If you’ve been working for a long time and still feel unclear about Search Engine Optimization (there ya go, that’s what SEO is!) this is a must read for you. This article will explore SEO, how you can apply it effectively, and what you need to do to be sure you don’t get penalized.
(Before I dive right in, Alex Goad’s Conquest Authority is a training program that will go over SEO in full detail, but for now, you can start off here.)
As I said in the above paragraph, SEO means search engine optimization. The most confusing question new internet marketers wonder is what is a search engine? I know this is extremely basic, but this is where you must start. Once you learn the very basics, when you start to explore more on the topic of SEO, you will have a complete understanding of exactly what SEO is.
A search engine is a website you go to when you are searching for a particular subject on the internet. An example, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, etc. Those sites are all search engines. When you are looking for an answer on the internet, you go to a search engine, enter in the keywords you are looking for, and presto! The search engine “searches” the internet for you and brings up pages of all the sites online that are relevant to your keywords.
You know what a search engine is and you know what SEO is. Now let me explain to you how you can optimize your site for it.
The number one thing you must do before any optimization, is you must determine the targeted keywords you will use for your site. What I mean by this is finding the terms you want your site to rank for with the search engines. An example of this would be:
Let’s say you have a website targeted around repairing computers. People who are searching for information on fixing their computers might search for these phrases: what’s wrong with my computer, my computer has a blue screen, or fix my computer. These would all be considered long tail keywords, and those are what you would want to aim for, because they are the actual terms that people search the search engines for.
Take care when picking your keywords or key phrases, they are actual phrases that get searched for, if not, you won’t get any traffic to your site. (Another tip is to make sure you pick keywords that don’t have lots of other websites targeting them. You might not still get visitors if there is too many sites competing.) I highly recommend using a keyword research tool to help you find some hidden ones. You can use Google’s free keyword tool, or Wordtracker’s free tool if money is short. They are excellent starter tools, and they do the job just fine. after you start making some money, I highly recommend you get a paid tool because they are so much more effective, and you can really find some good goldmine keywords.
Here you can read more about finding good keywords here.
Alright, so now that you have your keywords, the next step is to make sure your website is optimized for those keywords. How can you do this? It’s really simple, actually.
The number one rule of thumb is always make the title of your page or post (if it’s a blog) isthe exact key phrase or word you are targeting. This will be known as your title tag. Title tags have a huge influence on the search engines when they go to your site, so whatever your title is, the search engines will assume it is a keyword and you want to rank for it. This goes for your domain name as well. Your page/post title and your website title (domain name) are extremely large factors in the SEO world.
Once you have purchased your domain (your URl), and you have chosen your targeted key phrases or words, the next part is to add content to your website or blog. Write an article that is at least 400-500 words, and make sure you include your targeted keywords or phrases at least 2-3 times in the body. Do NOT go overboard with this, or you will get penalized. Take care the keyword density is not over 7% (amount of keywords vs. actual words on page). Staying under 6-7% is much better. If you go over this recommended safety net, the search engines may see you as “keyword stuffing”. Keyword stuffing means using your keywords too many times in one page, and your site will pay for it if you do that, I promise.
The longer the page and content, the better chance you will have of being able to get all your keywords in and not make it look like you are keyword stuffing. In other words, keep your posts and pages long, and you can get all your keywords in. Search engines like long text articles and unique content.
Do not worry about getting every keyword phrase in your article multiple times, because the search engines are smart, and if you have a quality site, Google will rank you for keywords you never even thought to rank for. The highest goal is making sure your main phrase in 2-3 times, and the others at least once.
That’s SEO in a nutshell. Learn as much as you can about the subject, because it truly will benefit you in the long run. Learning SEO takes some patience, but you will be a pro in no time.
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