Believe it or not, using SEO or Search Engine Optimization to increase website traffic is not difficult. And it’s not rocket science, either. If you follow these five easy SEO tips below, I can assure you that you will see a nice increase in your website traffic.
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1. Proper Keyword Research
SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) works best with thorough keyword research. Researching keywords is often rushed because the researcher often comes to the table with preconceived ideas or is in a rush to reach conclusions quickly. As someone who has done a lot of research myself, the trick is to take the time necessary to cover all the bases and to keep an open mind. An open mind?
Yes – often, your research will turn up something you never considered. Sometimes, these little “finds” are real gems; if you hurry or are not thorough, you can miss the best stuff! Also, remember to keep a spreadsheet with your numbers – searches, search results, etc. This will save you time by not having to duplicate your efforts.
One of my favorite tools is the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. Google reveals everything you could want when researching keywords. All you have to do is ask the right questions. Sometimes, this takes time. I can’t remember the number of times I started searching for a particular keyword, and when it was all over, I ended up with something different—but much better than I started with.
And did I mention this tool was free?
You do have to be meticulous – open up an Excel or an OpenOffice spreadsheet and record the following details;
Make rows for:
- The Keyword or Keyword Phrase
- Google Local Monthly Searches(exact)
- Google Search Results (search in parenthesis)
- A ratio (divide the Monthly Searches by the Search Results)
I like a ratio around 020. This number may be hard to hit depending on the niche but keep trying. If you can’t get that number, do your best and move on to the next keyword. Use these keywords in your articles and postings
2. Search Engines LOVE Original And Relevant Content:
Google, Yahoo, Bing, and the other top search engines are brilliant these days. They reward unique and relevant original content with higher rankings for the keywords used. But be very careful not to overdo things. In the old days (5 or so years ago), it was possible to “stuff keywords” into an article – meaning that a huge percentage of the words in an article were the keywords – and the search engines would react accordingly and reward with top placement on the page. But now, most experts suggest you keep the density of your main words to no more than 3%!
Always use your main words in a natural and relaxed style in your posts and articles. Never use any phrases so that you can use your keywords. Many novices think it’s OK to copy great content and use it on their blogs and articles. Not only is this illegal (it’s called plagiarism), the search engines will penalize your website and articles with lower rankings or even completely remove your post from their databases if they find out you’re duplicating others’ content!
3. Article Writing And Syndication:
After years of being a great way to get your content out on the web, writing and submitting articles to article databases is still a tremendous way to attract your website. With the incredible popularity of YouTube and other video web properties (traffic magnets in their own right), writing great and relevant articles and submitting them to article directories for syndication is a solid traffic builder.
What is syndication? Here’s the simple explanation. You write an article and submit it to an article directory with a link to your website. If your subject and article are in demand and well-written, another website publisher could re-publish your article – complete with your name as author and the link back to your website – to use on their site. Unlike the example above, this is not stealing content – you permitted syndication with the link back to you by submitting your article.
Syndication benefits both parties – it can get you published on a popular website, and the one who publishes your article gets great content for their readers. It’s a win-win! Article writing is easy, and it’s a very effective traffic builder. This technique helps your website quickly get noticed by the search engines – sometimes within two days – which allows your website’s natural ranking in the search engines.
4. Social Bookmarking – Web 2.0 At It’s Best:
Social Bookmarking is a “method for Internet users to share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources” (Wikipedia). It “gets the word out” about your blog posts and many other Internet activities, such as article submissions, Tweets, and Facebook postings.
You should be actively involved with social bookmarking to promote yourself and your internet ventures. Most social Bookmarking websites, such as Digg, Kirksey, KoolontheWeb, Delicious, etc., are free to join. Always bookmark your own articles and post press releases at these hot web 2.0 properties.
Regularly bookmarking my posts and articles usually leads to higher-quality traffic to my website. Social bookmarking websites are generally well-optimized for SEO and are a big favorite of search engines. Bookmarking your posts and articles at a bookmarking site that is highly popular with Google, Yahoo, and Bing can help index your posts or articles quickly—sometimes within hours.
5. Video – The Next Best Thing Is Already Here
I’ll keep this short since I’m not a video expert. But, based on the times I have used video to help increase traffic to a website, a video has given some spectacular results. I use YouTube to publish articles I’ve converted into videos. Search engines weigh videos heavily in the rankings – do a few keyword searches, and you’ll see this in action with at least two videos on just about any search page you see.
Here’s exactly how I convey my articles to video. And the best part – it’s all free!
- Use OpenOffice Impress (like MS PowerPoint) to make a slide show of your article.
- Cam Studio is a free screen capture software that will turn your presentation into a video.
- Windows Movie Maker is a great way to edit and save your video for YouTube.
- Download your video to YouTube. Make sure to use your keywords and include a link back to your website!
