Contrary to popular belief, SEO does not have to cost an arm and a leg, nor does it have to be complicated. Here are a few free tips that anyone can do!
Keyword Research
By conducting careful keyword research, you will have a better understanding of what people are looking for and how competitive the market is.
The Google AdWords Keyword Tool is free to use and very easy to pick up as well. You can play around with the settings to see what people are searching for locally and globally. You can also see whether there are any trends in when people are searching for a keyword and how competitive a term is.
Using your keywords on your website will increase your chances of ranking higher in the search results.
Directories & DMOZ
By submitting your website to online directories you enable users to find you naturally if they use those directories and you can build backlinks to your website. Backlinks are an important part of SEO.
DMOZ is Google's human run directory which means it can take a long time to get listed but it search engines do like websites more that are listed there. There are many other free directories out there, just Google Free business directory'. Some directories ask for a reciprocal link back. This is up to you but I would advise against it. It doesn't take long to submit a listing with a short description about your website. Make sure you include a link to your website and a keyword rich description of your services or products.
Blog writing and Article Marketing
Both of these give you the opportunity to get your name and brand out there to others in your industry or niche and also to build backlinks to your website. It is a good idea to try writing once a fortnight to begin with and post your article or blog on your website first.
Then, post your articles to article directories such as ezinesarticles or goarticles. To avoid being penalised for duplicate content, vary each version slightly.
You can keep an eye on backlinks you have created by using Yahoo! Site Explorer. This shows you all the backlinks to your website.
Track your progress
Keep an eye on how you start to move up the rankings. There are several good trackers out there for seeing where you rank for your keywords. By doing on-going SEO work, you should see your website move up the rankings over time.
I hope you have found these tips helpful as a starter for SEO you can do yourself. There is of course a lot more to search engine optimisation but these tips should help you get started.