If You Build It Right, They Will Come: The Art of Search Engine Optimization

Any movie buff will tell you how Kevin Costner came to build a baseball diamond in the middle of an Iowa cornfield in the modern classic “Field of Dreams.” He was following the instructions of a mysterious voice in his head, a voice that promised, “If you build it, they will come.”

Many modern business owners have ventured into online marketing lured by the same voice: Build an attractive website and the multitudes will swarm to you. Unfortunately, it’s simply not that easy. Online marketers who enjoy heavy traffic and sales on their business websites do so because they have learned how to get noticed first by the consumers who are searching for their products and services. The only way to turn an attractive and informative website into a profitable business website is to master the art of Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of designing a website so that it will appear nearer the top of the list in “natural” searches on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. In our ever-changing technological landscape, SEO technicians continue to develop increasingly sophisticated “tricks of the trade,” making SEO into something of a modern-day art form.

SEO at its best requires online marketers to regularly optimize websites so that they will continue to rank high in search engine search results. To sustain profitability, website entrepreneurs must also constantly stay in touch with the latest advances in Search Engine Optimization. If you want to learn to optimize your business website and to maintain higher rankings and more hits, go beyond the standard SEO strategies and textbook approaches and develop your techniques in the creative art of SEO. To get you started, we offer some of our best practices in the art of SEO:

SEO Basics: Build It Right and They Will Stay

Search engines have the ability to track how much time a visitor spends at a particular website. If you click on a link from Google, but only spend five seconds there before returning to revisit the search, Google technicians might assume that the site you clicked was not relevant to your search. In order to build a site that entices visitors to stay (thus communicating to major search engines that your site content is relevant and helpful) get back to the basics of Search Engine Optimization.

Make sure your website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate. Visitors will stay longer and click more if they can easily find what they are looking for. Create multiple internal links within your site to guide your visitors in a seamless and satisfying website experience.

Carefully choose the right title for your site. Keep it short so that the entire title will be visible on the search engine results page. Periodically change your title and monitor the behavior of your website visitors when you use different titles.

Make sure your description tag uses targeted keywords and enticing copy that will draw in your target audience. Your description tag is often the advertisement of your products and services that will appear on search engine results pages.

Develop Your “Linkability” With Articles

One of the most creative and innovative ways to optimize your business website is to carry out an ongoing campaign to get others to link to your website by writing and publishing articles that are relevant and compelling to your target audience.

Start with an attention-grabbing title. Draw your readers in by asking a question or making a statement that will activate their curiosity or create a vivid picture in their minds.

Write articles with compelling content that others will read and link to. Write about the issues and concerns that interest your target audience. Find online resources that are strongly related to your industry and submit your articles for publication. Provide a link back to your company website with each article you send out.

Get Creative With Social Media

Many online marketers are experiencing great success by taking advantage of social networking sites. Become an active member of the online community in your field. Blog about topics that interest your target audience. Search for bookmarking sites that are specific to your unique industry and post articles and comments with links to your site. Set aside some time each week to search for blogs and internet forums that are closely related to the products and services you provide. Get involved in the discussions and make others in your community aware of what you have to offer them.

Developing Your Craft As An SEO Artist

You can increase the visibility of your online marketing site by applying basic SEO principles in the design of your website. Further promote your products and services by getting involved in online publishing and social networking. Maintaining a business website that gets noticed on major search engines and receives hits from your target audience requires time, patience, and creativity, but many business owners have found that the results are well worth the effort.

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