It’s not that I don’t want your business… definitely not. But I often encourage potential customers who are trying to justify in their minds the costs of an internet consultant or a professionally run SEO campaign, to try a few things themselves if they are so inclined. I don’t view this as giving away the store because there will always be a big gap between the level of results available to professional internet consultants, and those available to enthusiastic but cash flow challenged business owners. What I find is that customers, who have some appreciation of just what is involved in getting so many elements to work together, only end up better understanding the value that a professional internet consultant brings, and ultimately end up appreciating the work I do for them even more.
So here without further adieu, are 10 easy SEO tips that kids can try at home.
- Keyword research. Really spend some time looking at what people are using to search for your business or industry. Don’t assume you know already you might be surprised. Search Google for the Adwords keyword tool and take it out for a spin. The results are guaranteed to surprise you.
- “It’s the domain name stupid…” Perhaps the most basic thing you can do to get your SEO on the right track out of the gate is to pick an industry relevant domain name. Many folks of course are enamored of their own names but think like a customer: If I want to find a local CPA, I won’t be looking for you by name. You’ll do better with Google if your site is named JSmithAccounting.com or BilltheCPA.com than if you are BobBarker.com or BillJonesServices.com
- Use the title tags on every page. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then maybe you do need a consultant… But creating keyword rich title tags is one of the easiest things you can do to highlight to both Google and your customers the relevance of this webpage. Most sites these days have a title tag on their home page but you’d be amazed at how many lack this basic information on other pages.
- Strong Meta tags with specific keywords for each page. Related to above for SEO purposes. You have about 150 characters to use in the meta description. Use them.
- Content is indeed, King. It’s a cliché I know but a sexy website and keywords without relevant and useful content will have prospects clicking away faster than you can say “lost revenue”. A common rule used is no less than 250 words. Make them count.
- Update your site well and often. The more often the better. Why? This has a benefit for both Google’s web crawlers and your customers who will not return to a site that remains static for too long.
- Good site navigation. When a crawler is looking at a site, they need good links to reference and find your other pages. The more relevant links to other pages in your site, the better. Missing or broken links can relegate your pages to the junk heap of relevance, fast.
- Use Images on your pages. The ‘alt’ text field gives you a few more chances to work your keywords into these pages and makes your page more interesting to actual people instead of just web crawlers.
- Keyword Rich Page URL’s. In addition to your domain URL, you should be including your keyword phrase in your page URL’s to increase your relevancy for that keyword.
Instead of http://wsinetmarketing.com/?pageid=123
Use http://wsinetmarketing.com/10-easy-seo-tips - Use Social Media sites like twitter and facebook to backlink to your site. Not only do backlinks help you increase your relevance, but they will cause your site to get indexed very very fast.
