subject: 5 Easy Ways To Optimize Your Website [print this page] It's become impossible to run a successful website without employing search engine optimization. Many companies spend upwards to $10,000 each month on software, SEO consultants and website renovations in order to get their websites to the top of Google's search results.
For the rest of us, spending thousands - or even hundreds - of dollars each month on search engine optimization simply isn't possible. The truth is that smaller businesses, local service providers and niche businesses don't have to pay through the nose in order to get decent search engine rankings. There are several steps business owners can take to optimize their websites to begin ranking competitively for their key products or services on Google, Yahoo and Bing.
1) Perform keyword research
Don't assume that the product or service terms you're using are the same terms your potential customers are using. Google offers a free, easy-to-use keyword tool that can help you find out which terms your customer base is searching for, and which terms they aren't using.
Remember, however, not to simply choose keywords with the highest search volume. They need to be 100% relevant to the product and/or service on your website. It's OK to take your time. Performing thorough keyword research is the first and most important part of optimizing your website.
2) Optimize meta data
Once you've chosen a handful of relevant, high volume keywords, decide which one or two describe your overall business most accurately. Next, decide which keywords best describe each page on your website, then take a look at your website's site map to make sure all your key products or services are represented by keywords.
Use the keywords you've found to optimize each web page's page title. Follow the criteria below when writing page titles:
- Page titles should be no longer than 70 characters long
- Separate phrases with pipes ( | ) rather than commas or semicolons
- Include the website's business name, the page's main keyword and, if it's a local business, include the city and state at the end.
3) Optimize on-page content
It's also important to make sure paragraphs and headers within the website contain keywords. Make sure the keywords used in paragraphs and headers are consistent with the page title keywords used for that particular page.
For example, a sub-page which contains "Brake Repair Service" in the page title should talk about brakes and brake repair within the content of the page, rather than discussing transmission repair.
To optimize a web page, be sure to use keywords in the following areas:
- Headers, coded properly with , or tags if possible
- Bolded text
- Bulleted lists
- Within paragraphs and sentences
The more keywords contained on a web page the better, but be careful not to make the page too "spammy". It should still read normally to the average customer.
4) Link building
Making sure other websites are linking to your website is a crucial part of getting your website to rank well in search engines. Links from other website to your website are called "inbound links", and collecting more inbound links is referred to as "link building".
- Search out local or niche directories most relevant to your business. Local businesses should get listed in directories like Google Local Business Center, Yelp and Superpages.com. Directory links should never be paid.
- Search for other websites that are related somehow to your business's industry, then contact the site owners, point out how your website would provide a valuable resource to their site visitors, and politely ask for a link.
- Find bloggers who are blogging on topics related to your product or service. Bloggers are often willing to exchange links for free products or service, which can be a great way to get extra PR in the form of reviews.
- Run a blog or any other resource center from your website. If your website offers valuable resources, other websites will naturally begin linking to it.
- Be aware of the text used to hyperlink to your site. This is called "anchor text", and inbound links that use keywords within their anchor text are important for search engine optimization.
5) Create a "links" page containing relevant links
Similarly to the way you need other websites to link to yours, it's also important to have your website linking out to relevant, quality websites. Take a survey of business affiliations, partnerships, loyal clients, local organizations and any other web-based resources which are relevant to your website, then place links to these sites on a dedicated "Links" page.
