trying to work online for a while and still feel unclear about about the much talked about SEO (search engine optimization) this article is a must read. In this article, we will explore how you can apply it effectively, and what you need to do to be sure you don’t get penalized by the internet gods (the search engines).
(Before I dive right in, Conquest Authority is a learning course that will go over SEO in complete detail, but for starters, you should start here.)
As I said in the above paragraph, SEO means search engine optimization. The hardest question new online marketers have is what is a search engine? I know this is extremely basic, but this is where you need to start. Once you learn the extreme basics, when you begin to discover more on the SEO topic, you will have a complete understanding of exactly what it is.
All a search engine is, is a place you go when you are looking for a particular subject online. 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 information you are searching for, and voila! The search engine “searches” the web for you and brings up an entire list of all the sites online that are relevant to your search.
Now you know what a search engine is, and you know what SEO is, let me get into the meat of things and explain how SEO works.
The most important thing you must do before any optimization, is you must determine your desired targeted keywords for your site. To be more specific, finding the search phrases you want your site to rank for with the search engines. An example of this would be:
Let’s say you have a website loaded with repairing computers. People who are searching for information about repairing their computers might search for these keywords: how can I get my computer fixed, why does my computer have a blue screen, or where can I get my computer fixed. These phrases would all be considered long tail keywords, and these are what you would want to aim for, because they are the actual keyphrases that people search the search engines for.
Take care when deciding on your keywords or key phrases, they are actually terms that get searched for, otherwise you will get no traffic. (Another tip is to be sure you pick keywords that don’t have lots of other websites targeting them. You may still never get traffic if there is too many sites competing.) I recommend using a keyword research tool to really find some good ones. You can use Google’s free keyword tool, or Wordtracker’s free tool if money is tight. They are fantastic starter tools, and they do the job fantastically. Once 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 keywords.
You can find out more on keyword research and finding good keywords here.
Okay, so now that you have your keywords picked, the next step is to be sure your website is optimized for your keywords. So how do you do this? It’s really simple, actually.
The most important rule is always title your page or post with your keywords. This is known as your title tag. Title tags have a very big influence on the search engines when they crawl your site, so whatever your title is, the search engines will consider it a keyword and you are trying to rank for it. This goes for your domain name as well. Your page/post title and your website title (domain name) are very big factors in the SEO world.
Once you have purchased your domain (the website address), 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 content. Be careful not to 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 website will pay for it if you do that, I promise.
The longer the page and content, the better chance you 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 tried to rank for. The highest goal is putting your main phrase in 2-3 times, and the others at least one time.
That’s SEO in a very brief overview. Get as much information as you can about the subject, because it truly will benefit you in the long run. To learn SEO takes some time, but you will be a pro in no time.
Tags: free traffic, learn seo, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engines, SEO