Get Started with SEO Right Away through Five Techniques
Are you any of the following?
- Planning to develop a website
- Already have a site but does not have visitor
- Wants to boost site traffic
Whether you are in the start-up or first stage of Web design development, you have to know that you need more than a presentable layout and colour scheme to win the favour of search engines and your target audience. You must also include Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
What is SEO?
In general, it is the dynamic improvement of a website (both external and internal aspects) in order to make it valuable to algorithms and Internet users.
What happens if you do not implement it?
These days, most search engine work hard to enhance their technology and means of scouring (or, in more technical terms and as usually stated online, “crawling) the Web for relevant and informative data. If your site’s pages do not pass their criteria, you will not rank high in result pages.
This is a great disadvantage since most individuals tend to click on links from the first (sometimes from the second and seldom on the third) page. So, if you wish to reach out to your target visitors, you have to increase your online presence.
How can you do this?
Given that you are still in the initial phase, you can have a good start by implementing the following…
Basic SEO Strategies for Beginners
1. Conduct keyword research
Yes, you probably have an idea that you need to add your articles or images with certain terms. But do you know which ones?
This where analysis and assessment come in. You have to determine which phrases your target audience will most likely use to find information that is relevant to your niche.
Let us say that you are focusing on social media. Now, have a look at the table below.
As you can see, the list on the left indicates the top search terms used to find details about social media. On the other hand, the list on the right points out keywords that are rising in popularity for the year 2012.
Basing on the data, you already know which key phrases are more likely to help your content rank.
2. Produce content
So, where are you going to put these words? Now, your answer will most probably be – in articles.
Yes, you are right. You can incorporate your text content with high-ranking terms. At the same time, you have to consider other important elements such as titles, headers, and meta descriptions. Most importantly, you must ensure originality and avoid keyword stuffing (adding the page with too much primary phrases from your list).
Now, other than articles, you can post videos, images, and infographics (information graphics are visual data representations). This way, your content is more appealing and engaging to the readers.
3. Build links
If you are going to do this, do it naturally by striving to obtain “backlinks” (when other users share your links) and links to your site from reputable people or organisations on the Web.
You can also generate links, when you…
4. Use social SEO
This is a combination of social media and SEO, wherein you apply optimisation strategies to any social activity.
This means that you must also create a profile or fan page on top network sites like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and YouTube. The SEO part comes when you integrate your status posts, Tweets, or videos with keywords or your website’s URL.
5. Update your website
Finally, keep in mind that the Web is dynamic and progressive. Moreover, you never know when the changes occur. Therefore, always be on the lookout for new strategies or criteria modifications. Additionally, work on your site and upload fresh content regularly, maybe once each week.
As a beginner, you may find these ideas difficult. But as you go along, you will slowly get the hang of SEO, especially if you take time to boost your knowledge on it.
With that said, heed this final tip: Learn more about search engine optimisation as you implement the basic techniques mentioned here.
About the Author:
Emma Tomlinson is the Head of Retail at Smart Traffic, a UK SEO company listed at the Top 10 of the Microsoft Tech Track 100 for 2011.
