Search engine optimization (SEO) is not ‘rocket science’ yet it is fast becoming an emerging business science that all website owners need to familiarize themselves with if they want to be competitive on the Internet.
Search engine rankings are based on the number of visitors to your website, the number of external links to your site from other websites and how well your website is prepared for search engine optimization. Your website traffic is largely determined by your search engine rankings, online advertising and direct marketing activities.
If your website is not ranking in the top 3 pages of the search engine results for Google, Yahoo and MSN then it’s unlikely that Internet Users will track through the lower ranked pages to find you. This translates into lower levels of website traffic generated by the search engines and less opportunities available to attract online sales. This is where SEO becomes very important for the novice and established website owner.
There are some simple SEO tactics that you can employ to instantly boost your search engine rankings. However, allow a time frame of at least 3 to 5 months to get your website firmly established in the top 3 pages of the major search engines.
Firstly make sure you have submitted your website URL to the search engines so they can start indexing and crawling your site. It is a much quicker process if you have a professional search engine submission company do this for you.
Also a carefully selected domain name can give you a jump start over your competitors and can bump you up the search engine rankings if it is keyworded.
SEO Tactics for Beginners
1. Identify 8 to 10 keywords that accurately describe your products and services. Select those keywords that internet users would most likely type into the search engines to find your website. These keywords will become the basis of your SEO campaign.
2. Add an eye catching keyword title to the top of your home page. Then analyze your home page content and keyword it for the search engines. This means where possible include your keywords in the body of the home page text repetitively, but also in a way that the content still makes sense and is interesting for your website visitors.
3. Insert ‘meta tags’ into the header content of your website including a meta tag title, description and keywords. You may need the help of a programmer or your website designer to do this for you. If you want to learn how to construct meta tags see the free SEO articles on my Rank1 Website Marketing website.
4. If you have a footer included in your home page design then add keyword product pages and hyperlink them to the footer for the search engines. To find out how to construct ‘keyword product pages’ see my SEO ebook the ‘Insider Secrets of Rank 1 Websites’ by Rosemary Donald for just $29.95 AU.
5. Add a links page to your website with a navigation tab or hyperlink to the home page. Source reciprocal link partners whose site content is complimentary or similar to yours and add their links to your links page/s and vice versa. Remember to create linking info that reflects your major keywords in the link title and description.
6. Use this same linking info and submit as many free classified ads for your website and products as possible. You can find free classified ad sites by performing searches on the search engines.
7. Use the same linking info and submit as many ‘free’ directory listings and business directory listings as possible. A directory submission software tool that makes this process very easy is ‘SubmitEaze’.
8. Write some free articles on your area of expertise or industry and add them to your website plus submit them to as many free article submission sites as possible for syndication.
Other useful Website Marketing Tips…
• Start off with a professionally designed website that accommodates the global reach of the Internet, has fast navigation and download speeds, is visually appealing and has a great site layout.
• Offer free articles, projects and resources on your website that are of interest to your website visitors.
• Promote specials, discount programs, customer loyalty programs, sales and competitions on your website to attract site visitors and new member signups.
• Add some customer testimonials to your home page or ‘about us’ page from happy, satisfied customers.
• Regularly provide fresh content and clear accurate product photographs on your website.
• If your website is underperforming in the search engines or has low traffic levels engage in some pay per click advertising such as Google Adwords.
• Add affiliate advertising to your website such as Google Adsense to increase site popularity and generate advertising revenue.
• Engage in some paid listings on business directories and trade portals specifically targeted at your area of expertise, product offering or industry.
• Add ‘Top 100 Site Popularity’ links to your website to demonstrate your site popularity to website visitors.
• Engage in some print media advertising that directly promotes your website and product & service offerings.
If you can bring all of these elements together in a coordinated SEO campaign you are well on your way to achieving top rankings in the major search engines. For a more comprehensive look at how to do your own SEO see my SEO ebook the ‘Insider Secrets of Rank 1 Websites’ by Rosemary Donald for just $29.95 AU.
© Rosemary Donald, Rank1 Website Marketing 13th September, 2007
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