https://www.business.com/articles/how-local-businesses-keep-audiences-interested/ by-Dencker Morris
A lot of start-up web business people are being sucked into dangerous traps today. They're opting to use hosted sites provided by large companies, and they're ignoring tried-and-true SEO tactics and are allowing these large hosts to do the "work" for them. Don't become one of the unseen. Follow the tips so that your site can be found.
Make sure your keywords are both relevant and specific to site content. A tag containing a more generic keyword phrase (i.e.: Classic Rock Music) will face very heavy competition in the SERP, where as something more specific (i.e.: Rolling Stones Music) will likely get your higher up the list. A higher ranking is one way to increase traffic to your site.
When optimizing your website, be sure to optimize your description meta tag as well. Some experts believe that keyword meta tags are nearly worthless today, as search engines no longer use them, but that descriptions will usually show up under your page title on the results page, and they are also involved in the indexing process.
Never use an unauthorized program to help you submit your site to a search engine. Many search engines have detectors to see if you are using such a tactic and if you are, they will permanently ban your site from any of their listings. This is called being blacklisted.
If you are looking to improve your search engine optimization, one thing that will help to make your business improve is the title tag. Your title tag is the number one piece of content for searchers. Keep your title fairly short - between eight to ten words long. Also, you should not start off with your company name.
To get search engine traffic from your images, make use of the ALT tag. The ALT tag allows you to add text to the image's description, which means your image can be appropriately indexed by search engines. A high ranking in Google Image Search will draw many users to your site, and the ALT tag is the best way to achieve this.
Do not simply focus on your web copy to carry your keywords. Incorporate your keyword into all aspects of your site. This means being creative in your domain name, folders within the site and individual page names. Keywords in these areas, along with keywords and phrases throughout your copy, greatly increase your chances.
How To Use Search Engine Optimization
Be specific about your keywords and phrases and keep it simple. If you try to catch every keyword in your niche, you will have spread yourself too thin. Target a select few and use them creatively and often while still maintaining a natural flow to your page. By doing this you can push to the top of the list much easier.
Search engines such as Google will use the number of links to your website to determine how popular and relevant it is. Leave links to your website on other websites, and contact other webmasters about posting a link to your website in one of their articles. Use a visits tracking tool to determine which links are the most useful.
What Search Engine Optimization Do
While pictues make a website look attractive, sites that are looking to improve their search rankings don't concentrate on images. Only the URL is offered for the search engine index when there is an image link.
Learn HTML before trying to write your own page. If your code is written incorrectly then the search engines will not be able to read it and it won't get added to the index. You can validate your HTML to make sure that there are no issues in your coding of the site.
Why Search Engine Optimization Is Critical To The Success Of A Website
You should avoid 404 errors at all costs. A 404 error happens when a user attempts to visit a page that no longer exists or never existed in the first place. When you update pages with new links, be sure to use a 301 redirect. The redirect will automatically take the user to the new link when they arrive at the old one.
Use a search engine to your advantage. Find the top ten best rated and most used article directories, and start out by only submitting to those. This will help you keep your focus, and also put you higher on the submission lists for the search engines. You should only associate with reputable companies.
Try not to be too worried about PageRank. A PR1 site can outrank a PR3 site; PageRank is just one part of the overall ranking process. Focus on all areas of search engine optimization, not just one. This way, you diversify and can attract customers and clients in multiple ways.
Make sure that you have excellent, unique key words that will get people to your page. They should be very specific and descriptive. This way when people type in exactly what they are looking for, your site will satisfy them, and provide them with a quick stop and purchase.
When you take a look at your site ask yourself if you could see it being one of the top web sites online and if it deserves to be at the top of the search results. If the answer is no then you need to do what you can to change that.
Make sure that keywords are in your HTML. Once you have strong keywords for your website, it is important to make sure that they are easy for search engines to find. Put them in the HTML. Put them in title and description tags. Make sure you include them in any blogs or online videos that link to your site as well.
A good tip for efficient search engine optimization with regards to META keyword tags is to use the same keywords in your tags as the ones that are in the visible content of your page. You never want to use new or different keywords for your META tags from the keywords on your page.
SEO can be very rewarding, but it can also be a lot of work. Regardless, if you know what to do and how to help your website get found in search engine results, you can be very successful. So, do yourself a favor by doing your research and applying the above tips to the SEO of your website.
