Entry-Level SEO
Increasing website traffic

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the art/science of getting your website to appear at the top of the results page when someone types in certain key words on sites like Google.  Here are a few (cost-free) tactics to optimize your website to appear higher in the results.

Key Words
Include keyword-rich content in your website. Strive for about 5-7% keyword density. For example, if you want to be found when someone searches for “Lansing Real Estate,” include that phrase about 5-7 times per 100 words.

Use your desired key words in the first paragraph of your site’s body text, and weave in the keywords seamlessly. Search engines and your clients can spot keyword “stuffing.”

Locations are often keywords, so include your business address twice on all pages, in a prominent space and in the footer. Abbreviate the state (MI) in one spot and spell it out (Michigan) in the second.

Include on your “contact us” page all of the cities, counties, and suburbs you serve. Include any of the ways people could search for your locations, too (e.g. NYC and New York City).

Connections
One of the most powerful tools is to get other sites to link to your site. Consider the chamber of commerce, libraries, associations/networking groups, organizations you support, etc. Offer to add a link to their site in exchange for them posting your site.

Create social networking sites for your business (with links to your main site). Note that search engines don’t care about how many posts or followers your business’ facebook page has.

Claim your local listings on Google Places, Yahoo, Ask, Bing, Yelp, and other directories.

Website Structure
Avoid too much Flash animation on your website. JavaScript and Flash may look good, but search engines don’t read them very well.

Update your site frequently—search engines favor sites that are current and refreshed often. Also, include a site map—this is another effective way to repeat keywords.

If you have a “resources” section on your website, place as much content as possible on the actual page, instead of adding links to PDFs. This adds to your site’s searchable content.

Simplify (organize) your site. Keep the most important pages in the main navigation, not buried deeply within your site. Visitors and search engines shouldn’t have to go through more than four pages to view the most important information.