Search Engine Optimization (SEO) For Small Business
A recent study reported that search engine traffic for local businesses has shot up 70% over the past couple of years. This is obviously a significant increase and experts are predicting that this will continue to increase significantly over the next few years as more and more mobile internet ready devices come into use. As a small business owner, it is important to understand the basic of how search engines work and how to make sure your site gets found.
In order for your website to be listed in any search result the site has to be optimized for the search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of customizing your web content to search engine protocol in order to maximize your ranking in any particular search result. The better your SEO, the more people will see your website and the more traffic you will get to your site, which is why it is important to understand how SEO works and make your site as search engine friendly as possible.
SEO is probably the single most important factor to take into consideration when developing your business’s Internet marketing strategy. Can you afford to be tenth, twentieth, or thirtieth on a list of search engine returns? How likely is it that your business’s website will even be noticed if you’re not on the first page of search engine results? These are questions that you, the modern business owner, must consider if you want to keep up in the fast-paced, highly competitive world of web marketing. Now you must worry about how you will drive traffic to your site as well, and that means employing SEO.
The process of SEO lies somewhere in the gray area between art and science, and is somewhat of a mystery to many. There can be many combinations of things that can work and this can make it extremely difficult to know where to start if you don’t know about how search engines work.
Search engines use programs that are designed to scan the information on a webpage and determine the page’s relevance. These programs are call Spiders and they use your website’s content to rank it in importance among other, similar/competing websites. Therefore, it is important to know what spiders are looking for and how they rank what they find. It is also important to keep in mind that the search engines often change their algorithms and this can effect rankings, which is why it is important to understand that SEO requires maintenance. It is ongoing and long-term solution.
Although all the technical information related to SEO can take a while to master, there are some fairly simple things that you can do to improve your website’s search rankings.
5 SEO tips that can help move your site to the top of search engines:
Keyword Research. This is done by using a tool such as Google’s Keyword Tool to compile a list of relevant keywords. Only use keywords and phrases that are directly associated with the content on your website.
Use keyword phrases wisely. Be sure to have the most important keyword phrase in your page’s header, then randomly place the rest of your keyword phrases in the content of the webpage in a way that is natural to the reader.
Organize your website according to your keyword research. When you use keyword research tools to identify appropriate keywords, you will also be able to get a good idea of related words and phrases Internet surfers use to locate your specific product or service. For example, if you sell sports equipment, you may find that people tend to either search by sport or by brand, and you can use that information to categorize your inventory accordingly.
Design your site so that spiders can read it. Because spiders can only read HTML, you need to make sure each page, category and menu item on your site has HTML links. Additionally, your graphics should be wrapped in standard HTML tags if you want spiders to notice them.
Label your site’s text links and alt tags in a way that is descriptive of their associated landing page. Don’t make Internet browsers (and search engines) guess as to where your site’s in-page links will lead them by using generic terms like, “click here.” Instead, use a keyword phrase that indicates the content of the landing page.
Search engine optimization may seem a little complex, but when it is done right, it is a very cost effective form of marketing for local businesses. If you want to truly maximize your website’s potential, contact us, Media Impax, for your Search Engine Marketing needs.
Call today for your free Search Engine Marketing / SEO Strategy Session.
Phone: (205) 789-9084, or email: info@mediaimpax.com.