Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Made Easy

  Getting a high page ranking for your website in Google can make all the difference in regard to the success and profitability of your online business. You can choose to engage a professional search engine optimization company or make some small but necessary tweaks to your site yourself. Tip 1: Keyword Research It’s important to do some research about what specific keywords your customers would be using to find your products or your services. Keywords can be a single word or a phrase; this latter is often the more preferred option because phrases tend to be more detailed in identifying what the customer is looking for. For example if anyone types in “buy an iPod” you would assume they want to buy an iPod. Write down as many related word s or phrases that you can think of, brainstorm with friends or associates. Consider all the factors that might be used by the customer to identify their needs. Check out your competitors websites; see what keywords they are using. Use Google’s free keyword tool and check out the number of global and local searches for the keywords and phrases you have identified. Google’s keyword tool will also give you an indication as to how competitive that particular keyword is so you can determine whether there is a good chance of you being able to rank for it. Once you have chosen your two best keyword phrases (known as long tail) you can start to put them to work for you by following the next tip. Tip 2: Keyword rich content It can’t be stressed enough how important it is to have good content on your website. Search engines love good content. However, your keywords need to be strategically placed on your webpage so Google can see that your content is relevant and relates to those keywords. This doesn’t mean you should stuff your pages full of keywords. The content needs to flow properly and make sense. To get the best value from your keywords you should: • Put the keywords or keyword phrases in titles & headings • Include one keyword of phrase in the first paragraph of your content, near the top of the page • Use bolding or italics for two or three keywords • Use your keywords in your text links Make sure you include a sitemap on your website, this helps the search engine robots index your site properly and find all the relevant pages. Don’t forget to put alternate text (keywords where possible) for your images. Search engines can’t read images only texts so don’t miss opportunities. Tip 3: Backlinks Backlinks from other sites to yours are an indication to Google as to your sites popularity and is a key factor in search engine optimization. This doesn’t mean you should go overboard or build them too rapidly as this doesn’t look natural. Also keep in mind that 10 quality links will outdo 500 links from unrelated insignificant sites; if you can get PR 6 & 7 backlinks that is a bonus. Backlinks should be from sites or blogs that are relevant to your business. To start building these links you can contact relevant sites and ask them to link to you, write guest blog posts, post on forums and include your signature with a link to your website. This doesn’t all happen overnight but you need to be persistent. As your website ranking improves you should start to see an increase in your traffic and more traffic means more sales. Whilst search engine optimization does take a bit of time it can reap dividends in rewards.