Search engine optimization is the most efficient way to bring more traffic to your website. This article is filled with tips you should use to optimize your site.
Select keywords adapted to your topic and your audience. Use Google AdWords to get a list of the most popular keywords related to your products and to get a better idea of which keywords are used by your customers and competitors. If possible, do not use your competitors’ keywords until you are ready to be in direct competition with them. Make a short list of about five strong keywords and use these words on your pages. Your keywords should appear in the content of your pages as well as your titles and anchor text for your links. Your keywords should also be present in the HTML code of your page; add them in your meta tags and URLs. If possible, select a domain name that contains a strong keyword or work toward making your domain name become a popular search query.
Organize your site so that visitors can easily navigate it. Finding information about your product and your business should be made easier, thanks to a detailed menu. Your pages should contain links to each other if they are related and you should feature links and content from other sites or blogs if they are relevant to your keywords. You also need to get as many back links as possible on sites your audience is likely to visit regularly. These links should be optimized with strong keywords and direct traffic to different pages of your site. If you are trying to sell a product or advertise a discount, focus on bringing traffic to these pages by making these links more visible. If you have good back links that still bring traffic but do not wish people to keep viewing the same information, you should get a 301 redirection page to bring more traffic to your newest product pages.
You can help search engine spiders navigate your site and index it by creating a good XML map of your site. Download a plugin if you do not know how to create XML maps yourself. You also need to optimize the content that search engine spiders are not able to analyze, such as pictures, videos, podcasts and flash or java content. Use alt tags for pictures and write a short description filled with keywords to introduce your content. You could even post a transcript of your podcasts.
Adapt your SEO campaign as your site starts getting more visitors. You need to stay up to date with trends and new keywords. As your products become more popular, your brand might become a strong keyword. You also need to keep looking for new ways to get back links on popular sites; use social networks, message boards and blogs to post your own back links and stay in touch with different webmasters or bloggers to share links and content regularly.
Apply these tips and design your SEO strategy carefully. Do more research about other SEO practices and stay up to date with new SEO trends.