Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and search ranking can be a beast to tackle. I typically tell clients that there is no magic pill you can take to just mysteriously show up on the first page of Google.
I hear stories all the time of the local business owner, who are good at their craft receiving a call with someone promising the first page of Google in no time. A few weeks later they wasted a few thousand dollars leaving them in a state of frustration! They are better off reading Search Engine Optimization for Dummies using its SEO checklist to make the changes. This is why WordPress is recommended to give the average Joe the chance to do some of the work themselves.
Internet Marketing SEO
Search engine traffic is the method of someone online whether that is through Google, Yahoo, Bing, or AOL typing into the search bar of one of those sites looking for information about a certain topic. Generally this method of people coming into your website from a search online is preferred because they have a natural interest in the topic. Ideally if you were selling a product, this would be advantageous for you.
Internet marketing is a term that is thrown around a lot essentially describing how to promote your product online so people can find you by your site optimization that you have set into place.
Below I will talk about where you can do some keyword research so you can put together a plan of action. In the mean time… to the nitty gritty of the post.
8 Simple Steps to Search Engine Optimization
1) Keyword Research – You will need to find out more on how people are searching on Google for your information. A good start is Googles Keyword Research Tool to see what terms are being searched on a specific basis. Some resources listed below.
2) Keyword Rich Domain – Once you find out what terms people are searching for, you will need to obtain a web address. That is also known as a “domain name”. Good places to find a domain are GoDaddy (thanks Danika), Fatcow, and Bluehost to name a few. I would shoot for a .Com address verse all others because it is the most preferred and recognized ending to a web address. Example would be www.KEYWORDHere.com.
3) The Right Platform: WordPress – Such as my site, it is built on WordPress. It allows the flexibility and creativity to build the world in an easy fashion without knowing HTML & PHP coding. Understanding some will help you greatly. WordPress is SEO friendly and typically optimized for search engines like the giant Google.
4) Permalinks – One of the first things you will need to do is change your URL structure for optimized Permalink SEO strategy. You will find this on your menu in your WordPress dashboard under “settings” à “permalinks” à then select the structure. An idea SEO friendly URL would be /%postname%/. You could go also go with /%category%/%postname%/. Selecting a keyword friendly category could go a long ways too.
5) SEO Plugin – This is where WordPress gets awesome. You have the world at your fingertips. You have several SEO plugins to choose from that help set up the necessary things for your site. The All In One SEO and YOAST plugins are just a couple that would do the trick for you in making sure you site is search engine optimized!
6) Quality Content – A good rule of thumb to remember is write for your readers and not for Google. They say content is king! Ideally you want to add new content to your site once a week but if super serious you should aim for 3 times a week. To put it simply, just add new content to your website. It is tough so do what you can because life throws curve balls at us.
7) Social Media – I can’t help but to think about this Youtube song by Your Favorite Martian titled “Grandma Got a Facbook”. Hilarious stuff! Make sure you share all your content online with Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. This can help boost traffic to your site if used properly.
8 ) Backlinks – Sounds like a bicycle chain doesn’t it? While things in the SEO circles are constantly changing, high quality backlinks to your site count. That is if someone links to your site of a similar if not same topic site, that gives you link juice. Think of the slogan “Milk does a body good”. Now replace that with “Backlinks does a website good”. Relevancy when linking goes a long way.
Keyword Research Tools
Here are a few tools that are free and paid that you can do research on how to describe to the world properly what you are wanting people to read.
SEO Conclusion
Search Engine Optimization generally can be easily achievable if you have some SEO basics under your tool belt. I encourage you to dive in and take it all for a test drive. It’s like riding a bike; the more you practice the better you become at it.
Changing The World One Pixel At A Time – Michael G. Stults
Dynamic, high-energy executive with history of performance-oriented leadership to e-commerce sales and marketing within the online marketing and advertising industry. MichaelStults.com is where I share my thoughts on different marketing methods, wordpress, leadership, and various topics that I feel inspired to write about. Please take time to learn more about Rare Disease at www.BriParDun.com