The Basics of SEO for Small Businesses
In the context of search engine optimization, many people associate the optimized site with a site with great search engine rankings. Throw in a little fairy dust here, ditch the magic wand there and God...a great dish of first page rankings for the most competitive keyword terms on the internet. [Insert the annoying alarm that signals the end of the internet marketing streak of flashy dreams]
The truth is, if you think that you will achieve rankings for competitive keyword terms simply by adding a few keywords to your website, then you need to push yourself to be dreaming. Do a search for your primary keyword terms and you'll see a descending list, several deep pages of websites that have been "optimized" with varying degrees of success. The key is to understand the factors that distinguish those who rank on the first page from those who do not.
The attributes that determine search engine rankings can be categorized into two basic categories; "On-page factors" and "off-page factors". In the most basic sense, on-page factors have to do with the themes within your website and off-page factors have to do with the attributes that occur outside of your website. In a way, on-page factors tell motors what you think of yourself, while off-page factors tell motors what the Internet in general thinks of you.
Let's deal with the factors on the page first, shall we? The first step is to identify the keywords people are searching for when they are searching for the products or services you offer. Keyword tools like WordTracker and KeywordDiscovery let you know how many people are searching for a particular search term and offer suggestions for related keyword terms. Use the tool to match two or three suitable keywords to each of the web pages within your site. Once you have identified your keywords, include them in the various html elements of your web pages including title tags, meta tags, header tags, ALT tags, and text content. This will ensure that search engines rank your pages with the keywords you are targeting.
Ok now we got all the 'page' stuff, your site should start climbing fast to the top of the engines, right? Well, not exactly. The competition between you and others depends on the strength of your keyword terms dear blogger. [Insert off-page factors] Off-page factors relate to the quantity and quality of links from external web pages. Algorithms that determine search engine rankings rely heavily on external linking in evaluating the authority or credibility of websites. In contrast, sites that have achieved 'authority status' end up ranking higher than those that have not yet achieved such status.
A high-quality backlink is a link from a related web page that contains the keyword you are trying to rank for in the anchor text of the link. To get high quality, professional backlinks there are a number of such methods. Submit your site to Internet directories like Yahoo or DMOZ.org, ask your business partners or other friendly websites to link to you, or consult a professional SEO marketing firm certified in the art of link building.