The first thing we need to discuss in regards to optimizing your website with is “intelligent keyword research”. what that means is “what are people typing into Google when they search my category?” There are several great tools out there to find out including Google Adwords Keyword Tool. When you have found out what the keywords are, we need to pick the ones that we think we can rank high for and that are also the best match for what we do. Because if they’re not a good match, they will not convert into sales. So you need to get specific about what you want.
Now, figure out who you will go after? Can you offer your services beyond your immediate market (town)? If so, national seo might be good for your company. Do you have the kind of website that can truly rank on page 1 globaly? Do you have enough pages that can be filled with quality content? Do you have significant time to implement link building strategies? If you answered no to these, a local qualifier might be the way to go. Here’s an example: Global – “lawyer” statewide – “south carolina lawyer” local – “charleston lawyer”. The two questions are can I really offer my services globally and can I rank on the top of page 1? Because 91% of leads will go to the sites on page 1, why bother with seo if we can’t get there?
Now it’s time to write quality content for your website. How many keywords do you use and how often? Most search engines do not like for you to keyword cram so be careful not to repeat the terms too often. Somewhere around 5% keyword density is good. So, if you have a page with 300 words, you should not have more than 15 keyword phrases. Your content reading well to humans is just as important as ranking well. If you wouldn’t say it aloud, don’t write it that way.
Now begins the link building. The fun stuff. It cannot be overstated how important good quaility backlinks are to your site ranking well. In a lot of cases, the amount of links into a site is the reason it ranks better than another. Search engines see links to your website as a good sign that you’re site is trusted and used. So, how do you get them? You can write an article like this one and submit it to several article directories, sign up to the hundreds of directories available in most categories, pay for them with high pr sites, start a well written blog, utilize all social media, and take advantage of easy free link opportunities with sites like Yahoo answers, craigslist, squidoo, and wikipedia.
Now, you are ready to evaluate a few SEO firms and find the one that is right for you. Intelligent keyword research – check! Geographical strategy – global or local, check! Well written, keyword rich content, check! Quality backlinks pooring in weekly, check! You have now put your website in a great position to be successful and climb the ranks. Once you hit page 1, your traffic will increase significantly and if people like what they see and hang around for a few minutes, your rankings will continue to improve. Remember to always check your Google analytics and monitor your traffic and adjust keywords as needed. Enjoy the new traffic and leads.
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