Search Engine Optimization

SEO or search engine optimization, defines the process of targeting your website at keywords ideally chosen to bring in often valuable traffic via search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. There are two main types of SEO, the first is on site, and involves fine tuning the setup and content on your own website to maximize its potential. The second is offsite SEO where a number of techniques are used to promote your website and build its online popularity. The combination of both SEO styles if carried out correctly will see your site steadily improve its positions in the search engines, this can leads to many visitors viewing your site. There are lots of factors that contribute to the overall SEO of your site, for the benefits of this beginners guide we will simply describe the main points:

Good site design: It’s important to ensure your website not only looks appealing, but works correctly and is optimized to work in harmony with a wider SEO campaign. If you do not have a solid working understanding of website design and the building blocks you need to ensure a solid basis for ongoing seo, it’s important to consult a professional.

Keyword research: Ensuring the keywords you target are the ones people are searching for is very important, there is no point in working hard to get your site to rank well, only to find out there is no traffic for the keywords you have chosen.
Good content: Make sure the content on your website is unique and original, do not copy other, write from scratch and ensure the information you are offering is A1.

Link building: It’s important to get other sites to “vote” for your site, there are many ways to do this including, directory submissions, article marketing, links exchanges, blog posting, forum signatures, natural links, paid linking and many others.
Marketing: For faster results you may want to consider other ideas for bringing in traffic, such as real world advertising campaigns, pay per click advertising and other such things.

Relevant domain: Ensure you buy a domain that offers some relevance to the topic of your site, it all helps!

Realistic targets: Be realistic about what you and your budget are capable of, do not for example decide you are going to setup a site selling mortgages and expect to rank well, as this is a highly competitive niche. You will need to select small achievable targets and work up from there.