SEO Tips for Business

Search engine optimization isn’t just a matter of adding keywords and crossing your fingers; there are many factors involved in pushing your website to the top. The search engines want their users (your future customers) to have the best search experience possible, which means the more your website is relevant to a search, the better it will rank. By building a strong business presence on the web, your chances of making it to the top increase dramatically. Here are just a few search engine optimization and marketing techniques that can help you build that presence:

BRANDING

Branding is your business identity – how people view your business and products/services are all dependant upon your branding, and this is what sets your business apart from the others. Branding can include everything from your logo and promotional materiel to public relations.

WEBSITE

Your website is an important part of your branding and a vital factor in search engine rankings. A website that provides a valuable web experience for your visitors, along with proper keywording techniques will have a much stronger chance at ranking organically in the search engines.

KEYWORD RESEARCH

Keywords and key phrases are an important element in showing the search engines that your business is what it says it is; and knowing what your future customers are searching for will help you to choose the correct keywords for your website.

For example, a florist has his website keyworded for “floral arrangements” but his website isn’t getting any traffic at all. He researches what keywords people are searching for that have to do with buying flowers and as it turns out, no one is searching for “floral arrangements” but many people are searching for “floral bouquets.” By switching his keywording to a phrase that people are searching, he will increase his website’s chances of capturing new visitors.

WEBSITE CONTENT

Your keyword phrases should be included in all “indexible” content. This is the content that can be seen by search engines. It is best to place your keywords strategically in your website content so that there is enough to show the search engines that they are relevant but not so much that it can’t be read easily by your website visitor.

BACK-LINKS AND INBOUND LINKS

Another item search engines assess is the number of quality back-links and inbound links leading back to your site – and by quality, we mean the backlinks that your business earned for being share-worthy. Paid back links can injure your site rankings, so it is important to focus on making your website worth sharing by real people – and stay away from link farms.

REGULARLY UPDATING CONTENT

Keeping your website content unique, fresh and up-to-date will show the search engines that your company is actively in business. The more new content you provide for the search engines to index, the more relevant your website will be to the search engines, which will help increase your ranking over time. The most common way to accomplish this is with a blog. Posting a blog article at least once per month with original writing (not copied from other sites) will provide enough fresh content to keep the search engines, as well as your visitors, returning to your site.

PRESS RELEASES

Press releases will help raise your company’s relevance on the search engines by providing content about your business on other websites. In addition to the extra content that increases your business presence across the web, it also provides quality backlinks to your website.