Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all-the-buzz now when discussing marketing your brand on the Web. Basically what it means is that your site has been built – or optimized – in a way that enables search engines to give it a high organic ranking. 

Don’t let the word organic make you think of food; it basically means a listing that pops up in the non-paid portion of the search engine query results.  If you are unsure what that means, open up Google, type the word “hamburgers,” and hit enter.  The results will likely produce an ad from Burger King up top in a shaded box that says “sponsored link,” and a few other paid-for regional results to the right side of the screen.  All of the other results below and to the left of those are “organic” results, or results that have not paid to receive a high placement.

So how do you get a high placement without shelling out a lot of advertising dollars?  By optimizing your site to appeal to the algorithmic search engine “spiders.”  While there are firms that do SEO, and only SEO, here are a few simple ways a non-Web developer can optimize his or her site to get the site on the right SEO track:

1. Submit your site to directories: A directory is a comprehensive, categorical list of Web pages. Unlike search engines, directories are created and maintained by humans. In order to be listed, you must submit the address of your Web site to the directory. Once submitted, the directory maintainers will consider whether a site is worthy of listing.  Assuming it is “worthy,” it will be assigned to an appropriate category within the directory.  A few directories are www.dmoz.org, http://dir.yahoo.com and www.en.wikipedia.org.

1. Define keywords: What are the main words or phrases that you think people will be searching for in order to find a business like yours?  Put those words down on a list and then go through the content of your site to determine whether those words appear regularly.  If they do not, then you should edit your content to include those key words.  For example, we hope that when people search for the key words: marketing, public relations, San Diego, small business, communications, and/or agency, ConsultMyAgent.com will pop up close to the top of the search engine results, so we have written the site with those key words included throughout.

1. Analyze: Hook your site up to an analytical tool, like Google Analytics.  Review it regularly and see what key words people are using to find your site.  Look at days with spikes in visitors and figure out what content drove people to your site.  Take this information and use it to keep people coming back.  If a flood of people visited your site when you posted a blog on the best hamburger in town, consider creating other posts with like content.

1. Create a blog: A blog is one of the best ways to keep site content fresh and to keep people coming back for more.  Search engines also notice changes in content and will revisit your site to tabulate and refresh its ranking. What’s more, when you engage your readers with information that is relevant to them, they will appreciate the free resource you have provided, pass it along to friends or re-post it on their sites.  When it is time to make a purchase decision, they will remember what you have given them and consider your company more readily.

1. Link: Links in and out of your site is one of the best ways to achieve a high ranking on search engines.  Be sure to not only put a lot of links to other organizations on your site, but to also ask others to do the same for you.  The more links coming into your site will boost your site’s popularity in the search engine world.  A great place to start is with client and vendor sites, or community organizations in to which your company belongs or contributes.

For more information on search engine optimization strategies, contact us at info@consultmyagent.com.