Successful website owners are aware of the need to implement search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to ensure high organic search engine rankings. However, when reading some small business websites and blogs, you'll notice there is a huge question as to the best SEO techniques to implement. Without consulting an SEO expert who stays on top of the changing SEO trends, many small businesses actually risk damaging their search engine rankings by using the wrong SEO tactics and strategies.
This article looks at some things to know when it comes to SEO, whether you're hiring an expert SEO company or going it alone.
Commit Long Term - SEO isn't a onetime thing. The algorithms of the search engines change constantly, meaning tactics that worked well last month might not work today. Effective SEO requires you to commit long term.
Learn SEO - When doing it yourself, you need to learn current SEO techniques and you must stay on top of the constant changes in the search engine algorithms to ensure effectiveness in the long term. This is the main reason why many successful website owners choose to hire an SEO company. They feel the time spent learning SEO, implementing SEO, and staying on top of every change in SEO is better spent building their business. Because profitability increases dramatically, even with the minimal cost of hiring an SEO company, it makes sense, especially since it's practically impossible for a business owner to do everything himself in the running of a business.
Have Patience - Great organic search engine rankings don't happen overnight. It can sometimes take months, especially for newer, smaller website businesses.
Build An Effective Website - While good content and structure beat design when it comes to search engine rankings, design is still a critical component of a successful website. Look at the websites of your competitors and think about whether your website measures up. If it doesn't, make it even better.
Place Analytics From The Start - Clearly defined objectives are great, but without web analytics, you can't track what works and what doesn't.
Add A Site Map - If the search engine spiders can't crawl your pages, the search engines can't index them. A site map helps spiders find the important pages of your website so the search engines can understand how your website works.
Do Your Keyword Research - Keywords are still king when it comes to SEO, so don't neglect the importance of keyword research. The most crucial aspect of choosing good keywords is calculating the relative volume of keywords against each other.
Include URLs That Are SEO Friendly - Use keywords in your file names and URLs, but don't overdo it. Use hyphens instead of underscores because the search engines treat hyphens as spaces, but not underscores. However, too many hyphens can make your URL look spammy to visitors, costing you valuable clicks.
Use Keyword Focused Titles And Meta Tags - Use your most important keyword in your title tag. This is one of the simplest, but most critical SEO techniques. It's difficult to rank highly for certain keywords if they aren't included in your title tag. Make sure you also include a keyword focused meta description in your pages. While your meta description won't do much to help your rankings, you can encourage people to click with a good description because it often appears in the search engine listings. Some webmasters use misspelled keywords in their meta description. Since many people misspell words in an online search, webmasters want to include common misspellings as part of their SEO campaign, but are hesitant to have misspelled words on their website pages so they use them in their meta description.
Open A PPC Account - It doesn't matter whether you choose a Yahoo! or Google pay-per-click account, by opening an account and testing ads you can easily get the actual search volume for the keywords you choose. It also provides you with instant search engine visibility, whereas SEO can take time.
Create Unique And Informative Content - This is hugely important in effective SEO. While it's simple for some websites and just takes a little time and effort, retail websites often neglect this. For example, when you're selling the same product as ninety other online retailers, you should steer clear of the boilerplate manufacturer descriptions and choose to create your own unique product descriptions full of keywords. Do this and you'll not only gain inbound links from other websites, but you'll also blow away your competition.
Write For Your Readers - While some SEO companies may encourage you to write for the search engines, it doesn't do much to help your rankings and can actually hurt your website, as readers won't return to a hard to read website. Always write for your readers. Include keywords in your text, but make sure it's still readable.
Build Your Links Strategically - Submit your website to trusted web directories like DMOZ, Yahoo, and Best of the Web. Only seek inbound links from authority websites in the same topic or industry as your website. If geographical area is important to your rankings, pursue an inbound link from your local Chamber of Commerce. Keep in mind that quality of inbound links is better than quantity of links. For example, an inbound link from a dating advice website won't do much to boost the rankings of your storage shed website, but an inbound like from an authority website like Home Depot could send you higher in the organic rankings.
Link Internally With Keyword Anchor Text - By linking anchor text, you tell the search engine spiders what your website is about. Never use 'click here' as your anchor text for a link. All this does is tell the search engines your website is about 'click here.'
Blog And Post On Other Blogs - The search engines love blogs, especially those updated often with new postings, because they are full of fresh content. By attaching a blog to your website via a URL like www.yourwebsiteurl/blog, you will gain more attention from the search engines. Post helpful comments on other blogs within your industry as well, always including your link in the signature. Never include a link in your comment or it may be deleted for being spammy.
Don't Overlook Press Releases - Many webmasters overlook the usefulness of press releases and developing a good relationship with the traditional media. You can receive incredible coverage and exposure for your website by distributing press releases online, but remember to only issue a release when you have real news or you'll alienate the media if you produce fluff releases for the heck of it. Not only does this increase your media coverage, but press releases also provide you with valuable inbound links. Just imagine how much attention your website might receive if Fox News or CNN were to pick up your press release.
Consider Social Media - If you have a service related business, consider posting comments on Q&A social media websites like Yahoo! Answers. This will not only gain you valuable inbound links (in your signature only, please), but will help you establish yourself as an expert. Consider contributing photographs and videos to Flickr and YouTube to further use social media. By becoming an active member of the online social community, you can interact with potential customers without them really knowing you're trying to sell them.
Local SEO Is Valuable - Since many people include a geographical area when searching online, it only makes sense to use your locality as an SEO tactic. For example, when searching for a real estate agent, most people will search with their area in mind, such as 'Atlanta real estate agent.' Regardless of your type of business, by optimizing your website for your local area you can benefit from higher rankings. Include a location and directions page in your website using your area as a keyword. List your website with any local directories like Local, Yelp, and CitySearch.
Use Search Engine Tools - The search engines themselves can help you rank higher if you make use of the tools they provide. For example, Yahoo! Site Explorer and Google Webmaster Central will give you an idea of how the search engines view your website and will show you the number of inbound links they find.
Broaden Your Tactics - You may get a ton of traffic from Yahoo! today, but that may all change with the next algorithm change so you need to broaden your tactics instead of focusing on one or two methods. Subscriber websites with email newsletters present a way for controlling and holding onto potential visitors regardless of what happens with the algorithms. Other things like blogging and social media can also help you grow a loyal audience that isn't dependent on the search engines.
Ask Questions - If you decide not to tackle SEO on your own, consider hiring an SEO company. Make sure to ask plenty of questions so you know the tactics used. Don't be afraid to ask for specifics and inquire about possible risks. Some SEO techniques can actually hurt your search engine rankings, so know what tactics your prospective SEO company employs.
By keeping these SEO issues in mind, you should be able to make a plan that takes your small business website from obscurity to first page rankings. If it seems a little overwhelming, let the experts at Out of this World SEO take care of it for you so you can focus on building your business.
Click to contact us today! We're ready to help you.
