Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimization is a viable way to get more traffic to your website through natural searches on MSN, google, and yahoo. Your goal is to get your page listed on the first page of the search engines for the keyword terms in your niche that people are searching for.
 
You can find loads of information on SEO in books and on the internet. We also have a whole area dedicated to Search Engine Optimisation in our Learning Centre so be sure to stop by that area of the site. We don’t have that kind of time or space here, but we’ll try to give you an overview without overwhelming you.

How can SEO help you get traffic?

The goal with any website is to get targeted traffic. The beauty of search engine traffic is that the people who come to your site are actually looking for what you have to offer.

For instance, if you go to google.com and type in “Dog Food for Poodles” – you’ll actually get results. So, if you were looking to buy “Dog Food for Poodles”, you’d likely have your credit card out and be ready to make a purchase for dog food for your poodle.

THAT is the kind of visitor you want coming to your website. Not a poodle lover, but someone who is looking and is ready to make that purchase or to find information on your niche (or your websites area of expertise).

If you have an information website, the same rule applies. Assuming you want information about “Training Miniature Poodles” just go to google and type in that term and you’ll find websites that will help you teach your unruly poodle some manners.

Stop and think about what your website is about. Actually, what each page of your website is about. You’ll want to set up each page of your website to be sure to let the search engines know exactly who to send you. 

Where to start?

Since this is a very simple overview of Search Engine Optimization, we’ll just cover the basics. There are two factors that determine how much traffic the search engines will send you. First is the information you have on your own website. Second is how many other websites are linking to your website. Those are the two areas you’ll want to work on in order to crawl up higher on the search engines for your niche.

On your website be sure to use the keywords for your niche. If your page is about “Marathon Walking” then be sure to use the term “Marathon Walking” as your title and in the body of your article. It’s quite simple.

Your offsite goals are just as easy. Work on getting other people to link to your website. You can do this by writing and submitting articles, posting comments on other people’s blogs, writing press releases or even posting on forums.

A Closer Look At SEO On Your Website

Search Engine Optimization seems to strike fear into the hearts of many webmasters and even many of the more seasoned Marketers. However it really isn't as difficult as it seems.

The following focuses on ways you can make your site 'friendlier' to the search engines. In order to really climb to the top of the search engine rankings, though, you’ll also want to read further on about 'off-site' ways to climb through the search engine rankings.

Keywords
Be sure to include your keywords or key phrases on your page. You don’t want to go overboard, but you will want your page title to be very descriptive.

Bad SEO Title: “Why I’m Having a Crummy Day”
Better SEO Title: “The Effects of Acne on Self Esteem”

Bad SEO Title: “Lessons I Learned on the Subway on a Trip to the Zoo”
Better SEO Title: “Disciplining Your Child in Public”

Assuming these articles are written with the same content, the search engines will understand the “Better SEO Title” more.

There are tools you can use to find keywords that are being searched.

• Wordtracker – Provides a tool that displays the number of people searching for a term, as well as the competition. Wordtracker offers a free trial so you can test their service.

• SEO Elite – As of this writing, this website offers a free ecourse about Search Engine Optimization from one of the leading SEO Experts, Brad Callen. The software itself is highly recommended by many of the top Internet Marketers.

• Overture – This free resource will give you ideas for keywords. It doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles but is a good place to start.

Where to include your keywords
Now that you have an idea of which keywords you’re using, you’ll want to stay consistent.

Meta Tags: Here’s where we start to lose people. Hang in there. We promise to make this simple.

If you peek into the html of a new page you’ve created, you’ll see something like this  –

<title>New Page 1</title>

All you need to do is to replace the text between the two <title> words with YOUR title.

For instance:

<title>Dalmatian Training Tips for Firefighters</title>

The other tag in the meta section that you should really alter is the Description tag. It will look something like this and fall immediately after the <title> tag.
<META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Add something here">

Simply add a short description of the page in there in plain English, and include the words you used in your title tag.

For instance:

<META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Firefighters, we have free tips for training your Dalmatian.">

That’s it.

Now, in your content, be sure to use <h1> tags around your title. It’ll look like this:

<h1>Dalmatian Training Tips for Firefighters</h1>

This is just the basics, for more detailed information visit here  but those are the quick and essential tips you should know about making your pages search engine friendly.

A Closer Look AT SEO Off Your Website

Search engine optimization is a two-part process.  You’ll want to optimize your web content (on-site) and work on getting many incoming links (off-site). Here we will focus on the ways you can improve your search engine ranking by working on off-site factors.

Think about the reasoning behind the search engines decision that incoming links prove that a website is valuable. When you find impressive information on a website, what do you do? You link to it. This is not only proven with articles, but it works with other types of websites. If you find a free piece of software or a really inspirational video, you may mention it on your blog or website and include a link to that website where your visitors can claim it.

That’s what people naturally do. The search engines recognized this and realized that the most popular websites like CNN.com or ESPN.com are linked to quite frequently and naturally.

So, how can you “force” other sites to link to you? Of course, we don’t recommend any illegal or spammy methods so here are some tried and true ways to get other websites to link to your website:

1. Create a quality website with unique, informative content. Vistors will be more open to linking to your website if you have much to offer.

Of course, if you have a product website (a storefront) then this can be a bit harder, so the next one is for you.

2. Start an affiliate program. You’ll be surprised how many people will link to you if they have the potential to make money doing so.

3. Do something newsworthy and write a press release. Not only will you have incoming links from the press release distributors, but you also stand chance to get your story picked up by TV, radio, and print newspapers.

4. Become a columnist for another website. Contact websites in your niche and offer to write a regular ongoing column for them – or even provide a weekly tip or idea. You’ll get plenty of links – and build a networking relationship by doing so.

5. Write and submit articles to article directories. Simply write an informative article and submit it to article directories where other website owners can publish it – with your Author Resource box at the end which includes your URL.

These are just a few of the many ways you can increase the number of incoming links to your website. With a little creativity and some hard work, you’ll see more traffic coming through those links in the coming months.

For more information about Search Engine Optimisation click here.