People come up to me all the time and say, “I have this website and I want it to come up on the first page of Google.” I ask them what they are doing for their search engine strategy and most of the time the response is, “NOTHING.”

So let me explain a little about what search engine optimization (SEO) is and why it is important. SEO refers to techniques that help your website rank higher in organic search results. This is useful for people to find you when searching for products or services like the ones you offer.

There are two types of SEO, on-page SEO and off-page SEO. On-page SEO has to do with the activity on your website and off-page SEO is links to your website from other sources throughout the web.

On-page SEO is basically your page titles, descriptions, keywords in your URL, heading tags, alt text and content. Off-page SEO is links into your website called inbound links and anchor text which is the text links into your website. Think of off-page SEO as online recommendations. Search engines feel that links to your website makes your website more creditable. For example, a link going to www.meekadesigns.com is much more valuable when the link is one of my keywords, Web Design.

Now that you have an understanding of what SEO is, let me explain how to get started. First step is to analyze your website and competition. This will demonstrate how your current website is performing in the search engines and uncover any issues necessary to address along the way. You will also want to analyze your competition to determine what methods they are practicing. The next step is to research keywords that will best target your website to your audience. You want to choose the right keywords to attract the right people to your products and services. Once you have those selected you will want to optimize your website by titling all your pages, adding descriptions, inserting tags around your headings and labeling your images with alt tags.

One thing to remember in SEO, content is king. If you really want to compete you will need more content. Content is essential and it drives the success of your SEO program.  Think about starting a blog, write press releases and start getting involved in social media and forums. We can optimize a 5-page website for you, however if you really want to compete you will need more content.

Lastly, make sure to measure your results from your SEO efforts. This can be done through analytic programs to measure traffic, leads and customers you have obtained throughout the process.

We can help you with your SEO strategy and get you started in the right direction. Contact us for more information.