21 Essential SEO Tips & Techniques
Businesses
are growing more aware of the need to understand and implement at
least the basics of.
But if you read a variety of blogs and
websites, you’ll quickly see that there’s a lot of uncertainty
over what makes up “the basics.” Without access to high-level
consulting and without a lot of experience knowing what SEO resources
can be trusted, there’s also a lot of misinformation about SEO
strategies and tactics.
1.
Commit yourself to the process.SEO
isn’t a one-time event. Search engine algorithms change regularly,
so the tactics that worked last year may not work this year. SEO
requires a long-term outlook and commitment.
2.
Be patient.SEO
isn’t about instant gratification. Results often take months to
see, and this is especially true the smaller you are, and the newer
you are to doing business online.
3.
Ask a lot of questions when hiring an SEO company.It’s
your job to know what kind of tactics the company uses. Ask for
specifics. Ask if there are any risks involved. Then get online
yourself and do your own research—about the company, about the
tactics they discussed, and so forth.
4.
Become a student of SEO.If
you’re taking the do-it-yourself route, you’ll have to become a
student of SEO and learn as much as you can. Luckily for you, there
are plenty of great web resources (like Search
Engine Land)
and several terrific books you can read.
5.
Have web analytics in place at the start.You
should have clearly defined goals for your SEO efforts, and you’ll
need web analytics software in place so you can track what’s
working and what’s not.
6.
Build a great web site.I’m
sure you want to show up on the first page of results. Ask yourself,
“Is my site really
one
of the 10 best sites in the world on this topic?” Be honest. If
it’s not, make it better.
7.
Include a site map page.Spiders
can’t index pages that can’t be crawled. A site map will help
spiders find all the important pages on your site, and help the
spider understand your site’s hierarchy. This is especially helpful
if your site has a hard-to-crawl navigation menu. If your site is
large, make several site map pages. Keep each one to less than 100
links. I tell clients 75 is the max to be safe.
8.
Make SEO-friendly URLs.Use
keywords in your URLs and file names, such
asyourdomain.com/red-widgets.html.
Don’t overdo it, though. A file with 3+ hyphens tends to look
spammy and users may be hesitant to click on it.Related
bonus tip:Use
hyphens in URLs and file names, not underscores. Hyphens are treated
as a “space,” while underscores are not.
9.
Do keyword research at the start of the project.if
you’re on a tight budget, use the free versions of Keyword
Discovery or
WordTracker,
both of which also have more powerful paid versions. Ignore the
numbers these tools show; what’s important is the relative volume
of one keyword to another. Another good free tool is Google’s
AdWords
Keyword Tool,
which doesn’t show exact numbers.
10.
Open up a PPC account.Whether
it’s Google’s AdWords, Microsoft adCenter or something else, this
is a great way to get actual
search volume for
your keywords. Yes, it costs money, but if you have the budget it’s
worth the investment. It’s also the solution if you didn’t like
the “Be patient” suggestion above and are looking for instant
visibility.
11.
Use a unique and relevant title and meta description on every
page.The
page title is the single most important on-page SEO factor. It’s
rare to rank highly for a primary term (2-3 words) without that term
being part of the page title. The meta description tag won’t help
you rank, but it will often appear as the text snippet below your
listing, so it should include the relevant keyword(s) and be written
so as to encourage searchers to click on your listing.Related
bonus tip:You
can ignore the Keywords meta tag, as no major search engine today
supports it.
12.
Write for users first.Google,
Yahoo, etc., have pretty powerful bots crawling the web, but to my
knowledge these bots have never bought anything online, signed up for
a newsletter, or picked up the phone to call about your services.
Humans do those things, so write your page copy with humans in mind.
Yes, you need keywords in the text, but don’t stuff each page like
a Thanksgiving turkey. Keep it readable.
13.
Create great, unique content.This
is important for everyone, but it’s a particular challenge for
online retailers. If you’re selling the same widget that 50 other
retailers are selling, and everyone is using the boilerplate
descriptions from the manufacturer, this is a great opportunity.
Write your own product descriptions, using the keyword research you
did earlier (see #9 above) to target actual words searchers use, and
make product pages that blow the competition away. Plus, retailer or
not, great content is a great way to get inbound links.
14.
Use your keywords as anchor text when linking internally.Anchor
text helps tells spiders what the linked-to page is about. Links that
say “click here” do nothing for your search engine visibility.
15.
Build links intelligently.Begin
with foundational links like trusted directories. (YahooandDMOZare
often cited as examples, but don’t waste time worrying about DMOZ
submission. Submit it and forget it.) Seek links from authority sites
in your industry. If local search matters to you (more on that coming
up), seek links from trusted sites in your geographic area — the
Chamber of Commerce, local business directories, etc. Analyze the
inbound links to your competitors to find links you can acquire, too.
Create great content on a consistent basis and use social media to
build awareness and links. (A blog is great for this; see below.)
16.
Use press releases wisely.Developing
a relationship with media covering your industry or your local region
can be a great source of exposure, including getting links from
trusted media web sites. Distributing releases online can be an
effective link building tactic, and opens the door for exposure in
news search sites.Related
bonus tip:Only
issue a release when you have something newsworthy to report. Don’t
waste journalists’ time.
17.
Start a blog and participate with other related blogs.Search
engines, Google especially, love blogs for the fresh content and
highly-structured data. Beyond that, there’s no better way to join
the conversations that are already taking place about your industry
and/or company. Reading and commenting on other blogs can also
increase your exposure and help you acquire new links.Related
bonus tip:Put
your blog at yourdomain.com/blog
so
your main domain gets the benefit of any links to your blog posts. If
that’s not possible, useblog.yourdomain.com.
18.
Use social media marketing wisely.If
your business has a visual element, join the appropriate communities
on Flickr
and
post high-quality photos there. If you’re a service-oriented
business, use Quora
and/or
Yahoo
Answers to
position yourself as an expert in your industry. Any business should
also be looking to make use of Twitter
and
Facebook,
as social information and signals from these are
being used as part of search engine rankings for
Google and Bing. With any social media site you use, the first rule
is don’t
spam! Be
an active, contributing member of the site. The idea is to interact
with potential customers, not annoy them.
19.
Take advantage of local search opportunities. Online
research for offline buying is a growing trend. Optimize your site to
catch local traffic by showing your address and local phone number
prominently. Write a detailed Directions/Location page using
neighborhoods and landmarks in the page text. Submit your site to the
free local listings services that the major search engines offer.
Make sure your site is listed in local/social directories such as
CitySearch, Yelp, Local.com, etc., and encourage customers to leave
reviews of your business on these sites, too.
21.
Diversify your traffic sources. Google
may bring you 70% of your traffic today, but what if the next big
algorithm update hits you hard? What if your Google visibility goes
away tomorrow? Newsletters and other subscriber-based content can
help you hold on to traffic/customers no matter what the search
engines do. In fact, many of the DOs on this list—creating great
content, starting a blog, using social media and local search,
etc.—will help you grow an audience of loyal prospects and
customers that may help you survive the whims of search engines.
Author Info:
The
primary objective of Sunlight
IT is to deliver natural and affordable SEO
services. Sunlight It provides natural SEO services which insensibly
provide naturally driven traffic. SEO services comprise of thorough
keyword research and analysis. It forms a major part in the entire
search engine
optimization process.
www.sunlightit.com
