When thinking about how to get high position for your website there are a number
of fundamentals that you can apply.
These involve on-site optimization and linking (off site optimization). In this
article, we are going to cover the fundamentals of search engine optimization. We will
give you some ideas that will help you to frame a program for your business.
This article will also introduce you to the importance of back-links and how back
links or in-coming links can be your special advantage over your competition. Back
links can be the essential missing ingredient in a search engine optimization program.
Why is search engine optimization important to your business?
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Well-done search engine optimization puts your business in position to do business.
High search engine position means more people interested in your products and
services visit your website.
When someone is searching for a product or service that you can provide and
finds your business at the exact time that they are searching then your
business is in a perfect position to conduct business.
To set up a well defined program to get target traffic to your website then
follow these fundament steps.
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Make a Keyword Phrase List
When you first think about your important keywords think about your main products or
services. What would you use if you where going to use a search engine to search for
your business but did not know that your business even existed? Consider how other
people may think about the problem that your product or service solves.
Also, think about whether your business is geographically focused or whether there is no
need to have geographic search terms. This is important as some businesses need only to
be found if people are searching for a product or service in a specific geographic area.
Expand the Keyword List
Try as you might we are certain that there will be search terms that you have not
thought of. You can use an online service such as Word Tracker or you can purchase
software that can help you to expand your list of keyword phrases. You can also ask
other people what search phrases they would use to find your business.
This can be a time consuming part of the project but it is a very important part.
Rank the List
This next part is tricky but very important for the business success of your search
engine optimization project.
You now need to rank the keyword list in the order of most effective for your
business to the least. One of the ways search engine optimization experts use to do
this is to order the keywords in terms of KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index).
The idea of KEI is to understand how many people are searching using a particular
keyword phrase (the demand) and to also understand the number of competing sites for
that keyword phrase (the competition). KEI is a measure of demand and competition.
The "golden" KEI phrases are the ones with high demand (people searches) and relatively
low competition (competing websites). This is where you will need either specialized
software or the support of a SEO expert as you will need access to online databases
that track the demand (people searches).
Once you have defined and ordered your keyword set you are ready to plan out the search
engine optimization program.
You need to work with your webmaster or your SEO Experts to define:
- Which phrases will be used for on-site optimization?
- Which phrases will be used for off-site optimization (back linking)?
- Which phrases will be used for both on-site and off-site optimization?
These will be the phrases with the best chance to bring in targeted visitors.
- Which phrases will be used for PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
We will not discuss PPC in this article. It is a topic for another article.
On-Site Optimization
It is important to realize that your site has limited ability to be optimized. Think
of it this way. If you have 10 pages on your website and each page can be optimized
effectively for 2 keyword phrases then you can effectively optimize your site for a
set of 20 keywords phrases.
If you only have 10 pages then the more you try to optimize the site for more than
20 keywords phrases it is likely that you will be diluting the overall effort and
you could perhaps drop in position. This is a major mistake we have seen many
webmasters make.
If you want to optimize for more keywords then you need to add more content to your
website and this will most likely require you to add more pages.
Off-Site Optimization
You should use off-site optimization to further boost your site up in search engine
position. Off site optimization is getting links from other websites back into your website.
This aspect of your program must be well aligned with what you do on your website as
linking text used off your site should be matched with the keyword text phrases you
have used on your site.
Both On-Site and Off Site Optimization
For your most competitive keyword phrases or for the phrases that will have the biggest
revenue impact on your business you will want to use a combination of on-site and
off-site optimization.
To effectively combine both can really give your site a boost over your competition.
Overall, it is difficult to get links into your site with important keyword phrases.
That is why businesses that invest in the time and effort to do this are rewarded with
higher search position compared to their competitors.
Advice:
- Define a specific set of keywords and rank them in the order of most valuable
to your business to the least.
- Define an SEO plan that includes both on-site and off-site optimization and
mesh both aspects well.
- Measure the results and make adjustments to improve against your competition.
Next Step:
If you would like Website Link Tactics to help you to get links into your website
that are keyword-based and embedded in paragraphs with text related to your
business then give us a call.
We will be happy to discuss how linking can help boost up your position in the
search engines and help to drive targeted traffic to your website.
Also, you can simply fill out the form on our Inquiry Page and we will get back to
you shortly.
Printable Version: Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals (PDF).
