search engine optimization (seo) for beginners

search engine optimization (seo) is not the easiest way to boost your marketing. it’s a ton of work and there are no guarantees it will produce the results you seek. even when you achieve results through seo, you still have to make good on customers who are shopping heavily. if you want your ‘organic’ position to be high – listing somewhere along the first or second page of key searches on the left – then seo is for you. if you just want to be on the first page for key searches, then an adwords campaign is far less involved and quicker to results. let’s look at what you can do to make good on internet traffic and searches now – before you hire a professional to provide full-blown seo services.

1. target keywords
in order to optimize, it’s all about matching the keywords that people are typing into their searches. as a business owner or marketer, you ought to know what makes you unique, what customers are looking for (especially online),  the problems you help to solve, etc. if you don’t, then you need to stop reading this post and call me right now! keywords are the hot buttons that people are pushing at the search engines and you should start by reflecting on what they might be.

2. launch an adwords campaign
whether you have no clue or some clue or all of the answers when it comes to which keywords people are using, please do yourself a HUGE favor and launch a google adwords campaign. it’s not seo or adwords – though i’ve heard it pitched this way by many companies. it’s BOTH! adwords is a sure-fire and objective way to learn the landscape. set-up is easy, their tools will suggest numerous keywords to embrace (and they’re always the ones you’d think of) and you’ll give your busineess free exposiure to boot. that’s right, google doesn’t charge for impressions (a.k.a. expsoure)…they charge for action taken by customers in the form of clicks on ads.

3. collect your rankings
start by typing in a bunch of high level (or generalist) searches in your industry to see where your organization lands. hopefully, you are somewhere on the map – even if you’re buried 10 pages deep. don’t ignore msn, yahoo and others. even though google has a little over 50% of the search market, so it is still worth surfing the other two engines.

4. experiment with meta data (a.k.a tags)
if you have no idea what meta data is then this may be over your head. if you have a blog platform for your website, then you have an easy means for getting into this and should look at your help documentation. meta data are tags that get associated with various pages of content, which then attract the search engines to your pages.  a cool tool for seeing how you’re doing in this regard is www.websitegrader.com.

5. focus on titles, links and boldeds
if you use keywords in important places on your site (i.e. page titles, links, bolded words, etc), then you will also be making your website more relevant to customer searches.

6. juice your blog
if you have a blog, then definitely include keywords and links all over your posts, again placing them in the most prominent places. if you don’t have a blog, then shame on you! there may be no better way to produce regular content that helps your website become a more valuable asset to customers.

7. create a landing page
no, i’m not talking about one of those annoying pages that sits at the front of a website that slows you down and rarely provides anything of real value. no, i’m talking about a landing page for people coming from google and other search engines that helps you act like you knew he or she was coming and begins to build the confidence that you can help with their specific needs..and starting NOW.  you need to be ready and waiting for shoppers, which is what these searches produce. create a landing page that’s lean and immediately requests contact information in exchange for something of value, like a rate sheet or proposal. here’s an example. you will dramatically increase the likelihood of converting their click or search into business this way.

if you’re ready to jump into this with me, then let’s get started!