Top search engine placement is equivalent to climbing Mount Everest for online marketers. Thanks to the spread of the Internet globally, going online to use the search engine is the first thing a lot of people will do when they're searching for something, be it a product or a topic, which is why it's important to make your website easily found by the search engine spiders.
However, it's not enough for your website to just be indexed by the search engine. The important thing is for then to rate your site highly enough that they will display it near the top of their search results listings. Studies have shown that most people click on the top three search listings and only rarely venture beyond the first page.
Consequently, the goal of online marketers is to be on the front page of the search engine results, and preferably at the top of the SEO rank, to increase their chances of attracting visitors and making sales. This article talks about how you can achieve top search engine placement through SEO, to increase the traffic on your website and get more sales - in five straightforward steps.
1. Use a Domain, Not a Subdomain
Before you think about how to do Google search engine optimization or any other SEO objective, you need to ensure first that you get a domain for your website and not a subdomain. While subdomains are definitely cheaper - as you can put as many subdomains on one domain as you like - registering a domain will not only net you better control over your website thanks to more efficient hosting, but search engines tend to index domains much faster. And that means you can reach your goal of reaching top search engine placement much quicker.
While you're at it, make sure that you choose an attractive, easy-to-remember domain name that is related to your niche. That way, users will be able to find your website more easily, since it has a higher recall value than a website that has a hard-to-remember name that is also unrelated to what the websites topic is. Using your primary keyword phrase in your domain is highly beneficial.
2. Make Use of Meta-Tags
Meta-tags are commands placed in the HTML codes on your web page to help search engines categorize websites into different categories based on what their topics. For example, if you use a cooking meta-tag, your website will automatically classified with other similar websites, making it easier for those using the search engines to find your site. Make sure that the meta-tags you're using are relevant to your pages. This is particularly true for the title, as a lot of search engines use the title meta-tags to determine which site gets top search engine placement.
It is said that many search engines, Google included, don't look at meta tags any more. This is almost certainly true of the keywords meta tag, because it was abused too much in the past. However, the title tag and the meta description tags are still very useful.
3. Maximize the Use of Keywords
Keywords are also another vital factor that you need to pay attention to so as to get top search engine placement. Like meta-tags, make sure that the keywords you use are actually relevant to the content of your web page, since search engines use these to categorize and rank your efforts. There are certain websites you can use to check what keywords are most relevant for your niche so you can use these on your website. Do note that more is not necessarily better in keywords. If you overuse keywords, your website can also be penalized for this.
1-2% density for your primary keyword is optimal, but make sure you haven't inadvertently used another word or phrase more frequently or the search engines will get confused about what your pages is actually targeting. A free tool such as that found at http://keywordhacker.com/ can be of great help in determining exactly what the search engines sees on your page.
4. Focus on the Style as Well as the Substance
Having meta-tags, keywords, and good text are not enough for your website to have top search engine placement. You also need to focus on the appearance of the website. Make sure that the design is neat and attractive, and at the same time, suitable for your niche. An attractive website can go a long way when it comes to retaining activity on the website. No matter how good your content is, people will inevitably choose another website over yours if your site is cluttered, uses an unattractive color palette, or has too small font sizes.
Also, do make sure that wherever possible you use multimedia to make your website more attractive to people. Pictures, videos, audio and other such files can be used to add interest to your website. You can also label your multimedia files in accordance to what your keywords are for better optimization. This is especially important since there are some people who are exclusively looking for pictures and not text.
5. Use Backlinks to Your Advantage
Your work doesn't end once your content is up. In order to reach your goal of reaching top search engine placement, you will also need to get incoming links to your website. There are link exchange programs between associates, affiliates, and peers from the same industry. If you're only just starting out in that industry, do some networking to get to know these people. That way, you will also be able to share links with them, which can then improve your website's page ranking.
The more incoming links your website has, the better your chances of reaching top search engine placement. However, don't make the mistake of using black hat techniques, such as backlinking to your own pages. Some search engines actually can detect this, and they punish website owners accordingly. As a result, instead of reaching top search engine placement, your website can instead be taken out of the search engine results completely, making you far worse off than where you were at the beginning.
While far from being easy, having top search engine placement is certainly not impossible, as long as you are willing to take the time and effort to do SEO on your website. If you're not familiar with good SEO techniques, there are SEO specialists who will be willing to perform these tasks for you for a fee.
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