Businesses are growing more aware of the need to understand
and implement at least the basics of search
engine optimization (SEO). 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. (Yes, actual printed
books!) See our What Is SEO page for a variety of articles, books
and resources.
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. (Yahoo and DMOZ are 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 atyourdomain.com/blog so your main domain gets the benefit
of any links to your blog posts. If that’s not possible, use blog.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 andFacebook, 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 isdon’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.
20. Take advantage of the tools the search engines give
you. Sign up for Google
Webmaster Central, Bing Webmaster
Tools and Yahoo Site Explorer to learn more about how the search
engines see your site, including how many inbound links they’re aware of.
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.
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