The comparatively low cost of building a Website makes it one of the most cost effective ways of promoting a business. Even the smallest business can benefit from an online presence; provided it is an effective one.
One of the basic necessities of promoting your business with a Website is that it must be able to be found on the search engines. Without this simple thing your site is effectively invisible to the general public and may as well not even exist. Disillusionment can soon set in when the company Website does not appear to be ‘performing’ or bringing in any customers.
For this reason, it is essential when contracting a Web designer to ensure they have some knowledge of search engine optimization. There are many who don’t. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is not some black art (although many would have us believe so) and there are many simple tips and tricks that can easily be carried out to optimize a site.
Here are my five steps for basic search engine optimization…
1.Optimize your site around the most popular keywords – A keyword or keyword phrase is what a user will type into a search engine to look for the information they need. So spending some time anticipating and researching the keywords related to your business will not only be worthwhile; but is a vital step towards the success of your Website.
2.Know your target audience – One of the basics of marketing is to advertise to the people who are likely to be your customers. This applies also to your Website, so make sure it is built to be appealing to them.
It is also a good idea to look for ways of getting your existing visitors to keep returning to your site such as a regular newsletter, promotions, giveaways, etc. Again; knowing your target audience will be a big help in deciding the most effective methods.
3.Don’t give up on your existing Website – If you already have a site that is not performing as well as you would like, don’t abandon it. Instead get the site looked at by a professional and find out what improvements can be made.
There will more often than not be more value to search engines in an existing site than in a brand new one.
4.Make sure your site is designed to be ‘user friendly’ – There are many superb guides that go into great detail about effective Web design. But some of the more obvious things to consider are: Colour schemes, easy navigation, page layout, text sizes, etc. Without a user friendly Website your visitors will not stay long enough to find out what your business is all about.
5.Add content to the Website regularly – A site that is updated regularly encourages repeat visitors and also gets looked upon more favourably by search engines. A simple way of adding fresh content to a site is to incorporate a blog. This can then be posted to on a daily or weekly basis.
Following these five steps for basic search engine optimization will help to ensure that your Website gets noticed and attracts the customers you need for your business. Good luck!
Tony Williams is the author of Web Traffic in Black & White, the guide that unlocks the secrets of Web traffic. Check it out at http://webtraffic.tdlwebs.com
Tags: basic seo
