June 29, 2011

Three SEO Tips You Can Act On Now

*** One ***
Ever wondered how a search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo works, and how it affects your business?

The search engines (SEs) use robots, or crawlers, also called a “spider.” That's an automated program that sifts through your site, indexes the content, and returns all that information to Google (or Bing.)

Think of it as a book, where it contains a table of contents — your contents of your site.

So when a prospect is out there searching using Google (or Bing), the SE is actually searching through your index. Different SEs produce different results and rankings — which is why you see your business rank different in Google or Bing!

*** Two ***
The MOST popular way to find your business online today is still by a search engine like Google, or Bing. More than 90% of people online use them daily.

In other words, less than 10% of people use other methods to search for your business!

One of the most important factors is the location and frequency of keywords on a web page. This is called on-page optimization. Additionally, the SEs rate your off-page link structure (number of web pages linking to your site.) A well qualified SEO services company can help you with this.

But for now, know that Google ranks sites differently than Yahoo and Bing. They have a secret ranking algorithm to detect on-page and off-page optimization.

Advice: Focus on your on-page optimization BEFORE you venture off-page!

*** Three ***
Ever heard to term “keyword density”?  If you're focused on your online marketing, you probably have.

It's an indicator of how many times a keyword or keyphrase (ex: Chicago Plumber) appears on your web page. It's expressed as a percentage of total word count. Ex: 500 words, 3% kw density.

The ideal range I recommend is 2-4% kw density.

But here's the key: It needs to appear NATURAL. Start stuffing tons of “chicago plumber” all over your site, and the search engines (SEs) will actually PENALIZE your site!

Do you know what the keyword density is for your Home Page? About Us page? Contact Us page?

Might want to go check while you're thinking about it.

Allyn Cutts