You've probably heard the term "search engine optimization" thrown around a lot lately, but what does it really mean? What are search engines and why do we care? How can you use SEO to improve your business' web presence? In this article I'll answer all of these questions.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization". It's simply a way to increase the number of visitors coming to your website from search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc. The goal of search engine optimization is to make sure that when people enter keywords related to your product or service into the search box on their browser they find you. This is done by improving the ranking of your site in the search results so that your site appears at the top of the list rather than buried somewhere near the bottom of page 10 or further down.
Why Does It Matter?
We live in an era where more than 90% of consumer purchases happen online. If someone needs something, chances are good they will look for it online first - if only because they're used to doing it. So it's essential that your website be optimized so that it ranks highly in the search engines. You don't want your potential customers to have to click through page after page before finding exactly what they need.
How Can You Use SEO To Your Advantage?
There are two main ways to optimize your website for search engines:
- Using good technical design (HTML code)
- Getting high rankings in search engines through content
Technical Design
The most important thing about optimizing your website for search engines is making sure that it has good HTML code. The HTML code tells the search engine spiders how to interpret your site and what to index it for. Make sure your HTML code follows certain rules so that the search engines know what your site is about.
Here are some common SEO mistakes that people make - avoid them!
1. Having duplicate titles. Each time you add new pages to your website, you should change the title tag on each one as well. A title tag is basically a little paragraph that gives the search engines a quick summary of what your page is about. Keep your titles short and simple. Think of the search engines as being like blind people who just happen to be looking at your website. They're not going to read every word of your page.
2. Not using alt tags. An alt tag is another little sentence that describes what a picture is supposed to represent on your page. For instance, if you have a picture of a red flower on your page, you might put something like "Red Flower" in the alt tag. The search engines will pick up on this and show the image to blind users instead of the text.
3. Not using H1 & H2 tags. H1 and H2 tags are the ones that appear in bold type at the top of your webpage. Again, this helps the search engines figure out what your page is all about.
4. Not using meta descriptions. Meta descriptions are brief sentences that describe what a particular page is about without having to actually display a picture that would take up too much space.
5. Not having a robots.txt file. This is a text document that tells the search engines what pages you don't want indexed.
6. Not having proper keyword density. Keyword density refers to how often specific words occur throughout your site. Don't stuff your entire site with keywords. Instead, make sure that your keywords are spread evenly across the different sections of your site.
Content
The second most important thing to do to optimize your website for search engines is to create content that is informative and relevant to the keywords people are searching for. There's no point in creating a bunch of pages that nobody ever visits if the search engines can't find anything useful on those pages.
How Do You Create Content That Is Relevant?
If you aren't writing articles yourself, you may want to hire someone else to help you out. Or you could learn things yourself and write your own articles. Either way, here are some tips to keep in mind.
Tip 1: Write About Things People Want To Read About
As a general rule, it's better to write about topics that people are already interested in. If you were to ask 100 random people what kind of articles they'd prefer to see, you'd probably get 100 different answers. But the reality is that there are a few types of articles people are interested in reading over others. These include:
- Articles about the latest news
- Reviews of products
- How-to guides
- Tips for healthy living
- Stories about hobbies and interests
These three categories cover almost any topic imaginable and are likely to interest a large group of people. Try to think of other types of articles that would appeal to readers and write about them.
Tip 2: Write About Topics That Are Hot Right Now
Most people who use search engines are looking for information right now. If you're trying to attract attention, you should make sure your articles are timely.
Tip 3: Write Well-Structured Articles
One of the best ways to attract traffic is to make your articles easy to understand and interesting enough to compel readers to stop and read them. One of the easiest ways to do this is to follow a standard structure. Here's a basic outline of a great article:
- Introduction
- Background Information
- Discussion
- Conclusion/Recommendation
This format keeps your articles focused while allowing you to provide lots of helpful information in a small amount of space.
Once you've written all the articles you want, make sure to submit them to free article directories like EzineArticles, GoArticles, and ArticleBase.
Tips for Writing Good Articles
- Start With A Strong Topic Line
- Have A Credible Author
- Provide A Reason Why Readers Should Care
- Avoid Plagiarism
- Include Keywords
- Use Descriptive Titles And Headings
And Finally...
Keep in mind that there's no magic formula that guarantees a high ranking in the search engines. But if you put in the effort to create quality content and then work hard to promote it, you'll eventually start seeing higher rankings in the search engines.