Basic SEO Tips
Do you need to know the basics of SEO (search engine optimization)? Search Engine Optimization involves many factors, the basics to get you started are listed below for you.
1. Quality keyword rich content (including using your keywords on pages in the headline ‘H1′ title of your pages)
2. Inbound links from relevant businesses/sources using anchor text and ‘deep links’ going to different pages within your site (this also applies to links within your site)
3. Meta tags and descriptions including text in the title tag and also in the body of the pages (although some argue that Google doesn’t count them, many other engines do)
4. Sitemap (one that you submit to your webmaster account and that you continually update when new content is added)
5. Articles (relevant to your industry and keywords with the keywords in the urls)
6. Analytics (having a good analytics program in place that you monitor)
7. Alt tags for images
8. Manual submission to search engines (and submit only once)
9. Once your articles have been added to your sitemap and indexed by the search engines, article syndication is a great help as many of the syndications keep the link to your article on prominent pages (thus encouraging more click-throughs to your site)
10. Have a blog on your site where the content is updated frequently
The tips mentioned above are easy to do for any site owner and can be accomplished without a large investment.
If you decide you don’t have the time for basic SEO and you want to hire a company, always beware of SEO companies that claim they can get you to the top of the SERP’s (search engine results pages). They may be using methods that will penalize you and cause you to be banned from search engines. The best practice is to thoroughly research the company you are considering hiring as well as contacting their current clients and references to make sure that they actually deliver on their claims.
Joanne Pele is the Vice President of Operations at Complete Business Systems. Complete Business Systems provides a ready-to-go branding package for your company, including website, logo, business cards and letterhead. Additional services include postcard design, databases, press release and web content writing. For more information, visit Complete Business Systems or call 800-479-9186.