Website owners and developers know how important search engine optimization or SEO is to the success of any website. Proper SEO is vital in obtaining a high ranking in search engines. Unfortunately, many web developers do not master the basics of optimizing a website which can lead to disappointing results. On the other hand, knowing how to do SEO results in a website that consistently produces the desired outcome.
Identifying the Audience
The first part of learning how to do search engine optimization is marketing to the right audience. It is useless to know how to optimize a website if the target audience is unclear. Start by attempting to get into the mind of potential viewers. Think about what terms they would search for if they are looking for the product or service offered. This will help you to choose terms that are in line with your goals. Consider the specifics of the audience and what their motives for searching may be. For instance, whether they are window shopping or are ready to spend. Knowing this will lead you to choosing search terms that entice buyers. Once the target audience is identified, it is easy to come up with a relevant list of keywords.
The Importance of Page Titles
One of the most vital elements in search engine optimization is the title tag or page title. The page title is visible at the top of the web browser on any page. The words of the page title also are displayed as blue links in Google search results. Knowing how to SEO your website effectively means making the most of this exposure by placing the search terms in the page titles. Keep the titles brief but appealing and place the most important keywords in the beginning of the page title. While this may take practice, it will pay off in the long run.
Displaying Contact Information
One tip that web developers use is to include the address and phone number of a business on each page of the website. This strategy is not only convenient for visitors to the site, but also serves to strengthen the location within search engines. Businesses with several locations usually have a separate web page for each location and link them to several pages within the website. Usually, another page is created that has a list of all of business’s locations. The home page should have a list of the locations as well.
Additional Tips on How to do SEO
There are many ways to improve search engine ranks with search engine optimization. Claiming a business profile at websites like Merchant Circle, local online business listings such as Yahoo and other sites will give a boost to the ranks since these types of sites garner huge traffic and rank high in the search engines. Adding a blog to the website is easy to do and will put additional pages on the site for increased visibility. As all developers know, internal links play a large part in search engine optimization. Pay attention to which pages within the site are linked from the home page; link the ones that are to have the highest ranking. Utilizing other tools such as videos, unique page titles and carefully written keyword content are other ways to do SEO to the best advantage.
To know more about SEO and Online Marketing, visit the Online Marketing FAQ page of Flyingcowdesign.com
CEO, Flying Cow Design
Attended University of Auckland
Lives in San Francisco Bay Area