subject: Using SEO to Increase Your Web Traffic [print this page] Using SEO to Increase Your Web Traffic Using SEO to Increase Your Web Traffic
When we think about traffic, we think about getting stuck in traffic jams, or trying to avoid speeding cars when walking across crosswalks. But while we don't want traffic on our streets, we want web traffic. Web traffic refers to the flow of people going to your site. The more traffic you have, the more people who are looking at your web page and reading your opinions or clicking on your ads.
Of course, everyone at every stage of web site creation wants to increase web traffic, but there are a few things you need to do to make sure you get more traffic. Using SEO is the only tried and true way how to increase web traffic.
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and at its core it means increasing your sites position on the search results page. Some people are content with knowing that when people search for their business name, it comes up. If people know your full business name they can find you quite easily. To see how this works, type the name of your favorite fast food burger chain into your usual search engine, and it should come up as the first result. Next, type in fast food burgers' and see where the restaurant is. Getting your name out there is only half the battle; you have to think about bringing new readers to your site. SEO does this by getting it to the top of search pages.
SEO uses a mix of key words, Meta tags, and links to put your page at the top. There are professional companies that will help you get to the top, but there are ways to make small changes on your own, without having to hire anyone. Unless you are an SEO expert, then you might not be able to do much, but something is better than nothing. Most realistic SEO companies state that it will take time before they are done fully optimizing your page, so if you have already made a start then it will take less time, and cost less money, before you're ready to go.
To start using SEO to get traffic to your site, you will have to use a mix of changing the code and changing the content. It doesn't need to be major changes to your code; you won't be messing around with the entire thing. In fact, the only change that you'll see will be the influx of people. At the very top of your page, before you even begin on the body, you will have the option of including Meta text. This text isn't seen on the page at all, but it's seen by search engines. Type
