SEO – Do It Yourself

So you finally have your website up and running and you don't have any clue on what to do next.  Of course the next logical step is to figure out a way to get people to come to your website, but how do you go about doing that? The answer is SEO, or search engine optimization.  Basically it is increasing your rank within search engines so that you appear within the first few pages in the results when someone tries to search for specific keywords.  You can always pay someone to do this for you, but it actually is pretty easy to do it yourself.  Just be careful though, it is also easy to make big mistakes when optimizing your website.

            First thing you need to figure out is what your keywords for your website are.  Keywords that specifically apply to your site that someone would use to search for it.  For example, if you have a website that offers IT support, your keywords could be: computer support, computer help, technical support, IT support, etc. Make your keywords broad enough to cover your services, but not too broad that it covers everything that has to do with your field. You can apply these keywords into your headlines, page titles, in the copy, and even in the photos. Keyword placement can be key to generating traffic, but be aware that having too many keywords on one site, the main page for example, can be seen by search engines as “spam”.

            When you write the content of your website, you are actually writing for two: the reader and the search engines.  Of course you would want your content to have your keywords in it, but having too many can confuse the reader and penalize your site within search engines.  A way some people have done this to write it for the reader first, making sure that when a visitor comes to your site they can clearly understand what you wrote.  After you're done with that, strategically replace or plant your keywords into the content. A good range of keywords should be 1-2% or 4-5 keywords per 300 words. That may not seem like a lot but it can give you great results with search engines.

            One of the most time consuming aspects of SEO is link building.  It is getting quality and relevant links to your website with keyword-rich anchor texts.  Focus on getting links from relevant sites that are similar to yours. When you get back links from relevant and related sites that would naturally link to you, then the link count for a lot. Unrelated and random links from any old site can penalize you or not even help you at all.  Some of the most popular and effective link building techniques are using directory submissions, article submissions, social media, blog commenting, and forum posting.  If used correctly and placing your links within those techniques, your rank can increase significantly.

            Of course you can make it easier on yourself and pay someone to do all this for you, but it may not be as easy on your wallet.  SEO may be in high demand and you probably have heard people say the only way to get top ranked results is to utilize their services, but when you learn search engine optimization techniques you can get high rankings for free.  The key is knowing what to do.  You can find tons of articles such as this one that have tips and techniques you can use to use SEO effectively. All you have to do is actually take the time to do research.