I have written a few articles about the specifics of SEO techniques but I still get a lot of emails from people asking me what all the things are they can do to get their Internet website to rank higher in search results and become a more effective marketing tool, so I created this list of “tips” to be a guide for someone taking a hands on approach to optimizing and promoting their website.
I would suggest you “grade” your site before you begin and try these tips, you can follow your progress toward improvement of your sites SEO by using the web site grading tool found at websitegrader.com.
Assuming of course you have created a good website with useful information and unique content, these are your next steps.
1. Verify the code in your page using the W3c validation tool and fix the errors.
If a crawler can not easily navigate through your site due to errors in the code you could have some problems. A few errors are probably OK, but if you have 10 or more, you are probably asking for trouble. W3c also has a link checking tool so while you are there, verify your internal links to make sure everything functions properly. A broken link will stop a search engine crawler in its tracks and return an error to the search engine.
2. Optimize your keywords for the most popular keyword terms if you feel you can compete, if not, optimize for the “mid level” keywords or the ones used some of the time by searchers looking for your goods and services.
Keywords are very important, these are the search terms that people are going to use to find you. Optimize your keywords in your title, H1 and H2 tags and have a variant or two mentioned in your first paragraph as well as the “meta title” and “meta description” in the HTML code. The “mid level” terms will be the middle-ranked keywords using the Google keyword tool. If your main keywords are very competitive, it is better to be seen by some, then not seen at all. You can use an Adwords campaign to be seen in the difficult keyword categories.
3. Create a blog so you have something to submit to Digg, Blog Catalog, Technorati, EzineArticles, etc. Wordpress is best for the platform, make sure to use the SEO plugin for Wordpress and fill out all the SEO options for an article. (tags, keywords, descriptions, etc.)
Blogs are a good way to be found. The more sites you submit to the better your chances are that you are going to be found and get your site linked to. The more quality links you can create, the better.
4. Submit a sitemap to Google, Yahoo, and Bing (search “sitemap generator” for a free online tool that will create one for you)
With new websites, submitting a sitemap to the search engines helps to expedite the indexing process. Rather than just submitting a site, show the search engines your sites structure.
5. Write another article for your blog.
The more content you create, the better your chances are of getting linked to.
6. Participate in forums where the links in the posts have been tagged “index” in the metadata of the forum page. Post comments and questions and make sure you include links to your website so people and search engines can see you outside your web page. Your posts will help to create vital links to your website which will help with your page rank value over time.
7. Write another article for your blog
The more content you create, the better your chances are of getting linked to.
8. Build a Squidoo lens for your website
Squidoo is a neat little site for creating a mini web page and this also helps your website get linked to.
9. Advertise your business in local magazines.
Most local magazines will also publish links to their advertisers websites on their own page. Not only is the local publicity good, you also get a link the search engines live to see, a one way link from a quality site.
10. Submit your website to the DMOZ directory.
Though the quality of the DMOZ directory has gone down hill a bit as it is maintained by volunteers, it is free to submit to and if you get in the directory, it certainly will not hurt. Others to consider are: JoAnt, AboutUs.org, and the Yahoo directory.
11. Comment on some blog articles related to your business.
Go where your target market hangs out and you will be seen. Don’t forget to hyperlink your name to your website. Don’t just post an http link, use your company name and hyperlink your name to your website. Your company name will give some relevance to the link, create brand awareness, and Google will find the link by the hyperlink you created with your business name.
12. Get all your friends to bookmark your site in Google Bookmarks and in Yahoo’s Delicious, at least 20 of them.
But make sure you tell them to tag the bookmark with a keyword. For example if you have a jewelry store tell them to tag the bookmark with the word jewelry. This will help other bookmark searchers find you and if you get enough bookmarks it is possible to end up on the popular bookmarks page and this will drive more traffic to your site.
13. Promote your website on Twitter and Facebook.
Try to get people that run businesses similar to yours to follow you. Tweet your URL on Friday as that is the day most people follow their tweets. It is possible to get a good link this way. Facebook has groups that will be made up of people in your target market.
14. Write another article for your blog
The more content you create, the better your chances are of getting linked to.
15. Make sure you have updated all your accounts in Technorati, Digg, Blog Catalog, and EzineArticles
Pretty self explanatory, you need to keep your sites updated for the most impact.
16. Make some more comments in forums.
Again, hang out where your target market does. It is possible to get some good links this way.
17. Write another article for your blog
The more content you create, the better your chances are of getting linked to.
18. Pay PR web for a press release
One of the good things with PRweb is your news release is guaranteed to be shown in yahoo news. A good chance for someone in your market to find you. If you are curious how good your press release is, there is a handy tool located at: Press Release Grader it will give you some tips on creating a good press release for your business.
19. Make sure you get a listing on the Yellowpages or Superpages website.
These sites place high in search results so it makes it easier for your customers to find you. It is free to submit your business, though I would opt to spring for their basic package. You can find them here: Superpages and Yellowpages
20. Pay Yahoo to be listed in their directory
Yahoo is being purchased by Microsoft so it is anyone’s guess what will happen to the directory, for the time being a listing in the Yahoo directory gets you in the yahoo search results. At $299 it is a little pricey but it will get you seen and create another link to your website.
21. Build a web page on MerchantCircle
I think this is one of the best things a new company can do to be found at the top of the search results. Keep focus on optimizing the keywords in your MerchantCirle site as this is what will determine where your MC listing will be found in search results. I would not invest in their Pay-Per-Click advertising, 80% of the money you pay will go to promoting the MerchantCircle website, not yours. Send connection invitations to the local businesses in your area, you will be able to send coupons to the businesses that accept you invitation.
22. Write another article for your blog
The more content you create, the better your chances are of getting linked to.
23. Submit your website to the ZoomInfo directory.
24. Did I mention you need to write another article for your blog?
25. Include your domain name in any advertising you do. Also, if your domain name is hard to remember, this will hurt you in the long run, a good domain that is easy to remember can be much easier to brand and it also will have some SEO benefit. For example my company domain; www.MyMarketingCompany.com, is much easier for a business owner to remember than the name my company.
A great domain name can become a big part of your website and company “brand awareness”, a business owner that can remember your website domain name will contact you first when they require your goods and services.
___________
Different businesses will have different SEO and marketing requirements, this list of tips will be a good place to start and steer your business in the right direction.
One thing so many business owners forget, in order for your website to be an effective marketing tool, you need to market your website. Focus on getting as many people as you can to see your website, if they like it, they will link to it. The more links to your website you have, the higher your website will place in search results.
If you are looking for a new forum to participate that is new which is a good place for you to be the topic creator rather than a reply poster, you can find it here: Free Marketing Forum with “follow links”
I created this tool specifically to help people just like you so please take advantage of it, it was a lot of work!
If you are looking for links to business development information (probably the biggest directory of its kind) you can find it here: Business Development Directory
It is also something our company created to help you as a business owner.
You can start your SEO process this very second by posting a comment to this blog. Looking for other articles you can reply to that relate to to this subject? You can find them here: Florida Marketing Consultants Blog
So go ahead, what are you waiting for! Promote your website!