Do you have an online business or are you
planning on starting one? Do you want to improve your website’s search engine
results ranking? Can’t afford to pay someone to optimize your website for you? Why
not do it yourself?
But let’s face it, search engine
optimization can be daunting. You need to familiarize yourself with web design,
as well as, content writing. Even the most experienced SEO consultants can sometimes
find it mind-boggling and at times find the task tedious. SEO is constantly
changing and evolving so there’s no perfect recipe. What’s good now may no
longer be useful a few months later. Also, it’s better to focus on organic
SEO instead of inorganic SEO which yields instant but short-term results.
To get you started, you first need to have
a truly good product or service. If you’re not selling anything and your
website focuses more on sharing information, it needs to have high quality
content. If you can’t be proud of it, don’t expect others to like it.
Speaking of high quality content, there are
a lot of ways you can ensure this. First, highlight what makes your product a
good one. What are its features and benefits? How is it used? What is it for?
It will be a good idea to come up with a guide about your product, too. Add in
some pictures or images with the instructions. Finally, it will help draw more
people to your site if you have research to back up your product. For example,
if you are selling products from various essential oils, you may also want to
post articles supporting the benefits of those essential oils. You also need to
have the willingness to learn. There are online tutorials that can help you for
free or if you have some cash to spare, you can also sign up for formal
training or attend various seminars. Following respected blogs or websites that are
trusted for knowing all the latest updates and tricks can help enhance your
knowledge as well.
It also makes sense to know about the
industry you are in. Keep up with your competition and always watch out for the
latest trends, breakthroughs and discoveries; whatever industry you are in, be
it cosmetics, healthcare, or entertainment.
Next, you need to have a basic
understanding of how keywords work. You know those terms you enter in the
search engine when you’re looking for something? These helps search engines narrow down their search
to bring the user the most relevant results. This is why those keywords are
important. They tell search engines and its users what your website has to
offer. You should be aware of which ones you’re targeting, be it short terms or
long tail keywords.
A good social signal is a must as well.
Enter social media marketing. This is a no-brainer seeing how social networking
sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are so popular. It’s also one of
the easiest ways of letting people know about your product and services.
You also need to learn how to collaborate
and how to get backlinks. These will not only get you more traffic but it will help
you tell search engines that your site is trustworthy as well. The more
respected and popular the site your link is in, the stronger the boost you get.
Maintain your reputation by always keeping
your site fresh and updated. Let your customers know that you care by always
replying to their questions both in your website and in social media. This is
one more reason why you should have a useful product or service.
Finally, you need the patience to learn and
the perseverance to see your website through. It is not going to happen
overnight and you will have to put in a lot of time and hard work before you
see the fruits of your labor. If you have these qualities, then that’s already
half the battle.