10 Affordable Search Engine Optimization Tips

Search Engine Optimization doesn’t have to be costly, you just need to know some SEO Basics.  Search engine optimization is the science and art of marketing and publishing information that ranks high for chosen keywords in the search engines.

Most search engines show 10 results per page.  Most people that are searching online tend to click on the top 3-5 results. You need to be above the fold to be clicked on for their search.  If you rank at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) then business is good.  If you are on the second or third page you might get about 2% of the search traffic that the top sites would receive.

Most people tend to think that Affordable Search Engine Optimization is complicated.  It is not so much complicated as there is a lot to know.  There are simple SEO Basics that we all should learn and understand in order to have our site optimized.  Don’t pay for something you as an online marketer really should know.

There are 10 main steps to follow in order to achieve Affordable Search Engine Optimization.  If you understand these main topics then you will understand how all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

10 Affordable Search Engine Optimization Tips

1- Keyword Research – what keywords are people searching for?  It is extremely important that you learn the statistics of your keyword or phrase that you want to use.  These words will be the foundation of your site.   To choose the right keywords I recommend Google Adwords Keyword Tool.

2- Market Research – look at your search engine optimization competition (SEOC) to determine what types of websites are ranking for the words you want to rank for and feel are important to the success of your website.

3- Site Structure – create pages to fit important keyword groups within your site.  SEO Basics for site structure are:

• The most important categories or pages are linked throughout your site.
• Link every page on your site to at least one other page on your site.
• CONSISTENT ANCHOR TEXT.
• Internal linking

4- On Page Optimization – If you don’t have the words on the page it is difficult to rank for them.  Organize each page from the Title, Pictures, Anchor Text and the Footer section of the posts; this will help the search engines know what your post is about so they will find you for the search results.  Plus when a visitor sees your page they will know what your article is about by the title, and then will see the keypoints of the post through the heading tags.

Ensure your content is original and you are writing for a human not a robot.  Far to often people are so crazy about getting the keyword density right or using a keyword that has good numbers that the article in the end does not make sense.

5- Link Building – link building is important because search engines look at links as votes.  The more votes means the more people like you, the more the search engines will like you.  Link building is the single hardest and most time consuming part of SEO.

SEO Basics to Link Building

• Link your most relevant page
• Anchor text; remember your anchor text is what links to other pages. You don’t need to link the entire title of the page just link the keyword you are ranking for that is contained within the title.
• Check out Yahoo Site Explorer to explore further your SEO.
• Reach out to other relevant high quality sites for a link exchange

Link Building Strategies

• Directory submissions
• Join trade organizations, forums
• Get links from industry hub sites
• Leave comments on sites in your niche

6- Brand Building – brand related searches are the most targeted, best converting, and most valuable.  If you build a strong brand people will have good things to say about you.  These positive interactions help reinforce your brand image, improve lead quality and conversion rates.

7- Viral Marketing – the beauty of viral marketing is creating one popular compelling idea that can lead to thousands of free quality links.

8- Measure Results – you need to see if your hard work is paying off.  What is working or not working for you.   On a weekly basis check Google Analytics to study your traffic and what your site is ranking for.  Check out your Google Webmaster account to ensure your site is being properly crawled by the spiders.  If you are running ads start to do split testing and see which ads will work better for the visitors that you are attracting.

9- Keep Up To Date – You always need to have fresh new content on your site.  Content is King and Quality is Queen.  People want to learn more when they go online, they want to be engaged.  You can use trending keywords to gain new traffic that you might not have had in the past.   Check out Alexa, Google Trends or Yahoo Buzz to find what’s hot online.

10- Don’t Stop – You need to keep the momentum going to keep the traffic coming to you.  All of these SEO tips only work if they are always done with each article or webpage you create.