Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Tips to Increase Ranking and Website Traffic


Today we are going to talk about SEO optimization basics. These tips are vary easy to implement and you really should keep them in mind when starting a new website. If you already have one - let's see if you have already implemented them :)
Here we go:

  • Create a site with valuable content, products or services.

Yeah, it just sounds a bit too basic. But hold on for a second. Do you really have targeted, VALUABLE content for your visitors or are you just trying to sell them your stuff ? Even if it an E-commerce website - write quality content for it. Research what your visitors are looking for and give them answers. Go for quality and people will love you. They will link to your website because of the good content (great for SEO) and talk about your website (great for promotion).

  • Place primary and secondary keywords within the first 25 words in your page content and spread them evenly throughout the document

Don't overdo it though. Too many keywords will do more harm than good for your website. Mention your keyword in title and 2 - 4 times on the page. Make sure it still reads nicely

  • Research and use the right keywords/phrases to attract your target customers.

That is the most important part before you even start a website. Target wrong keywords and you will fail. Goto Google's Keyword Tool and enter your main keywords. You will get a list of related searches and approximate number of searches per month. Go for long tail keywords that have the most number of searches. Then, do a search for them in Google by putting them in quotes (for example, "green widgets"). Check the number of results you will get - you will get an idea about how competitive it is. Usually everything under 20.000 is pretty easy to beat. Another good indicator for a good keyword that converts is to check if there are any Google Adword ads for this search (without quotes)

· Use your keywords in the right fields and references within your web page. Like Title, META tags, Headers, etc.

Yeah, if you don't did that already - do it NOW!

  • Keep your site design simple so that your customers can navigate easily between web pages, find what they want and buy products and services.

Navigation is VERY important. Make sure you interlink the main parts of your website. Link the relevant keywords to related content within your site. Keep the design as simple and lightweight as possible and make sure the site loads fast. People are coming to see your content and not that cool 500 kb Javascript clock

  • Keep track of changes in search engine algorithms and processes and accordingly modify your web pages so your search engine ranking remains high। Use online tools and utilities to keep track of how your website is doing।
  • Monitor your competitors and the top ranked websites to see what they are doing right in the way of design, navigation, content, keywords, etc.

Go to www.alltheweb.com and enter link:www.yourcompetitor.com. See who link to them. Try to get links to your website form these pages

  • Make your customer visit easy and give them plenty of ways to remember you in the form of newsletters, free reports, reduction coupons etc.

  • Don't look at your website as a static brochure. Treat it as a dynamic, ever-changing sales tool and location, just like your real store to which your customers with the same seriousness.

Ok, and now go and start to ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT THESE TIPS for your site(s)। Not tomorrow, not "when i will have some time" - now :)