Is Search Engine Optimization, SEO, worth it?
If you’re questioning whether you should be using search engine optimization to increase your website’s rankings, you probably should start waving now because you’re watching the parade go by. Without SEO you won’t be in the search engines for the long term. And you are in business for the long term, right? You probably can get by with PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaigns but unless you have deep pockets that can add up fast. SEO is the way to go to have longevity. Now in order to get that longevity you or your SEO consultant will be putting in some work. Getting listed high now-a-days is hard, time consuming work. But if done right the pay off is sweet. To give you an idea of some of the things that are involved with search engine optimization I’ll list out some things to help you get started.
1. Website Tracking – Most people wait until they’ve changed everything then they want to start tracking their visitors. Well you have to know where you’ve been to know where you’re going. You will want to install some type of analytical script on your website to keep track of your visitors. My recommendation is Google Analytics. It’s FREE, it’s easy to use, and it gives you a lot of the information you need.
2. Keyword Analysis – First things first you want to know what keywords people are using and how competitive they are. You’re looking for key phrases that are searched often but are not very competitive. I recommend using Google’s Adwords keyword tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) or Webconfs website (www.webconfs.com). Webconfs has a lot of little tools that will give you a little more insight.
3. On-Page Optimization – Once you know what key phrase(s) you want to use you’ll want to place them strategically throughout your page. You want to try and put it in the URL (www.yourdomain.com/keyphrase). You definitely want them to go in the Meta Tag (Title Tag, Keyword Tag, and Description). Make sure they are sprinkled throughout your page content. If you have pictures try to name the pictures the same as your key phrase and use alt tags. All of the other pages on your website should be linking to that page using the key phrase. One thing that really helps your acceptance into the search engines is having an XML site-map. This allows the search engines to be notified every time you add a page or change some content.
4. Link Building – And last but definitely not least is the all important Link Building. Just like High School, it’s a popularity contest, who ever it the most popular gets all the girls or guys. This step is very important and the most time consuming and the one that will continue forever. You want to focus your attention on where you’re getting links because it is about quantity but search engine really pay attention to quality. Your links should be from sites with similar content and preferably with high page ranks. Don’t worry about reciprocal linking because they don’t hold much weight anymore. Though a little is ok. You want one-way links. You get those by submitting articles, releasing press releases, blog posts or blog commenting, and utilizing today’s Social Media. Yes, you need a Facebook, Myspace or Linkedin Page. You also want to look into social bookmarking sites as well such as Digg, Stumble upon, Delicious. You can join others but at the rate they are popping up its kind-of hard to keep track.
Like I said before, if done right the pay-off is sweet. Search Engine Optimization is not to be used for quick results. Remember this is for the long term. You want to be around for years to come right.
