Do you want to discover top search engine
optimization strategies so you can get top rankings in Google, Yahoo and MSN search
results for free?
Of course you do!
According to Marketing Sherpa, almost 134 million people in
the U.S. regularly use search engines when looking for information online. And of that
number, 63% look ONLY at the first page of results -- at most!
In fact, almost 25% of all American searchers look only at
the first few listings and completely ignore the rest.
So How Do You Get Your Website in the Top Listings?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the umbrella term for
all the different strategies you can use to try to earn top rankings in the listings of
the free search engines like Google and Yahoo. These are called "organic" or
"natural" listings.
To make SEO work for you, it's important to pay close
attention to how search engine spiders index or list web sites, and then use that
information to direct the way you want the search engines to index YOUR web site.
When you're just getting started with SEO, it can seem a
little overwhelming to know where to begin.
Top Key Search Engine Optimization Strategies You Should
Begin With
1. Find the hottest keywords for your
market/website:
Choose effective keywords. This MUST be the starting point
for any and all SEO efforts. You're better off to go with "long-tail" keyword
phrases that answer a specific question instead of general terms, e.g., "wash big
longhaired dog" rather than "dog shampoo."
2. Plug keywords into the right locations in your
copy and code:
Give the search engines the information they need in all
the right places. Your website is full of "hotspots" the spiders check regularly
for keywords. In your code you'll want to put your main keywords for each page in the:
- Title tag
- Heading and subhead tags (H1, H2, etc.)
- Meta description
- Image tags
- Alt text
And if at all possible, have a keyword-rich URL too!
3. Always ensure that your content relates to the
keywords you're using:
If you sprinkle keywords like "guaranteed weight
loss" throughout your website, but your site sells shoes, you definitely won't be
helping yourself.
Even if your keywords are all over the site, the search
engines won't rank you for those words because the rest of the content on the site has
nothing to do with the subject. If you offer a number of products, try creating different
keyword-rich pages for specific items you have for sale.
4. Keep the "spiders" coming back with
frequent new or updated content:
The more fresh and relevant content search engine spiders
find, the higher the spiders are likely to rank your site. How do you keep them
interested?
Keep all the copy on your pages current, including any
changes or updates to your business or products. Make sure to archive any newsletters or
bulletins you send out on your site.
For even more "spider food", try starting a blog
or forum on your website to keep traffic heading back for daily updates and discussion.
5. Collect links from other sites that are
considered reputable and relevant:
Search engines love natural, relevant inbound links. If you
really want to improve your results, you'll want to avoid "link farms" and
bought links. Focus your strategy on politely requesting one-way links from sites with
high natural ranking in the search engines.
Distributing free articles and press releases is also a
great way of gaining quality inbound links to your site. Services like PR Leads Article
Marketing Experts will help you build link popularity and simultaneously get you more
targeted traffic, leads and sales.
And don't forget the power of social networking! By taking
part in online communities or uploading your videos to sites like YouTube, you can not
only drive new traffic to your website, you can get new sites linking to yours.
6. Use a sitemap to boost your ranking in Google,
Yahoo, AND Windows Live Search:
Sitemaps help the spiders find their way through all your
pages.
And with the new sitemaps formatting protocol, these three
search titans are giving website owners more clues than ever before on how to help the
spiders index their sites.
SEO should be at the core of your overall Internet
marketing strategy. It's one of the most inexpensive and effective approaches available to
you. In fact, much of what you can do to optimize your web site for the organic search
engines is totally FREE. And, there are many more search engine optimization strategies
you can learn and apply to get top search engine rankings in Google, Yahoo and MSN! |
