Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, it a highly valued service in the modern world of business. However, if you've just launched a start-up and don’t have the funds to pay for quality SEO services, there are some things you can do on your own to help improve your website’s rating on search engines. Be warned, while it may sound easy, optimizing a website requires countless hours of time, effort, and dedication. Below are some basic tips for SEO beginners.
- Content
More than anything, the content on your website will determine if people are going to a) stay on your website and b) come back to it in the future. Make sure everything is well written, focused, and to the point in terms of content. This will help with improving your rating within search engine directories and will lead more people to you if you can keep using certain keywords or phrases that are often searched. Don’t forget to keep it fresh. Regular updating and new content will inspire people to keep coming back to your website so they can be up to date with what’s going on. If your site isn't one that you can constantly update with new information, then it’s a good reason to start up a blog. Blogs can offer insights into your experiences, offer advice to others, and is yet another reason for readers to keep coming back. If your blog is informative and entertaining, the readers will easily be your best return customers. Organization is also very important when it comes to content. Your site should be easy to use, not a labyrinth of information. Title tags are an excellent way to keep your content in order and increase the chances of keywords being linked back to your website.- Links
Chances are there is a massive amount of competition. When you've got a start-up, it’s not wise to take your competitors head on, join them instead. Linking your website to others that are similar to yours is a great way to drive traffic to your site. Make sure you have a plan when it comes to this tactic. For example, if you've just started up a landscaping business then you’ll want to be linked to websites that have to do with landscaping. Perhaps a landscaping equipment site, a wholesale plant website, on websites that list jobs for landscapers, and so on. Look at it from every possible angle in order to get people to your site organically. Another way to incorporate links is through newsletters. Don’t underestimate the power of these simple e-mail communications tactics. They are still used for a reason – because they are effective. If people sign up for a newsletter, chances are they will read it, otherwise they wouldn't have requested the newsletter in the first place.- Traffic
Do not under any circumstances trust anyone that says they can drive tons of traffic to your site for a ridiculously low price. If it sounds too good to be true – it is. There are tons of people out there that make a living by scamming start-ups and inexperienced small business owners. What these people are actually selling is fake traffic. This is like the online equivalent to telemarketing. It’s people in third world countries getting paid pennies a day to sit at a computer and click on your website a hundred times. Don’t fall for this, search engines can in fact see who is getting real, organic traffic to their sites, and who is using fake traffic. It’s not just start-ups that fall victim to these scams, huge companies like BMW Germany were getting so much fake traffic to their site in 2006 that Google removed them from their search engine completely. You can and will get penalized for fake traffic – so make sure you’re doing your research before you trust someone else with optimizing your website.- Features
Broadening your horizons is always a good thing. If your business is in the position to offer online shopping, invest in an E-commerce area on your website. It’ll drive up profits and rankings online. Another fun and fairly easy feature to include on your website is a podcast. Organize it so that visitors to your site can ask questions and then you can answer them once a week via podcast. You can film and post your pod-casts on You-tube and put the links under your Podcast tab for visitors to your site. Last but certainly not least social media. We cannot stress enough how important social media is for any business, no matter its size. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn are excellent ways to draw traffic to your site organically as well as expand the number of people you are able to reach. One great share and easily snowball into hundreds of new visitors to your web page per month.
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