Search Engine Optimization. SEO. You may have heard those “buzz letters,” but what do they mean? SEO “is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s “natural,” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”), search results.
In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page),
and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more
visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users.” (Via
Wikipedia.)
Basically, SEO is what helps people find you faster.
How do you raise your SEO and help your customers find you in a sea of
competitors? Some of it is simple — things you may already doing:
- Add a blog to your website
- Add Google Analytics to every page of your website
- Don’t use excessive code
- Make every single page unique
- Use meta tags
- Don’t use repetitive wording
- Include footer links on every page
- Create separate pages for each keyword
- Use keyword rich title tags on each page of your website.
However, recently it was revealed that Google’s new algorithms also include social media in the SEO-raising criteria. Updates can also determine
when websites are trying to trick the algorithms into raising their ranking. Therefore, you not only need a great website, you need to be a social media conversationalist.
What else should you be doing to stay relevant in the online world? We hate to sound like a broken record, but…
Maintain your Facebook page: Post interesting content (photos, links, etc.) and respond to questions or comments. It is truly important to have a conversation on Facebook.
Share tweets about your industry, not just your brand. And share interesting links and information so that others will be compelled to re-tweet and respond to your posts.
Upload videos to YouTube (which is owned by Google). Include a link to your website somewhere in the description. An interesting video can go viral and give your brand a boost. The goal is to create content that others
want to share.
If you are on Pinterest, pin or re-pin interesting visuals. Don’t just pin photos with links back to your website.
On LinkedIn, you should join groups and participate in conversations: answer questions and post your company updates. Although it doesn’t necessarily raise your SEO, it contributes to brand recognition.
Since Google obviously owns Google+, it is certainly a place that you may
want to consider spending time if you are looking to raise SEO. It may
not weigh heavily now, but as Google+ gains momentum, it may matter more in the future for those trying to raise awareness of their brand
online.
As you work to build your brand, your ranking in any search engine should organically rise as well. Which sites are you using to build your brand and optimize your search engine ranking?
