At its best, Search Engine Optimization directs interested searchers to the highest quality results for the best answers to their questions. At its worst, it becomes known for something far less desirable: spam.
In order to stay a relevant and useful part of SEO, companies must embrace a best practice approach, particularly when it comes to some of the primary tenets of effective SEO:
Keywords
- Research phrases and words that are popular and relevant to generate valuable and interested traffic.
- Naturally incorporate keywords into existing web copy and write informational content that is rich with pertinent keywords.
- Never hide or force keywords in places where they are of no use and don’t aid the user in any way.
Meta tags
- Keep titles short and use the most important keywords for that page, giving a good representation of what searchers can expect to find.
- Write unique titles for individual pages, specific to the content of each.
- Include a short summary with a description and any keywords or phrases that outline each page’s contents.
- Do not repeat the same meta tags on every page of your site, and don’t bother using tags besides title, description and keywords, as they are more often ignored by search engines.
Content
- Create articles, newsletters, commentaries and white papers that have valuable keywords and are highly informational.
- Add new, interesting content on a regular basis to your site, increasing the frequency that search engine spiders will visit to investigate.
- Avoid repeating content, and don’t write only for the purpose of a search engine, make yourself a valuable resource for visitors.
Geo-targeting
- Include terms that target local areas and interest, such as the names of surrounding cities served.
- Create unique content to address specific regions and highlight popular services and products of that area.
- Be careful to not add geocentric content for areas that aren’t serviced.
Link development
- Connect to authoritative sites that are related in industry to build associations.
- Use multiple sets of keywords and phrases to anchor external links to text.
- Document the progress of your link development, charting a regular time investment to grow further.
Blogs
- Create a blog and use it as an active communication channel to update customers.
- Add content frequently and on a regular basis.
- Include links to relevant posts and make sure each blog article provides value on its own as well as a connection to your site.
Training yourself and other site managers to utilize these simple and effective SEO tools will build for your site a reputation for quality and consistency. While the “rules” of SEO practices are always subject to change, the more value you provide each visitor, potential lead or confirmed customer, the better representation your inbound marketing can provide to online users.
