Search engine optimization, otherwise known as SEO, is a popular online marketing tool for businesses. SEO encompasses a wide range tactics businesses use to be seen on popular search engines. By altering the site structure, the site content, and even references and links across the web, it is possible to make a website be seen more often by customers. Businesses, such as Amazon and Zappos, use SEO on a grand scale, and receive millions of visitors because of it. Want to get in on the action? Here are tips to start your SEO marketing campaign.
Start By Tweaking Your Site
Search engines prefer to rank websites by popularity and usefulness. However, search engines have several branch meanings for “useful.” Useful implies that a URL name will relate to what people type in a search engine, that the topics on the website correspond to what people type, and the subject on the page connects to the previous two. It will also check introductory and closing statements on the page and any directory links. So to capitalize on this, do these following things:
*Use Keyword-rich domains (e.g. redroses.com instead of mywebsite1.com) if possible.
*Include a state or city name in the URL if you only help local customers.
*Place directory links to your website on pages which relate to your business.
*Incorporate sentences that include keywords that best describe your business in your pages.
*Never leave URL webpages with a default title.
*Be sure to include as many topics as feasible which relate on your main page.
Amazon is a terrific example for SEO marketing, because they relate every good relevant fact that people want to see in a product on their website, it is also organized efficiently, it has reasonably spread keywords across the entire page, and they include the product name within their URL. In short, Amazon gives search engines no excuse to leave them off a relevant search engine results page. Interestingly, they also allow people to inadvertently give them free SEO keyword help, through normal commentary in the form of user-generated reviews.
Understand Ranking Concepts
Search engines are programmed differently, but they attempt to answer one question: what is the best way to connect a searcher with the most relevant websites? This has resulted in a line of marketing tactics which attempt to increase website visibility, some good, others bad. SEO marketing relies on doing things that are productive. Here are some common examples of what not to do:
*Don’t incorporate keywords that don’t specifically relate to your website.
*Don’t stuff keywords in the back or bottom of the web page.
*Don’t forget your websites purpose – why it is valuable to your visitors. Focus on this.
*Don’t forget to regularly update your website and add pages of fresh, useful content.
Google will continually update its algorithm to prevent users from “tricking” it, so chances are that by the time you use a bad tactic like keyword stuffing (which hasn’t worked in a decade), Google’s highly-paid engineers will have already figured out a way to make that tactic worthless. Sometimes, websites can actually be penalized by Google for using these tactics. Effective SEO is about earning rankings, not tricking search engines.
What I’ve covered in this article has barely scratched the surface of SEO tactics. Since Search Engine Optimization is such a huge opportunity to reach potential customers, email me and let’s talk about creating a comprehensive strategy that will turn you into an online leader in your field.
Flowchart image by KROMKRATHOG
6 thoughts on “What is SEO? – A Quick Glance”