SEO From A to Z

If you’ve been working online for a bit and still feel baffled about Search Engine Optimization (there ya go, that’s what SEO is!) this is a must read for you.  This article will explore SEO,  how you can apply it appropriately, and what you must do to be sure you don’t get penalized.

(Before I dive right in, Conquest Authority is a training program that will go over SEO in full detail, but for now, you can start off here.)

As I said above, SEO means search engine optimization. The most confusing question new internet marketers wonder is what is a search engine? I know this is extremely basic, but this is where you must start.  Once you learn the absolute basics, when you begin to explore more on the topic of SEO, you will have a full understanding of exactly what it is.

Search engines are the places you go to when you are trying to find something on the interent. For example, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, etc. These are all search engines. When you are trying to find an answer on the internet, you visit a search engine, type in the keywords you are searching for, and presto! The search engine “searches” the internet for you and brings up an entire list of all the websites on the internet that are relevant to your keywords.

You know what a search engine is and you know what SEO is.  Now let me explain to you how you can optimize your site for it.

The most important thing you need to do before any optimization, is you must determine your desired targeted keywords for your site. To be more specific, finding the terms you want your site ranked for with the search engines. An example of this would be:

You have a website loaded with fixing computers. People who are trying to find information about repairing their computers might search for these phrases: what’s wrong with my computer, what does a blue screen on a computer mean, or my computer is broken. These phrases would all be considered long tail keywords, and those are what you would want to target, because they are the actual terms that people search the search engines for.

Make sure when picking your keywords or key phrases, they are actual phrases that get searched for, if not, you won’t get any traffic to your site. (Another tip is to be sure you pick keywords that don’t have a lot websites targeting them. You may still never get traffic if there is too many sites competing.) I recommend using a keyword research tool to help you find some great ones. You can use Google’s free keyword tool, or Wordtracker’s free tool if money is tight. They are perfect starter tools, and they do the job fantastically. Once you start making some money, I really do recommend you get a paid tool because they are so much more effective, and you can really find some good keywords you would never have thought of.

You can read more on keyword research and finding good keywords here.

Alright, so now that you have your keywords, the next step is to be sure your website is optimized for those keywords. How can you do this? It’s really simple, actually.

The first rule of thumb is always make the title of your page or post (if it’s a blog) isthe exact key phrase or word you are targeting. This will be known as your title tag. Title tags have a huge influence on the search engines when they visit your site, so whatever your title is, the search engines will consider it a keyword and you want to rank for it. This goes for your domain name as well. Your page/post title and your website title (domain name) are incredibly important factors in the SEO world.

Once you have purchased your domain (your URl), and you have picked your targeted key phrases or words, the next part is to add content to your website or blog. Your article should be between 400-500 words at least, and make sure you include your targeted keywords or phrases at least 2-3 times in the body. Do NOT go overboard with this, or you will get penalized. Keepin in mind the keyword density is not over 7% (amount of keywords vs. actual words on page). Staying below 6-7% is much better. If you go over this recommended safety net, the search engines may see you as “keyword stuffing”. Keyword stuffing means using your keywords too many times in one page, and your site will pay for it if you do that, I promise.

The longer the page and content, the better chance you have of being able to get all your keywords in and not make it look like you are keyword stuffing. In other words, keep your posts and pages long, and you can get all your keywords in. Search engines like long text articles and unique content.

Do not fret about getting every keyword phrase in your article multiple times, because the search engines are smart, and if you have a quality site, Google will rank you for keywords you never even thought to rank for. The highest goal is sticking your main phrase in 2-3 times, and the others at least one time.

That’s SEO in a nutshell. Learn as much as you can about the matter, because it truly will benefit you in the long run.  Learning SEO takes some patience, but you will be a pro in no time.

Technorati Tags: free traffic, Learn SEO, search engine optimization, search engines, SEO