By Michael Fleischner Marketing Expert, Internet Marketing Secrets*
If you want to rank on top for Google, Yahoo!, and other major search
engines, you'll need more than a basic knowledge of search engine
optimization. Those who rank high on natural search results do so
because they've been able to effectively manage their on-page and
off-page optimization factors.On-page Optimization.
What you do on your web pages can have a positive or negative impact on
your search results. However, as we'll discuss later in this article,
off-page optimization is even more powerful when it comes to increasing
your natural search engine placement.
Some of the most important on-page optimization techniques begin with
choosing a key word to optimize your page for. There are a number of
free tools available on the Internet that can help you find a keyword
that is popular but not overly competitive. Keywords that are highly
competitive are often very difficult to place well for.Once you've selected a keyword, you can take advantage of:
Secret #1: Don't optimize for a single keyword, optimize for a keyword
phrase. When you optimize for a single keyword, more often than not,
that word is highly competitive and your chances of coming out on top
are minimal. Where you gain a significant advantage is by focusing on a
keyword phrase. This actually increases your chances of ranking well and
ultimately helps you towards ranking well for the single word you
originally chose.
Secret #2: Place your keyword phrase within the first 25 words of text,
and the last 25 words of the page. The h1 tag can be used for developing
a headline on your page and emphasizing your keyword phrase within the
beginning of your page text (search engines love h1 tags). Another
suggestion is to use your keyword phrase just after your copyright
notice on the bottom of your webpage. This ensures that it is present
within the last 25 words of your page.
Secret #3: Place your keyword phrase in your page title and description.
Additionally, place the keyword phrase throughout your page - being
sure to bold the phrase once, italicize the phrase once, and underline
the phrase once. Mention your keyword phrase every paragraph or so. Just
make sure that it appears natural. If you stuff the page with your
keywords, you'll potentially turn off browsers who would otherwise find
your page valuable.
Off-page OptimizationNow that you've learned about on-page optimization,
it's important that you focus your attention on off-page optimization.
Of all the techniques that have been developed for SEO, it still comes
down to the popularity of your site. The ranking of your website in a
natural search engine result list is directly correlated to the
popularity of your website.
So what do I mean by popularity? Popularity is the number and quality of
links to your website. Although I've simplified the explanation here,
you should know that links essentially count as votes. If everyone is
"voting" for a particular website then the website becomes popular.
Secret #4: Get other sites to link to you. There are a number of ways to
improve link popularity. Although I won't recommend a specific link
building tool, I will say that there have been a number of good products
developed that simplify the process. It still takes time and hard work,
but over time, increasing the number of sites linking to your website
can pay huge dividends.
Secret #5: Make sure that incoming links are of high quality (sites with
a high Google page rank). It's not only important to have other sites
link to you, it's also important to have quality sites link to you.
Secret #6: Anchor text must include your keyword phrase. When other
sites link to you, make sure the link includes your keyword phrase.
Sites that link to your domain can help with overall page rank and
popularity, but websites who link to you using your keyword phrase (in
the anchor text) are what get you to the top of search engine result
lists.
Secret #7: Give people a reason to link to your website. This can be
accomplished in a variety of ways, white papers, free content or tools,
etc., but ultimately it comes down to offering something of value. If
you do, other websites will give you their "vote", increasing your link
popularity and your search engine results.
Increasing your rank on major search engines isn't complex.
But it does
take time and effort. If you want to increase your website ranking,
begin by implementing what you've learned in this article and stay the
course.
* Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert
and the president of MarketingScoop.com, the Internet’s biggest source
of marketing information and free marketing resources. He has more than
12 years of marketing experience and has appeared on The TODAY Show,
Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. Visit MarketingScoop.com for further details, marketing secrets, or more FREE reprint articles.
