There has been much talk about search-engine optimization or getting found on the search engines under your niche market. Additionally, small businesses are being launched at a phenomenal rates, each with their own web presence. In order for the small business with its limited advertising budget to be competitive, a critical need for website optimization exists.
Following are some Key Tips for making your website more visible to your customer on the world-wide-web.
Tip #1 – Add keywords & description ‘meta’ tags to all of your pages.
The keywords you use should be chosen with your primary target customer in mind. They should be specific, not general. For instance, instead of ‘website design’, you might use ‘custom website designs for small Business’ or ‘unique website designs for DFW’. Each page of your website should have a unique set of keywords and description ‘meta’ tags.
Tip #2 – Give each page of your website a different title.
The title of the page should accurately reflect the content of that page. You can join more than two keywords together in a title by using a bracket between them. For instance, ‘Custom Website Design | Internet Marketing’, is an example of using two keywords together in a title.
Tip #3 – Write the content as if you are talking naturally to a real person.
Think about it, people want to read articles on the internet as if a real person is talking to them. Make the context natural, not canned. Thoroughly explain the ideas behind your topic on each page without making the reader skip around unnecessarily. Don’t use buzz words or language specific to an advanced reader in the field unless your target customer will be knowledgeable in that field.
Tip #4 – After writing the content, go back and try to insert your keywords into the document.
When the articles have been written, find places where you can naturally insert your keywords n the text. This will have the effect of putting the keywords there for the search-engine spiders to count without making your text unnatural to your readers. Try to find a minimum of 3 places where you can naturally enter the keyword. Then read the document again to make sure that it will still sound natural to your customers.
Tip #5 – Look for free listings that you can have in a directory of companies that offer your services.
There are numerous free directory services out in cyberspace. Of course they would like for you to upgrade to their paid listings. In fact they will remind you of this frequently. However, you still add to your rankings by being listed in the free portion of their directory. Many of the National directories like Yahoo, CitySearch and Google also have free local directories you can sign up for. They will give you local placement in the search engines when a search is done on your keyword in that local area.
Tip #6 – Add ‘Google Analytics’ to your website so that you can measure your results.
Google provides a free service on their website called Google Analytics. This service is completely free for anyone to use. All you have to do is go to http://www.google.com/analytics and sign-up. Then you copy the html to put into every page of your website. Now Google will keep track of the traffic coming to your website and present it to you in a nice format. You can tell who is looking at your website, where they are from, how long they were on your site, etc.
This will help you in changing up your website for greater appeal to your customers.
Tip #7 – Write articles and publish them in article marketing directories.
Article marketing is an efficient way to not only build your credibility as an expert, but also increases your search-engine ranking. Inbound one-way links are crucial to increasing your SEO ranking. At the end of your article, you can provide a link back to your website in the signature area. This technique gives you double the benefits for success in online search-engine placement.
Tip #8 – Publicize your website using social media networks.
Social media networks not only give you exposure to large numbers of people, they can also increase the search-engine ranking of your website. While you don’t want to blatantly advertise your website by using social networks, there are still ways to promote it by demonstrating your knowledge of your particular niche. If you have a special promotion, you can always link back to the page of your website with the promotion information.
Tip # 9 – Launch PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns to advertise to your target market.
While a permanent pay-per-click campaign can be devastating on your financial bottom line, a temporary campaign can be very useful in generating some organic search-engine traffic your way. In other words, it’s a great way to get the word out about your business and maybe get a few people to bookmark your website. During the campaign, it is important to measure and adjust the ads on a weekly basis. You will also want to try out different ads to get an idea of the needs of your target market. This technique can also be useful in analyzing your conversions and editing the content of your pages.
Search-engine optimization is an ongoing task that all businesses must be engaged in. The need is more critical than ever for small businesses to be vigilant in evaluating and adjusting their internet advertising campaign on an ongoing basis. For more information regarding your online marketing presence, consider enrolling in one of our search-engine classes or having a low-cost evaluation of your website.
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