Quick And Easy Search Engine Optimization Tips For Small Businesses

With frequently changing search engine values, algorithms, technology and consumer needs, search engine optimization is much like defecation: no one likes to talk about it, the amount of time and effort necessary to do it stinks, and it can get real messy if you don't do it right. Avoid the sense of overwhelm that often accompanies this type of endeavor by doing a little bit at a time and train yourself to not expect immediate results. The key is to make a consistent effort over a long period of time. And just like a strong financial portfolio features diversity, you should apply a variety of SEO techniques throughout your business efforts.

Especially now that Google tweaked their algorithm with the Panda update, unique content is even more vital to your SEO success. Google rewards websites with original and fresh content by boosting their presence in search results for improved traffic. This doesn't mean you need to become a reporter and generate completely new material, but you do need to make sure that you're not repeatedly spinning the same content. In addition, relevance is another key factor that Panda values, awarding higher ranking to sites that maintain a common thread throughout their content which ties their topics and messages together. For example, a site that features all marketing-related content will typically rank higher versus a site with content ranging from kitchen appliances to yoga tips.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that unique content will attract more site visitors by itself. The positioning of your keywords plays a vital role in adding clout to your content. Make sure to place your keywords in your page headings and use specific header tags such as H1, H2 and H3 tags. Using these tags is similar to placing a neon sign outside your business versus a non-lit wooden sign, making it easier for your patrons, search engine crawler and spiders, to find your business and discover what you serve. Relevance plays another important role here: Make sure that the keywords in your header tags relate to the rest of the content on that page or you could get Google-slapped for keyword stuffing. For added oomph you should also make sure that your title tag, meta title, (the text that appears in the top tab of each individual Internet browser window) matches the top, primary H1 tag on that particular page.

The URL should also match the specific primary keywords, H1 tag and title tag for that page. For example, if the primary keyword for a particular page on website www.example.com is "business success" then the page heading should read "Business Success" with H1 formatting, the meta title tag should read "Business Success" and the URL should read "www.example.com/business-success" (separate keywords with hyphens for improved readability and indexing by search engine crawlers).

Writing interesting and attention-grabbing headlines is key to getting your site visitors to read your content, so you'll most likely want to include more in your title than just your primary keywords. But you also want the search engine crawlers to enjoy reading your titles too! Most content management systems (CMS) or Web publishing platforms such as WordPress will automatically create a specific page's URL based on the title of your post/page. This can create some extremely long URL's that include multiple parameters which make it harder for search engine crawlers to discern exactly what your page is about, and it's never good for your site when you make crawlers work harder or require them to take more time to crawl and index. Help the spiders help you by making your URL's S.S.S.E.F. (short, sweet, and search engine friendly). If your full page title is "How to Achieve Business Success without Breaking a Sweat," it's safe to assume that "breaking a sweat" isn't a crucial part of your overall keyword scheme and will only create unnecessary work for search engine crawlers if left as "www.example.com/how-to-achieve-business-success-without-breaking-a-sweat". Make it S.S.S.E.F. and write your URL as "www.example.com/business-success".

Content and website design that is friendly to both site visitors and search engines greatly improves page ranking potential for a money making traffic boost.