If you have a business it is essential that you get the word out.  Search Engine Optimization is an easy way to do that.  Especially if you have a new or small business. Exposure is the key to survival.  If you are new to the online lifestyle it may seem all too confusing.  For many businesses they believe that if they have a website and an online presence they have accomplished half the battle.  The reality is however, that you’ve only just begun.

 

Now you need to begin driving people to your site.  There are many ways to do this but Search Engine Optimization is a relatively successful way of optimizing your exposure without using much capital.

 

 Successful Search Engine Optimization

 

SEO’s are the new real estate developers. Our skillset gives us an amazing opportunity to develop an audience on the cheap. — Brian Provost. 

 

Before you read further, I would recommend you watch the video presentation by my friend Rodney Stokes. In this video, he demonstrates how to use the free Google AdWords keyword tool to find the niche keywords for your business. Although, I do not agree with his link building strategies (using tools like Scrapebox) which are in the grey or the black area of SEO, which you may not want to go, you can certainly get some cool tips about using the AdWords keyword tool from this video.

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To take advantage of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) you need to begin by thinking like a consumer and not a business.  You have to think about what the customer will be thinking about when they find your site.  You must realize that a customer will not usually think, “I’m looking for ‘Mike’s Auto Shop,” and go right to your site.  On the contrary, they might think, “I need to find and Auto Body Repair shop” or a “Brake shop,” or even a place for a tune up.

 

Thinking like this will help you to think of the right keywords to use in your search engine when drawing them to you.  Once you have decided on the right line up of keywords you will use them in your web content.

 

Now you need to raise your rank in the search engines.  Keeping people on your site for as long as you can is one of the many factors in getting your site rank well.  As the number of people who visit your site raises and the longer they stay there the higher your ranking in the search engine will rise.  You can do this by enhancing your content with blogs that give advice, a public forum where people can write in or having unique and original content that sets you apart from other similar sites.

 

Maintaining a blog requires a bit of commitment.  You don’t want a blog that will continue to rehash what other people have already written.  You should be constantly looking for new things to talk about to keep your audience engaged.  Make sure that you utilize those keywords that you thought about in the beginning throughout your blog.  Make sure that you don’t overdo it though.  Search engines like Google will often tag sites that overuse keywords as spam.

 

Another asset of search engine optimization is a site that can communicate in two directions.  Having a forum where customers and visitors can make comments and get feedback will increase the popularity of your site.  Try not to cover everything about one subject.  It would be more to your advantage if you simply focus your experience on one specialized topic.  You will be recognized as an expert in your field and your reputation as an authority will be more respected.

 

Regarding Search Engine Optimization there is much to learn.  It is not likely that you will learn everything there is to know about it without taking a class on the subject.  The good news is that you don’t need to know everything.  Just a few little tidbits can make a major difference in your online presence.