Anyone with a website should know and understand search engine optimization. Done properly it can boost a website’s rankings which in turn brings in more targeted traffic from search engines. This traffic is valued because it is targeted traffic meaning, those people are most interested in and looking for what you are selling. More targeted traffic equates into more sales or more opt-ins if you are building an email list.

SEO begins with knowing what keywords or keyword phrases (known as long tail keywords) that people are using when searching for your product or service. Your website should be centered around at least 3 of these and maybe more depending on your niche. These can be found using Google’s keyword tool as well as by using other specialized tools.

Search engine optimization for a website can be broken into two main categories:  On-Page and Off-Page SEO. Both play a part in a website’s search engine ranking.

On-Page SEO refers to several aspects of your site. The first is using good keyword density on your site. The general consensus is that you should have around 2-3% keyword density throughout articles on your site. Other factors which affect On-Page SEO are:

• Using unique page titles which contain a specific keyword
• Make your website easy to navigate by including internal links (links to other pages on your site)
• Link out to trusted sites in your niche (this give you creditability with the search engines)

Off-Page SEO pertains to links across the web pointing back to your site. This can be done by blog commenting, article submissions, submitting your RSS feeds to directories and using social media, just to name a few.

Search engine optimization unfortunately is not a one-time thing; it’s an ongoing process. As the search engines change their algorithms and other websites are working to out rank yours you must constantly evaluate your strategies and adjust as necessary. New techniques and opportunities are being presented all of the time and learning to use them will be required for ongoing success.

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