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SEO: Start With Your Own Website

Written by: Michael Fleischner

Article Overview: Any seo program has to start with keyword research. If you don't know what you're optimizing your site for then you're bound for failure. In this article I explain the basics of keyword research and starting your search engine optimization campaign.

SEO: Start With Your Own Website

The first place to start any SEO program is with a clear goal of what you hope to achieve. One thing I spend a good deal of time doing with my clients is explaining what is truly possible with a search engine optimization campaign. Your results are directly correlated to the time, effort, and research you are willing to dedicate to improving organic rankings.

If you're expecting to change some meta tags, sprinkle a few keywords on your home page, and receive #1 rankings, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Search engine optimization is a way of thinking and doing that affects all aspects of your business. You not only have to know what to do, but to apply the techniques on a regular basis.

So Where Do You Start?

As mentioned above, you need to start with a clear understanding of what you want. Do you want 1st page rankings? Are you looking to have specific keywords rank in the 1, 2, or 3 positions? How quickly do you want to achieve these rankings? What's realistic and what would be a stretch goal?

Achieving top rankings is possible for any keyword or keyword phrase is you have the time, resources, and focus needed for search engine dominance. However, if you're like me, resources are not unlimited. As a result, you need to prioritize your SEO. What are the most important keywords to optimize for?

Choosing The Right Keywords

There are a vast number of ways that you can choose the best keywords to optimize your website for. My favorite method is by using a combination of SEO and PPC. In pay-per-click marketing it's all about paying for keywords that convert. Once you launch a broad campaign, and track your results, you'll know which keywords generate the highest conversion rates. Why not optimize for these and improve your results (while spending less).

By optimizing for keywords that already convert, you know that website traffic, resulting from top placement, will yield sales, opt-ins, or whatever type of action visitors should take when reaching your site.

Another method for choosing keywords is using detailed keyword research. Anyone conducting keyword research needs to start with a broad understanding of their niche and begin researching what types of phrases individuals are searching on. Start by brainstorming your own list and then use tools like the Google Keyword Tool to expand your list.

Find keywords phrases that have at least 3,000 searches per month and have little competition. After narrowing your list down to the best 5 -7 terms, the next step is to look at the sites already ranking in the top positions for these keywords.

Visit each of the sites and analyze their on page optimization success. Are their meta tags formatted properly? Are they using H1 and H2 headers on the page? Do they use the keyword phrase throughout the page? Are keywords in navigational links? Consider all on page factors that may impact their search engine results.

Then, take a look at off page factors. Are the top web sites listed in key directories? What is the concentration and value of incoming links? You need to ask yourself if these sites are better optimized than yours. If they are, pushing them out of the top spot may prove a real challenge. On the other hand, if you can optimize your site better and achieve more inbound links, your chances of success are high.

The most important part of any search engine optimization effort is the initial planning and research. If you do this step correctly, success is a must. Focus on keyword research before you begin your SEO campaign. You are looking for highly trafficked keywords that have little competition. Once you decide on a keyword phrase, you must research the web sites that are currently ranked in the top positions. Based on ranking factors, determine your ability to push them out of the top positions with your fully optimized web site.

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Article Tags: 1 rankings, conversion rates, disappointment, engine dominance, engine optimization campaign, meta tags, pay per click, pay per click marketing, phrase, ppc, search engine optimization, time effort, time resources, traffic, vast number



Related Forum Posts
Re: what position to request? - Hi Michael, Great suggestion from David, or you could try something around a design consultancy, How about Website Design Consultant, Design and Development Manager, Website Support and Development Manager or maybe Internet Business Development Consultant. Ultimately whatever you are comfortable with and good luck for the future, Mal.
Re: How can I promote my site? - There are various useful techniques for promoting a website. In SEO the techniques could be "white hat" and "black hat" techniques. White hat techniques includes following techniques to promote website as per the search engine rules. - Search Engine Friendly Tags - Website submission to Search Engines - Website Submission to Social Sites (Like twitter, Facebook) - Articles Promotion & Press Release Promotion - Quality Directories promotion - Contribution to Blogs, Forums Black hat techniques can reduce website strength in the search engine and can treat site as spam that could be following. - Keywords Stuffing. - Hidden Links - Maximum Links of unknown sites.
Re: Top 5 Magazines For SEO - Hi, Thanks for the links GT, I already subscribe to Website Magazine but must admit that is the only one. Maybe I shoud cast my net a bit wider to see what the others have to offer, regards, Mal.
Re: Should you hire ambitious workers or employees with no goals - According to Guy Kawasaki, he says "you should only hire and keep people that you'd hustle over to and engage in a conversation...Life is too short to work with people you don't naturally like-especially in a young, small organization" ("The Art of the Start" pg 112). I think the reverse is also true and I wouldn't want to work for anyone I didn't like or want to talk to if I saw him/her outside of the office. In addition, Kawasaki also says "Steve Jobs has a saying that A players hire A players; B players hire C players; and C players hire D players...This trickle-down effect causes bozo explosions in companies. If there is one thing a CEO must do, it's hire a management team that is better than he is" ("The Art of the Start" pg 101). Kawasaki's quote is definitely in favor of hiring the ambitious worker, but do most CEO's even have the humility to admit that someone is better than them?
Re: How can I promote my site? - To promote website online you need to hire professional SEO expert because you have to perform the below activities for your website promotion:- Start On page optimization which includes the following task:- 1. Meta tag optimization 2. Header Tag Optimization 3. Alt tag Optimization 4. Content Optimization 5. Anchor Text Optimization 6. URL Optimization 7. Navigation Optimization After On page optimization, Start off Page Optimization which includes the following task:- 1. Link building 2. Directory submission 3. Classified Ads submission 4. Article submission 5. Press Release submission 6. Social Bookmarking 7. Business Listing 8. Local Listing 9. Blog Optimization 10. PPT Creation & Optimization


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