Choosing Keywords
The first step in Search Engine Optimization is to choose relevant keywords. Keywords are terms that search engine users type in the search box to conduct a query. Only the right keywords describe the purpose and content of your website. Choose terms which you believe your target audience will search for. This needs to be done for each page on your website. Try to make the keywords as natural as possible.
Example: If I have a webpage that sells Waterproof Widget X (a device made for deep sea divers), my keywords should not just be “Waterproof Widget X, Widget X, etc.”…think how someone would naturally search for that widget. Imagine how you would type that into the search box, users are often pretty specific about what they want, they may search for “Widget X for deep sea divers” or “waterproof diving equipment” or “waterproof Widget X used in deep sea diving” or “deep sea diving Widget X”.
Try to find your own keyword niche. Heavily searched terms face a lot of competition from other websites that spend a great deal of time and money on search engine optimization. One simple way to set yourself apart is by regionalizing (see below), but often times your company has something to offer that most other competitors don’t. Make sure you include these in your keyword list. Thus, be specific, but make sure the keywords you come up with are also as naturally ‘flowing’ as possible.
Remember, each keyword can consist of more than one word; this is often called a “keyword phrase”. Finally, a good rule of thumb is five to ten keywords/phrases for each page of your site.
Devote a few hours to the selection of keywords, and make sure you have a broad, all-encompassing list.
Regionalize Your Business
Although the internet is a global tool, oftentimes businesses are not (at least not until they start showing up in search results). It can sometimes be helpful to target your business to your local region.
Example: If I sell Waterproof Widget X for snorkeling on primarily in Catalina Island but also to customers throughout Southern California, I want to target those regions because a great number of internet users localize their searches to find businesses and services in their area. NOTE: Waterproof Widget X might not be the best example of this, as it already sounds like something I wouldn’t want live without anywhere.
Content is King
You need to come up with solid webpage content. The webpage content needs to be as relevant to the actual page as possible. Do not try to describe all your products and services on a single page, otherwise the content will confuse the search engines and ruin the page relevance for your selected keywords. It is better to create different pages with each having its own unique content and key phrases and then optimize them.
Provide at least 3-5 paragraphs minimum per webpage, and include your keywords throughout your content. Try to mix in different variations of the keyword phrases you’ve selected in the webpage content. Streamlined Fusion’s SEO specialists can help with this, but in some cases clients prefer that their content to be left unchanged. Let us know how malleable your text is. If possible, break content into subsections with headings (much the same way this document has subsections and headings).
Example: Back to Waterproof Widget X, on its webpage you would want to list a description of the product, its industrial specifications, a description of its applicability to deep sea diving, examples of usage, companies you sell the Widget too, and maybe even a testimonial or two.
This process is also very important, so dedicate a few hours to it as well. If you would rather outsource this process, Streamlined Fusion can provide you with a copy writer for a nominal hourly fee. Once you have all this data, consolidate it into a Word document, containing:
- Keywords/Key Phrases (at least 5-10 per page)
- Webpage content (at least 3-5 paragraphs per page)
- What region the product/service is sold to (international, national, intra-state, cities, local, etc.)
Use this document as your foundation for SEO as you build your website.
Look for links
Search engines “spider” the web by following links, and they value a link to your site from another high ranking site like a positive referral. If you know of colleagues and partners with websites, talk to them about the possibility of linking to your site or trading links. Web directories and listings can be a beneficial place to list your company and its website as well. Streamlined Fusion can help you generate more links and maximize the effectiveness of any incoming link to your site. If you know of links to your site, try to find them and make a list.
Know Your Competition
Create one last Word document that lists the following details about each of your main competitors:
- Competitor business name
- Website URL
- Business impact rating on a 1-10 scale (1 being you don’t consider them as a threat, and 10 being they steal all your business)
- Any other details you feel are pertinent.
Search Engine Optimization specialists use your competitors’ information to help determine your target expectations and goals (beating them). Occasionally competitors with high-ranking websites can be a good place to look to start generating ideas about how to organize your own site and carve out a more unique niche.
Optimizing Your Site
To put your SEO in place, you must actually “optimize” the pages of your site. SEO not only depends on the choice of your keywords and the quality of your content, but also on the how well you position those keywords within your web page and how well you blend the code that renders your page with the content that it displays. You want to mix your keywords, phrases, links, and content into a soup of SEO goodness that Google™ cannot deny.
Be Patient
Search Engine Optimization is not an overnight process, but it is a worthwhile one. Indexing takes time, and nobody goes from last to first overnight. Additionally, search engine results pages are constantly shifting as the internet grows and changes. Even the most experienced (actually, especially the most experienced) know that it can sometimes be a bit of guessing game, and that there is a certain degree trial and error involved.