on the most important ones that really represent your business.

4. Use keyword rich meta tags. Meta tags are the html tags at the top of your web page code. They are another way that the search engines find your website. Make sure to use a description tag for your web pages. A good description tag is usually two or three sentences and has the strongest keywords or phrases incorporated into it. Search engines aren’t paying as much attention to keyword tags, but there is no harm in putting 5 or 6 keywords into a keyword tag on your site. Don’t overload your tags—less is more.

5. Remember the importance of incoming links. The quantity and quality of incoming links are important to the ranking of your website. There are many ways to increase incoming links to your website. Some include posting comments on blogs, writing articles, utilizing social networking sites, or finding partners to link to your website.

Even if you don’t have a professional SEO company working for you, you can still utilize the basics of search engine optimization to help your website to be more search engine friendly. By implementing these basics, you will have a great advantage to other new websites that don’t.

If you want to be more advanced in your SEO pursuits when developing a new website, consider hiring a professional web design & SEO company to handle it for you.