Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Three Simple Steps “Do-It-Yourself”

Ranking high in Google's search results can have a huge impact on your company's success.

You can either hire a Search Engine Optimization company to help you or if you have the time, you can make some changes to your website yourself.

Step 1: Keyword Research

What keywords do you believe your customers would use to find your products or services? A keyword can be a single word (for example, "optimization"), but multiple keywords or keyword phrases are usually preferred because they are more specific and likely to be what your customers are looking for (eg. Search Engine Optimisation Australia)

Make a list of as many as you can think of. Think about it with your team. Consider alternative words. If geographical phrases are important to your customer (for example, "house cleaning Hornsby"), consider using them. Get some ideas from your competitors' websites as well. Try to come up with a list of 20-30 keyword phrases.

Choose the two keyword phrases that you believe will be searched the most. However, keep in mind that the more competition there is for a keyword, the more difficult it is to achieve top rankings. If you want to rank high in Google for the keyword "insurance," you have a long road ahead of you. So, do your best to choose two keyword phrases that are both relevant to your business and not too broad or competitive. Each phrase should contain two or three words (for example, "wedding catering services").

Once you’ve selected your two best keyword phrases the next step shows you how to make some improvements to your home page.

Step 2: Web Copy

All of the words or text on your website are referred to as web copy. Because content is king in the world of search engines, your keyword phrases must be strategically placed on your website to persuade Google that your content is highly relevant to those keywords. The greater their visibility, the better. (Remember that, as important as search engines are, customers come first, so make sure your copy is also well-written.)

Here’s how you can increase each keyword’s prominence:

• Place your keywords in headings, preferably at the beginning of the heading;
• Include keywords towards the top of the page;
• Bold or italicize keywords where appropriate;
• Instead of having a link to another page that says "Click here to read more ", reword it to include your keywords, e.g. "Read more about our seo copywriting Services

It's also a good idea to include these keywords in your HTML "title tag." Make these changes yourself using your content management system, or ask your web developer to do it if you're not sure how.

After you've fine-tuned your home page, think about adding new content, such as detailed descriptions of your offerings, FAQs, and informative articles about your products and services. (If you don't want to write your own, you can find them for free on the internet by searching for "articles directory").

It's also important to remember that search engines can only read text, not images. Web developers frequently embed words in images to make them look more appealing to website visitors, or use Flash for animation, but this is a major impediment to search engines.

Step 3: Linking

Each link from another website to your website (not from your website) is interpreted by search engines as a vote of popularity for your company and will boost your rankings.

However, it is the quality of the links, not the quantity, that is important. The other websites should be relevant to your industry and, preferably, well-known. Ten high-quality links are worth far more than 500 links from random websites. The online network you build on the internet, like your personal business network, can have a significant impact on the success of your business.

Consider all of the relevant websites that could link to you, such as non-competing businesses and industry bodies and organizations. Write a friendly email to each, explaining how their visitors will benefit from knowing about your company, and ask them to create a link to your website. Most people will not respond the first time they are contacted, so a follow-up phone call is usually necessary.

How do I monitor my results?

Monitor your rankings in Google over the next few months by typing your chosen keywords into the search box, and recording your ranking. Also, look at your hosting reports to understand what search terms your visitors are using to find your website. 

The above process can be also be repeated for each page of your website. Remember to keep updating your content, and continually increase the number of links to your website.

As you see your rankings climb you should see a corresponding increase in web traffic and a substantial increase in sales inquiries. Be sure to record the source of your customer inquiries, so you can measure the success of your marketing efforts. 

Remember, if you measure it, you can improve it.