What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
In a nutshell, SEO is "All of the techniques used to get your site indexed and indexed on all of the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN".
Why is SEO so important?
The number one way in which people find websites is through search engines, so achieving a high ranking in your keywords (typically the first page or 1-10 in the engine) is the best way to drive traffic to your site. With a quality ranking, the investment is irrevalable, it is much like "free" advertising 24/7/365.
How can you become SEO friendly?
Although the methods of SEO is ultimately endless, here are some of the most important factors of getting that top-spot.
- Domain age – Search engines love a seasoned site, one that has been around for several years and proves to be beneficial for the users.
- Relevant, clean, new content – You need to make sure your site has fresh content and is regularly updated. The search engines like this and so do your visitors.
- No Flash – Flash is a great multimedia tool but is typically frowned upon for SEO, the text and content within the Flash piece can not be seen by search engines, so it can not be implemented into your SEO progress. A major downer is having a flash intro, a flash intro page acts as a barrier between the main page and the rest of the content that lies within your site.
- Meta tags – Meta tags are invisible tags that are used by search engines to categorize your content.
- Heading tags – Heading tags (h1) should be used on the headline or most important and relevant factor of your page heading tags should also be used on the keywords which you think users will be searching for that will lead to your site.
- Site maps – Site maps is a link by link breakdown of your site. They help search engine "spiders" navigate through your site and index each individual page.
What not to do for SEO
- Keyword Stuffing – Keyword stuffing is jam packing your content with your main keywords to the point that your content no longer makes sense.
- Invisible content – Invisible content that is not intended for users to see but used to fill your page with keywords will quickly put you on a search engine's bad side.
- Too many h1 tags
- Link farms – Link farms are basically individual pages with numerous links to other sites.
Over doing any of the what not to do can result in your site being "sandboxed" which will exclude your site from the search engine alike. Being "sandboxed" may last forever, years or months.
How long will a good ranking take?
SEO is a very time-dependent practice. Even if you practice good SEO techniques, do not expect results for up to 6 months or even more. Be patient and the investment will pay off very.
Your investment will pay off
Although the exact ROI of your SEO services is actually incalculable due to its lengthy timeframe, experts agree that SEO is the most cost-effective marketing strategy if done correctly.