Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a strategy to understand and
leverage how search engines like Google and Yahoo! rank results. The
goal is for your website to be listed at the top of relevant search
results so prospects investigate your offerings before those of your
competitors.
There are two types of search engine optimization strategies: organic
and paid. Organic SEO involves building your website in such a way that
search engine spiders find key words and links so that your site comes
up at the top of search requests. Paid SEO involves placing
pay-per-click (PPC) ads on Google AdWords, Yahoo Overture, or other
search engines. PPC advertising is a fast and effective way to generate
leads and boost website traffic. Unlike organic SEO, which may take
weeks to generate results, you can have a PPC ad up and running within a
matter of minutes. Together, organic and PPC advertising can result in
immediate leads and a significant return on marketing investment.
Here are the typical steps involved in an SEO project:
Step 1: Analyze and Select Keywords
Keyword analysis is the process of determining which key words or
phrases your prospects are most likely to type into search engines to
find the solutions you offer. Use your internal staff, competitor’s web
site, web analytics tools and PPC ads to help you select the optimal
words and phrases.
SEO vendors analyze log files and use web analytics technology to
identify the words and phrases prospects are using to find your site and
that of your competitors. A free utility such as the Overture Search
Term Suggestion Tool suggests search terms and tells you how many times
they are entered into the search engines in a given month.
Step 2: Enhance Content
Once you have a targeted list of keywords and phrases, you should begin
the process of incorporating them into all parts of your website,
including URLs, meta keywords and descriptions, titles, text and links.
Not long ago, it was sufficient to only incorporate the keywords into
your site’s meta index. This is no longer the case. Search engines rank
sites based on content and links, not just meta descriptions.
Step 3: Add Content
In addition to adding keywords to existing content, you should
continually create new content. The more the content relates to your
targeted keywords, the higher your ranking. One way to boost the amount
of relevant content on your site is to publish white papers and articles
in multiple formats such as HTML and PDFs and include separate executive
summaries.
Step 4: Modify Site Design
Some design tips to improve the visibility of your site to search
engines include:
•Use clean HTML code
•Avoid incorporating key words or links in graphical images or Flash
since they will not be identified or indexed by the search engines
•Eliminate frames since they also make it difficult for search engines
to index your site
Step 5: Build Link Popularity
Search engines rank web pages based on the number and quality of links
pointing to a site. To increase your link popularity, incorporate links
to and from partners and affinity sites. Make sure that these sites
relate directly to the products or services you sell. Frequently publish
press releases and articles that point to your site.
Step 6: Submit the Site
When your site is optimized, you will want to submit your site to
directories to improve your link popularity. Pick high quality general
directories, such as dmoz.org and specialized vertical directories
within your industry. Often submissions carry a minor price tag, but if
the directory has good traffic (use www.alexa.com to check) it will be
worth it. As long as your site has good inbound links, search engines
will find it.
Step 7: Monitor Results & Make Adjustments
SEO vendors such as Bloofusion (see Sidebar) have tools to monitor your
search engine traffic and rankings. They can analyze downloads or
purchases and determine how your customer came to your site and what
pages they viewed prior to purchase. With this knowledge, you can then
add additional content or make other changes to your site to maximize
results.
For more information visit http://seoforumindia.blogspot.com