Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) through strategies such as on-page optimization, link building, and keyword research. Ranking highly in search engines gives you greater visibility and helps to drive more traffic to your website, which can boost your conversion rate, revenue, and online credibility. Fortunately, you don’t have to be an expert at SEO to rank well; with a little bit of work and attention to detail, you can put yourself in the best position possible for search engine success by implementing these five ways to optimize your search engine rankings.
1) Give Yourself Plenty of Time
If you’re looking for a quick boost in rankings, do a few minor things here and there. However, if you want to increase your search engine rankings significantly, you need to dedicate a substantial amount of time and effort over an extended period of time. This means putting a lot of thought into creating great content, participating in social media networks and doing everything you can to get links back to your site.
2) Do Keyword Research
Keywords are how search engines index web pages. Use tools like Google AdWords’ Keyword Planner and Overture’s Keyword Selector Tool (available through Yahoo! and MSN) to generate a list of relevant keywords for your site. Then start researching those terms online to determine how much competition there is for them, how frequently they get searched, etc. This information will help you determine which keywords you should use on your site and which ones you should avoid.
3) Create Awesome Content
In order for your website to show up in search results, you have to create awesome content. All of your site’s content—from product descriptions and press releases to articles and reviews—should be 100% original and ideally focused on topics that are popular in your industry. Google likes fresh content, so if you’re not getting many visitors from search engines, it may mean you need new material.
4) Maintain a Healthy Website
Update your website frequently, adding new content that is valuable and relevant to your audience. This will not only give you more chances to rank on search engines, but also make it more likely that readers will stick around. Remember: Frequent updates make for a better user experience and keeps people coming back—where they can see your most recent work as well as archived posts they might have missed earlier.
5) Be Original
It’s no secret that Google and other search engines rely on links to evaluate websites. So make sure you put your best foot forward by creating original content and adding inbound links to important pages on your site. High-quality, original content will help your website rank better in search results. Moreover, it’ll also help potential clients see how great your business is!
6) Keep Struggling
Even if you aren’t making a fortune from your website, one of its most important benefits is that it makes you an expert. Once you gain a following for being great at search engine optimization, it can be much easier to expand into other fields of business. So keep struggling for those rankings! It will all pay off in the end.
