So you’ve got an idea for an article that includes some great information and a fresh perspective.  An article like this good get you attention from the big names in your industry.  The problem is, without good search engine optimization, that article may just sink to the depths of the Internet to wallow in obscurity.  How do you get your great content seen by thousands upon thousands of web users?  Here are a few tips:

Go Easy On Keywords:
This may seem counterintuitive, but it follows the logic of search engines.  If you cram a lot of keywords into your content, you run the risk of search engines thinking your content is just spam.  Use your keywords naturally and write for the enjoyment and enlightenment of the reader, not the search engines.  Engines like Google are only in business because they provide users with pertinent results, and their methods of search have evolved to figure out how to catalog good, useful content, so why go against it?

Keep On Topic:
If your content can make a logical leap from dinosaurs to robots, then thatís fine for one page.  Otherwise, separate disparate subjects onto different pages.  By focusing on a specific topic and a handful of keywords per page on your website, you up the chances of that particular page ranking on search engines.  Remember:  search engines catalog each page individually, not your site as a whole.  Use this to your advantage to pull in viewers looking for very specific content.

Use Images:
The Internet is a visual medium, and people respond well to images that complement your content.  Make sure that the images arenít too big (to prevent long load times for viewers using slower Internet connections), and make sure to use the ALT tags of the image.  These tags are part of your websiteís code that describes  your pictures.  The viewer doesnít see them, but search engines do, so this can help to drive extra traffic.

Check Your Spelling:
There are a segment of search engine optimizers who believe that purposely using misspelled words will help you rank in searches where the user misspells the keyword.  This doesnít make sense.  When you enter a misspelling in Google and other search engines, they print above the results “Did you mean”  The percentage of people who will continue to browse search results from a misspelled search versus those who will either search again with the write spelling or not misspell the words in the first place is so small as to not be worth it.  Plus, it looks unprofessional if your website is littered with misspellings.

5 Tips For Writing Search Engine Optimized Content learn more here: OutsourceSeoStrategy.com

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1. Search Engine Optimization For Local Markets

The Internet is a thriving place of business that brings together people from all over the world to work together or participate in commerce.  But what if you don’t want to deal with the rest of the world?  Or maybe you have a brick-and-mortar store that complements your online business.  Or maybe your products are more useful to people in certain places (you don’t want to sell snow shoes to people who live in a desert).  In this case, then you need to look into search engine optimization for local markets.  But don’t worry, because it ís easier than you think.

Local Businesses
If you’re looking to use the Internet to promote your physical locations, then simple things like including your business’s address in the footer of every page and including driving directions (making sure to include town names!) can boost your results.  Also, a great idea is to integrate Google Maps or the map system of some other search engine into your site (check the maps sites homepage for details).

Local Markets
If your products or content is specifically tailored to a certain geographical area, then you want to use keywords that are pertinent to people who live in that area.  A great way to do this is with the ALT tags for images.  For example, if you sell ski equipment, then make sure to have pictures of ski resorts and popular ski mountains, with keyword-rich ALT tag descriptions on your site.  People may not see these descriptions, but the search engines do, and they can do wonders for helping drive highly-relevant traffic.

Business Registries
Regardless of whether you are targeting a specific geographical market or are promoting a local business, it is imperative that you get your business listed in as many registries as possible.  A lot of the big search engines have their own built-in business registries, and there are also a lot of other websites who offer the same services.  Register with every single one that you find.  These sites, due to their large databases and pertinent information, often rank very high in search engine results.  A lot of these databases are free and will allow you to also enter a link to your business’s website.  Some do require payment, and if that ís the case make sure to research the site first to make sure that it’s reputable and your getting your moneyís worth.  A great way to do that is simply do a search for a local business and see how high that service ranks.  If they’re in the first three pages, it ís probably worth the money.

Search Engine Optimization For Local Markets learn more here: OutsourceSeoStrategy.com

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1. Are Search Engine Optimization Consultants Worth Your Money?
2. 5 Tips For Writing Search Engine Optimized Content

It seems that nowadays every single person on the Internet has their own Secrets Of Search Engine Optimization product or software package that theyd like to sell you.  Some of the products or information are good and worthwhile, but most of them are just old ideas in new packaging.  The thing is, though, most of the people who buy these programs aren’t anywhere near the level they could attain with just three simple tenets of SEO that every webmaster should follow:

Simple Site Architecture:
Search engines use small pieces of software called ìspidersî to ìcrawlî your website and catalog the different pages and content it contains.  Keep you site architecture and navigation as simple as possible.  No buried subpages, no ridiculously specific Category headings on blogs.  If you canít reach any page in your site within three or four clicks, then itís too complicated (excluding scrolling through blog archives, of course, which will require more clicks as you make more entries).  This philosophy also applies to how your URLs look.  Keep them simple and direct.  And last but not least, build an XML sitemap (there are a lot of free tools that do this automatically, especially for blogs) and submit it to a search engine.

Build Links:
This is a tough one for the novice webmaster, but the fact remains that if you want to get higher search rankings, one of the best ways to do that is to get high-profile sites to link to you.  Donít succumb to the lure of link farms and pay-for-link scams; one genuine link from a well-established site is worth a thousand of them.  Try to build relationships with the people who run popular sites in your market (commenting on their blogs is a great way to introduce yourself), and the links will come eventually.

Good Content:
This one is pretty simple:  write content that people want to read, donít write for search engines.  If you stuff a bunch of keywords into your content, viewers will notice and be more likely to click away.  You may go up a rank or two in search results, but whatís the point when no visitor stays on your site for more than 15 seconds?  That said, do make sure that your keywords are included in the titles and headers of your web pages, and also in the tags of blog entries.

Keeping It Simple With SEO learn more here: OutsourceSeoStrategy.com

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