Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a technical marketing strategy. Your online presence is heavily impacted by your search engine optimization efforts. What’s the point in all that great content if you don’t optimize your pages for Google or other search engines? It’s just like writing great articles for a magazine and neglecting the distribution process. Your hard work won’t reach your audience. In this article, we will discuss the basics of search engine optimization.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
If you run a website, you have heard of SEO. Haven’t you? The term has struck fear and loathing in the hearts of many. Search engine optimization can be a difficult endeavor for the novice internet marketer. The difficulty lies in the very technical nature of search engine optimization. The most successful search engines change their algorithms frequently. Gaining a basic understanding of how search engines work will maximize your search engine optimization skills.
Search engine optimization is the act of improving your site traffic by implementing a strategic placement strategy. It is also a very technical strategy that is integrated into traditional marketing concepts. There are two ways that count in improving your traffic: quantity and quality. It depends on the nature of your site which strategy you pursue. For example, if you are running a site for the sole purpose of spreading a general message, quantity may work for you. If you are interested in turning clicks into sales, quality is your best bet.
Search Engine Optimization Strategy One: Keywords
Keywords are the most important consideration when optimizing for search engines. When you decide you would like to find something on the internet, and don’t know where to start, the first thing you do is “Google it” or “Bing it” or use some other search method. When you type keywords into Bing’s search bar, Bing goes out to the internet and finds websites that rank highly based on your keyword search. You then happily click around until you find what you are looking for. The key to finding the information is in the key words.
One of the basic concepts of search engine optimization is managing your keywords. There are five areas you should pay close attention to when determining your keyword approach. In this article, we will discuss the first three:
• Keyword Choice
• Keyword Proximity
• Keyword Prominence
• Keyword Frequency
• Keyword Density
Keyword Choice
First things first, you’ve got to pick the right keywords. I cannot stress how important this is. For example, if you are running a site that promotes the use of baby padding in baby cribs, which list of keywords would you choose?
Keyword Choices 1 Keyword Choices 2
• Baby padding •Babies
• Baby cribs •Baby
• Baby products •Baby pampers
I would definitely go with “Keyword Choices 1” because these words are far more descriptive and relevant to the site content. This is an illustration of the delicate nature of choosing relevant keywords. I’m sure you get my drift. If not, feel free to contact me for my free eBook on keyword management.
Keyword Proximity
In this part of your keyword strategy, you want to focus on how close together your keywords are. Make sure you place yourself in the shoes of internet users. How would you search for terms related to your site? What keywords would you use? After you have answered these questions, make sure your important keywords are resting near each other in your websites copy.
Keyword Prominence
Here, the important thing is how quickly your important keywords show up on your page. Make sure the title bar of your browser, your META tags (later discussion), the beginning of the page and paragraph contain your keywords.
In the next article, we will discuss the remaining keyword strategies. For more information or to go it alone, don’t forget to contact me for my free eBook on keyword management. You are always welcome to contact me for a quote tailored to your specific project. Have a happy time choosing your words carefully.
Tags: Keywords, Search Engine Optimization, SEO
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