Search Engine Optimization for Total Beginners
Google and other search engines are the gateway to your business, and getting high page ranks somewhere in the first page of listings, is important for driving business to your site. There are companies out there that will promise you the moon, the stars, and, by the way, page rankings so high that you’ll cheerfully pay them hundreds of dollars every month for their services.
Getting organic web traffic is usually one of the most desirable goals in web promotion. This definition means when someone types in a search engine a word or phrase, these are the websites the search pulls up. This is different than the paid ads you find to the right column, which can be a very expensive route to go. Here’s what search engine optimization comes down to:
1. Content, content, content. You need real content on your web, this is content that has real meaning to real people, not just stuffing a bunch of keywords that make no sense. Search engines use programs called web crawlers or web spiders that list web sites. The one thing those web crawlers looks for is content. They figure out if a site has content by tracing keyword phrases. This is why search engine optimization usually starts by picking keywords and writing content around them; many web site marketing experts advocate writing a high density of the same keywords, but doing too much of this can actually work against you.
2. Link backs provide validation. The more links leading back to your site, particularly links that are in contextually appropriate content, the higher your page ranking will be. Ways to get these link backs range from link exchanges with other companies in related marketing niches, to having articles about the topic or niche you’re selling to with links back to your site, to social networking sites and Squidoo Lenses.
3. Updated and fresh content. This is important both for your human visitors as well as the web spiders. When both see there’s new content added at least 3 times a week, they will be more likely to come back more often. It takes an average of seven visits before someone will purchase a product or post on a forum, so it’s important to give both reason to return to your site.
4. Navigational links that are clear and make sense from your main home page. There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to find what you are looking for easily, most visitors will leave quickly if it’s seems too confusing to find what they are looking for.
5. Text means everything in web content. Search engine crawlers ignore Javascript, they disregard graphics, and until recently, they couldn’t read text in Flash animations. If the search engine spiders can’t read it, it doesn’t help your page rankings.
The real secret to long term success with web site optimization is to make sure your site is usable and interesting, both to the search engine spiders and to your human visitors. Keep adding fresh content that makes them both want to come back for more, and your site will continue to grow in popularity with both.
Filed under: SEO