Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a fancy phrase for making it easy for potential customers and clients to find you on the Internet, first through the main search engines like Google and Yahoo, but also via other blogs and sites. SEO has become a science, but there are many things a small business owner or solo professional can do when reviewing their site to make sure they are more likely to be picked up by search engines. Most of these steps are quick and free, but extremely effective.
Being busy online can help generate traffic to your site. Whether it is your business (or personal) Facebook page, your blog posts, a comment you left on someone else's blog or an article you've written and posted in an online directory, being busy makes you more visible to search engines.
Search engines search for keywords. Keywords are those key terms in the text of your site or blog that define your business and what you do. When you look over your site, notice areas like About Us, What We Do, even Contact Us for content you improve. And when it comes to blogging, keep in mind that just saturating your posts with keywords is NOT effective. You must have something to say that is well-written to entice readers to actually engage with your site.
Tinkering with your page categories and headings can actually improve the amount of time a potential customer spends on your site and how "deep" they go (how many different areas they click on). Subtle changes like changing the word "Categories" to "Topics" on a site have made a significant difference for famous writers like Tim Ferriss. Experiment, through watching your site analytics, to see if changing "About Us" to "Who We Are" makes a difference on attracting readers to new areas of your page.
Adding a blog to your company Web site is an important piece of Internet marketing and will improve your search engine optimization. Write about subjects that pertain to your business (or outsource that task to a talented employee or freelance writer) and you will increase your visibility. If you are an accountant and you write a 300 word blog post called "What Payroll Taxes and Sudoku Have in Common", you will draw traffic not just from the terms "payroll" and "taxes", but also from "sudoku". Who knows what sudoku enthusiast might also need a tax accountant? There are obviously less extreme examples.
Embedded in your Web site or blog are tiny pieces of code called meta tags. These tags provide information about your site that search engines look for. While your company is Joe's Heating and Air, your site meta tag might be "heating and air, keeping you comfortable for less". It may be you never offered input on this when your site was developed. Ask it to be changed and watch your analytics to see if traffic changes.
Many business sites have fancy flash animation opening sequences. This actually can confuse and discourage search engines. It is better to embed interactive features in your Web site on pages other than the home page. Make your home page graphically appealing with good basic information, but be careful about making it too fancy.
When you add links to other sites (known as hyperlinks) from your Web site or blog, search engines associate you with that site. You also build rapport with other site owners and can request a reciprocal link back to your site from theirs. Hyperlinking creates a more dynamic, interesting site and improves your SEO at the same time.
Learning the basics of SEO is important to any business person with an online presence. Small changes that you can learn make a big difference in your search engine rankings which will attract new customers to your site. Add a blog, make small changes to your headers, link to other sites. It's all easy and can make a big difference to your business!
Being busy online can help generate traffic to your site. Whether it is your business (or personal) Facebook page, your blog posts, a comment you left on someone else's blog or an article you've written and posted in an online directory, being busy makes you more visible to search engines.
Search engines search for keywords. Keywords are those key terms in the text of your site or blog that define your business and what you do. When you look over your site, notice areas like About Us, What We Do, even Contact Us for content you improve. And when it comes to blogging, keep in mind that just saturating your posts with keywords is NOT effective. You must have something to say that is well-written to entice readers to actually engage with your site.
Tinkering with your page categories and headings can actually improve the amount of time a potential customer spends on your site and how "deep" they go (how many different areas they click on). Subtle changes like changing the word "Categories" to "Topics" on a site have made a significant difference for famous writers like Tim Ferriss. Experiment, through watching your site analytics, to see if changing "About Us" to "Who We Are" makes a difference on attracting readers to new areas of your page.
Adding a blog to your company Web site is an important piece of Internet marketing and will improve your search engine optimization. Write about subjects that pertain to your business (or outsource that task to a talented employee or freelance writer) and you will increase your visibility. If you are an accountant and you write a 300 word blog post called "What Payroll Taxes and Sudoku Have in Common", you will draw traffic not just from the terms "payroll" and "taxes", but also from "sudoku". Who knows what sudoku enthusiast might also need a tax accountant? There are obviously less extreme examples.
Embedded in your Web site or blog are tiny pieces of code called meta tags. These tags provide information about your site that search engines look for. While your company is Joe's Heating and Air, your site meta tag might be "heating and air, keeping you comfortable for less". It may be you never offered input on this when your site was developed. Ask it to be changed and watch your analytics to see if traffic changes.
Many business sites have fancy flash animation opening sequences. This actually can confuse and discourage search engines. It is better to embed interactive features in your Web site on pages other than the home page. Make your home page graphically appealing with good basic information, but be careful about making it too fancy.
When you add links to other sites (known as hyperlinks) from your Web site or blog, search engines associate you with that site. You also build rapport with other site owners and can request a reciprocal link back to your site from theirs. Hyperlinking creates a more dynamic, interesting site and improves your SEO at the same time.
Learning the basics of SEO is important to any business person with an online presence. Small changes that you can learn make a big difference in your search engine rankings which will attract new customers to your site. Add a blog, make small changes to your headers, link to other sites. It's all easy and can make a big difference to your business!
About the Author:
With 30 years of consulting experience, Steven Schlagel offers training and coaching for startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners. Check his site for more articles to increase your success!
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