Today's Marketing Tip: SEO

Marketing Tip: May 2009

Despite popular belief, search engine optimization isn't entirely free. In fact, some companies spend tens of thousands of dollars each year trying to get their websites ranked in the number one position organically. This is not only expensive, but can take loads of time. If you think SEO is free, than think again. However, if you have the time to spend, you sure can save a lot.

Before starting your search engine optimization journey you need to think about the keywords you will be building your program around. Keyword selection is one of the most important aspects of SEO because if you spend you time optimizing for keywords or keyword phrases that no one is searching on, your search engine optimization efforts are wasted. There are plenty of tools available for free that can help you find keywords that are relevant to your niche, have adequate volume but at the same time aren't overly competitive. This is essential if you want to achieve top rankings for highly search keywords.

Before choosing a keyword phrase for search engine optimization purposes, size up your competition. Look at the number one ranked website and learn more about them. Consider the websites age, Page Rank, and number of in-bound links. This can give you a good understanding of how solid a competitor that site is.

You can also discover about a topped ranked website by researching it via Alexa.com for additional ranking information. Shoot for keyword phrases that have less than 2 million competing pages, less than PR 6, and less than 500 in-bound links. If the top competing websites are too large, you should pick a different keyword phrase to focus on.

Upon deciding which keyword phrase is ideal for your search engine optimization campaign, the next step is to design your site in a way that is both easy to read and highly accessible by all search engines. Consider breaking up your search engine optimization campaign into on page optimization factors and off page optimization factors. By addressing both, you can quickly influence rankings in a positive way. Consider starting with site design that integrates SEO best practices including meta tags, headers, and typeface. Once complete, turn your attention towards building links to your web site.

I'm often asked for the one magic formula that will raise someones search engine rankings above all others. The answer is very simple, in bound links. Google evaluates the quality of a website based on a number of factors but the most important include page rank and inbound links. Focus on building inbound links from third party sites that are well established, have a number of sites linking into them, and carry a Google page rank of three or more. This will improve your rankings very quickly.

Succeeding with organic rankings is easy if you take the time to optimize your site and focus on building in bound links. The result is a site more valued by search engines, improving rankings for keywords and keyword phrases. Stay the course and build links over time. This ensures that you outrank your competition over the long term.

Posted in: seo