Ready to Start Your Own Search Engine Optimization?
Ready to Start Your Own Search Engine Optimization?
The fact is, up to 80% of web users begin their surfing at a search engine. Without making the effort necessary to capture these visitors, small businesses are forfeiting tons and tons of traffic each and every day.
According to interactive ad agency Web Ad.vantage of Havre de Grace, Maryland, simply landing a second or third page ranking can increase your traffic by up to nine times. A top ten ranking can lead to an additional 600% traffic increase. This results in an average 42% more sales within the first month of a top ten listing and nearly 100% more sales the second month.
And the best thing about driving organic traffic is that, for a small businesses, the techniques can generally be implemented in-house. Want to start doing some of your own search engine optimization? Follow these steps:
1. Start with an SEO audit.
Get a professional SEO audit to show you what's currently working on your web site and what needs to be fixed. Most SEO agencies and some web design agencies perform these audits for a minimal fee. This will provide a great roadmap as you prioritize your next action steps.
2. Do your keyword research.
Often small businesses have never given any thought to keywords or how their prospects might search for them on the web. The entrepreneur might tell you that his prospects would probably look for "blue plastic widgets" to find him or his web site - and yet the site isn't even close to being optimized for blue plastic widgets. Do your research before doing anything else, and have a plan for tracking and logging your keywords on an ongoing basis.
3. Know what to do with your keywords.
Once you've done this keyword research, you'll need to incorporate those words into your site. Use the keywords in your headlines, in your title tags, in your body copy and in your URLs if possible. Be careful not to go overboard so it doesn't appear as if you're keyword stuffing or spamming.
4. Create a plan for writing copy.
The search engines love fresh, up-to-date content. How many pages of new, optimized web content are you prepared to produce each week?
5. Get comfortable with your web analytics program.
Find an analytics program that works for you. Most hosting companies offer some type of log program; there are professional analytics programs which offer a wide variety of features; there are even great free programs available. (Personally, we use a combination of programs.) Use your analytics to measure your SEO results and make any necessary changes to your on-going strategy.
6. Don't neglect your off-line tactics.
Off-line marketing is still a great way to drive traffic to your web site. We use postcard marketing, free report marketing, off line newsletters, etc to drive traffic to our site. It's always a good idea to use separate tracking URLs so you don't get a skewed measure of your SEO results.
7. Be sure to allocate enough time.
You'll need time for training as well as time for ongoing implementation. Work it into your daily routine just as you'd do for marketing or accounting activities. Create a daily, weekly and monthly strategy. And remember, certain seasonal content may require additional time to coordinate.
8. Prepare for on-going training.
The search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, and you'll need to have a plan for staying on top of these changes. Take a few classes on SEO, subscribe to industry newsletters, consult the Google blogs. Do what ever you can to stay abreast of all the changes that occur.
Once you create a strategic plan, you'll see that your ongoing search engine optimization can be done in-house. You'll need to dedicate a little time and effort, but your increased traffic will be well worth it.
Ready to Start Your Own Search Engine Optimization - To learn more about this author, visit Karen Scharf's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Many small businesses also have small budgets, and often don't want to spend the time or money on search engine optimization techniques. Unfortunately, the "if you build it, they will come" philosophy doesn't work too well on the web.
The fact is, up to 80% of web users begin their surfing at a search engine. Without making the effort necessary to capture these visitors, small businesses are forfeiting tons and tons of traffic each and every day.
According to interactive ad agency Web Ad.vantage of Havre de Grace, Maryland, simply landing a second or third page ranking can increase your traffic by up to nine times. A top ten ranking can lead to an additional 600% traffic increase. This results in an average 42% more sales within the first month of a top ten listing and nearly 100% more sales the second month.
And the best thing about driving organic traffic is that, for a small businesses, the techniques can generally be implemented in-house. Want to start doing some of your own search engine optimization? Follow these steps:
1. Start with an SEO audit.
Get a professional SEO audit to show you what's currently working on your web site and what needs to be fixed. Most SEO agencies and some web design agencies perform these audits for a minimal fee. This will provide a great roadmap as you prioritize your next action steps.
2. Do your keyword research.
Often small businesses have never given any thought to keywords or how their prospects might search for them on the web. The entrepreneur might tell you that his prospects would probably look for "blue plastic widgets" to find him or his web site - and yet the site isn't even close to being optimized for blue plastic widgets. Do your research before doing anything else, and have a plan for tracking and logging your keywords on an ongoing basis.
3. Know what to do with your keywords.
Once you've done this keyword research, you'll need to incorporate those words into your site. Use the keywords in your headlines, in your title tags, in your body copy and in your URLs if possible. Be careful not to go overboard so it doesn't appear as if you're keyword stuffing or spamming.
4. Create a plan for writing copy.
The search engines love fresh, up-to-date content. How many pages of new, optimized web content are you prepared to produce each week?
5. Get comfortable with your web analytics program.
Find an analytics program that works for you. Most hosting companies offer some type of log program; there are professional analytics programs which offer a wide variety of features; there are even great free programs available. (Personally, we use a combination of programs.) Use your analytics to measure your SEO results and make any necessary changes to your on-going strategy.
6. Don't neglect your off-line tactics.
Off-line marketing is still a great way to drive traffic to your web site. We use postcard marketing, free report marketing, off line newsletters, etc to drive traffic to our site. It's always a good idea to use separate tracking URLs so you don't get a skewed measure of your SEO results.
7. Be sure to allocate enough time.
You'll need time for training as well as time for ongoing implementation. Work it into your daily routine just as you'd do for marketing or accounting activities. Create a daily, weekly and monthly strategy. And remember, certain seasonal content may require additional time to coordinate.
8. Prepare for on-going training.
The search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, and you'll need to have a plan for staying on top of these changes. Take a few classes on SEO, subscribe to industry newsletters, consult the Google blogs. Do what ever you can to stay abreast of all the changes that occur.
Once you create a strategic plan, you'll see that your ongoing search engine optimization can be done in-house. You'll need to dedicate a little time and effort, but your increased traffic will be well worth it.
Ready to Start Your Own Search Engine Optimization - To learn more about this author, visit Karen Scharf's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
|||
Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
|||
Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
|||
Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
|||
Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Karen's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | ||
|
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 New Sales Leadership Paradigm Professional Networking Residual Income Take the Lead Business Owner Guide |
|
 | ||
 |
Guide To ERP Software
Business Management Software | |
 |
The Top 10 Guy Kawasaki Posts
Best Posts for Entrepreneurs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||