Target the Right Keywords
A keyword is a word or phrase that a web surfer will use in searching for a website. Some think that choosing the right keywords is a no brainer, but don’t be fooled into this line of thinking. If you jump in, optimize your site and achieve a top ranking from the keywords you chose you may then realize that your visitor counter has not changed at all. All that hard work to optimize your site keywords and nothing to show for it.
So what happened? In this instance you failed to choose keywords that surfers were actually looking for. Therefore, try researching a list of keywords and phrases that apply to your websites products and services. Place yourself in the seat of the web surfer and avoid general statements like “small business.” You may provide a service for small businesses, but who’s going to type in small business when they are looking for a networking consultant?
Research keywords that are very popular and less competitive for a top ranking. There is a fine line in targeting keywords that are very general or competitive versus keywords & phrases that are so specific that few people even think to search for. Don’t make the mistake of picking the wrong keywords. This is a very time consuming and very important step in page ranking. Nothing is as disappointing as spending days if not weeks optimizing your pages with targeted keywords to achieve top ranking and seeing absolutely no increase in traffic. Don’t choose very broad keywords like books or computer. You’ll just receive unwanted traffic from individuals whom are less likely to purchase your product or service.
Please see my article on Choosing The Right Keywords (http://www.kosmoscentral.com/seo-articles/keywords.html) for more information.
Submit to the Major Directories A significant change in search engine marketing in recent years is the rise of human reviewed directories like Yahoo, Open Directory and LookSmart. Some search engines will display the directory listings of many of many popular searches. You can recognize directories very easily since they are often called “Web Site Results” rather than “Web Page Results.”
After you submit to the directories it’s very difficult to correct mistakes later. Yahoo will charge as much as $300 just for the privelage of being reviewed by a human and included in their directory. I know it’s easier said than done, but try to get it right the first time. Not all directories are the same so research as much as you can about submitting to that particular directory.
Dmoz or The Open Directory Project is arguably the most important directory in my opinion to get listed in. Please see my article on Why is Dmoz so Important to a Website (http://www.kosmoscentral.com/seo-articles/why-Is-Dmoz-Important.html) for more information.
Optimize Your Page Content Each Engine will rank pages differently, so most tips will not carry across the board. But, you can create pages that emulate pages of highly ranked pages.
Research their, keyword frequency, total words on the page, weight of the keywords on the page, area or location of the keywords on the page, proximity of the keywords, off page factors and the prominence of the keywords on their page.
Include your keywords in your Title Tag, Heading Tag, Link Text, Meta Tags and Description Tags.
Name your pages after your keyword and obtain a domain with your keyword will often boost rankings.
Regional business should optimize their keyword or phrases for their area. Searching California Sony Camcorders will not result in your page being found if you’re not optimizing for your local areas.
Make sure you don’t spam the engines, most engines are very touchy and will either refuse to index your page or worse ban your site if they feel the need.
Increase Your Link Popularity This off page factor has become a significant component for most of the search engines. Your site will need to have one or more links from other websites in order to even be considered for indexing by the engines. If you don’t have high link popularity, then you’ll never achieve a high ranking. Try to reciprocate those links; engines will rank your link popularity even higher if they see that your site has more incoming than outgoing links and is part of a community of stars rather than a black hole. See Reciprocal Link Popularity (http://www.kosmoscentral.com/seo-articles/reciprocal-Link-Popularity.html) for more information. So, make link popularity a high priority when starting a web marketing campaign. Link popularity will not only increase your rankings, but will also increase your web traffic from other websites.
Keep Track of Your Progress As you research and learn more about web marketing and optimizing your website you’ll learn that it’s not an exact science. Your optimized pages will vary in ranking and may need adjustments. Keep track of your visitors with a hits counter and where their coming from. So, measure your progress and tweak your optimized pages when needed.
I am a developer, designer, dmoz volunteer editor and consultant. I have been working in the computer networking industry since 1991, providing training, technical support, project management and consulting services. After working for 4 years for a major online company providing web development technical support services, I was offered a directors position in a large real estate corporation utilizing my web development and management skills. A few years later I decided to start a side business for myself and created Kosmos Central LLC a web promotion consulting company. Currently I provide my consulting services for the same company and a few more.
I’ve lived in the Portland Oregon Area the majority of my existence on this planet and occasionally Ill take time off to enjoy life
