First of all, for those who need clarification, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization–the process of improving your web site’s rankings in the top searche engines.   There are many ways to acheive tops search engine rankings.  Here I will list 5 of them.

1.  Identify Your Best Keywords.  Research and identify effective keyword phrases that are relevant to your web site, it’s content, and your product or service.  It is important to be sure these phrases are the ones your potential customers and/or clients are using in search engines.  It is also a good idea to choose keywords that do not have too much competition.  You can read more about how to do this in future posts.

Mulitple words that are as specific as possible are the best choices.  For example, for your weight management consulting business, it would be difficult to rank for the keyword phrase, “weight management consulting”, but a more specific phrase like, “houston weight management consulting” would get you a better ranking, and produce more targted traffic.

It also helps to go bold.  Use the <b></b> tags around some, not all, of your keyword phrases throughout your site.  Do NOT use them everytime the keyward appears; once or twice per page is enough.

2.  Utilize Article Exchanges.  Article exchanges are similar to link exchanges, but much more useful and effective.   The concept is quite simple.  You publish another person’s article on the benefits of affiliate marketing with a link back to their site.  They, in turn, publish your article about the most effective affiliate networks ontheir site, and link back to yours.  Both of you get high quality links.

3. Make Sure to Have a Site Map.   Every large, multiple page site should have a site map.  And every page (or at least the ones you want getting traffic) on the site needs to link to the site map.  That way, the search engine robots are able to find every page with only two clicks.  Smaller sites need a site maps too, but they’re usually called navigation bars.  An important thing to consider about your navigation bar, is that the image links in your nav bar must also include text links.   Place the text links at the beginning of the source codes, since the search engine robots will follow the first link they find to any particular page.  They will not follow additional links to the same page.

 4. Join Forums Dedicated to SEO.  By joining online forums or subscribing to SEO newsletters dedicated to helping users gain SEO knowledge by exchanging information, you can educate yourself on the best and latest SEO strategies.  This is a highly recommened resource for web site owners who have questions about SEO, and want ansers fast.  The responses are often times insightful and lend to be very profitable. 

5.  Submit Your Sites to Directories.  Another great way to optimize your website is to submit it to directories such as Yahoo! and Dmoz ODP (Open Directory Project).  These directories can have a significant effect on your search engine optimization through the increased traffic they can provide.  By listing your site in web site directories, you enable search engines to index your web site. 

The links in web site directories are collected, edited and organized by humans.  Because these directories get thousands of daily submissions, it can be difficult to get listed, and your site may take as long as 4 to 6 months to be reviewed and listed.  Most sites in these type of directories are listed by topic. 

You do not have to be a professional SEO guru or a computer geek to reach the top 10 search engine rankings.  You can do so simply by acquiring and developing the right SEO knowledge, producing a well organized web site with high quality content, and creating a plan to apply your SEO knowledge.   It won’t happen over night, but it can, and will, happen.

For highly competitive keyword phrases in the most competitive niche markets, it generally takes a web site anywhere from six months to two years to have a decent chance of achieving a top 10 ranking.   The more competitive the niche markets (i.e. real estate, travel and Internet marketing), take the longest.  

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