Are You Losing The Battle For Search Engine Traffic?

Search engine traffic should be a priority for any online business and some level of optimization is apart of every effective marketing strategy.

On the plus side, search engine traffic is the cream of the crop. There is very low cost involved and the conversion rates are typically quite high. The people that are clicking on your link are searching specifically for what you have to offer.

On the negative side, actually achieving a high rank on the top search engines AND maintaining a high rank is close to impossible for the majority of webmasters. You could spend thousands of dollars and weeks of your life just trying to compete. And in the end, this will undoubtedly lead to frustration and wasted time.

The best option for the majority of webmasters is to not become obsessed with your fluctuating results, but simply to focus on the basics with long term success in mind.

1. Basic search engine optimization.

This is the first step and really quite simple. I read recently that close to 90% of all websites are not search engine friendly. That truly amazed me, because the process is rather simple and takes barely any time at all.

If you don't know how to build your own website than read my article on getting it done for you.

http://www.homebizproz.com/getitdone.htm

You should make sure that all of your site pages are search engine friendly. Not just your homepage, although it is most important. A search engine friendly webpage contains a keyword-rich Title, Description and Keywords.

Your Title should contain your best keywords or keyphrases. It should describe exactly what your website is all about, and it shouldn't exceed 80 characters, about 5 to 7 words is best.

Your Description should also contain some of your best keywords or keyphrases. It should be one or two sentences that expands on the description of your company and website.

Your Keywords should be separated by a comma and a space, and should not exceed 70 words. Keep it simple and don't double up on the same word. Many search engines don't place any relevancy on your keywords anymore so don't waste too much time here.

When deciding what words to use, think like the person that is doing the search. What words would they put into a search, to find what you have to offer? Make a list of these words and then go try them out to see what you get! You may also want to think about key phrases. These would be a few words used together that someone may enter to find what you have.

You can analyze your Meta Tags at these websites

• http://www.scrubtheweb.com/abs/meta-check.html

• http://www.siteowner.com.

• http://www.submitawebsite.com/free_tools.html .

In addition to these three basics, you should also try to include your keywords and phrases within the body of your page. Ideally you want a 3% ratio of keywords to total words.

You can use your keywords in your page link names in your navigation bar. Also, any links throughout the content of your page should also be keywords.

2. Search Engine Submissions

Right off the bat I will say don't waste your time and money with all those websites that advertise submissions to a million search engines. Honestly, there aren't that many search engines, and only a handful are worth your time anyways. Your focus should be on the primary search engines and directories, specifically Google, Yahoo, MSN, and a few others. Make sure to go to these directories and submit by hand.

• Google http://www.google.com/addurl.html

• Open Directory Project http://www.dmoz.com/add.html

• AltaVista http://addurl.altavista.com/addurl/new

• MSN http://submitit.bcentral.com/msnsubmit.htm

And also give these free submission sites a try:

• http://www.submitawebsite.com

• http://www.ineedhits.com/

• http://www.addme.com/

3. Reciprocal Links

Reciprocal Linking should be one of your major strategies for search engine placement and generating traffic. You need highly ranked relevant websites to link to your site to gain top positions on search engines. You should focus on quality and relevancy. It is much more beneficial for you to have 100 links from highly ranked relevant websites, rather than 1000 links from any and all websites.

You can search the internet for relevant websites and then simply send them an email with a request to swap links. This strategy can be quite tedious but is sometimes necessary when starting out.

You should setup a Link Directory using something like Reciprocal Manager or Links Manager. I would recommend doing this right from the beginning. This will allow your site visitors to quickly and easily add their own links, and automate the whole process for you.

Check out http://www.LinkPartners.com to find sites to trade links with.

4. Content

There is no substitute for a website with quality content. The internet is founded on information. If you can provide, relevant, substantial, quality content on your website you will have a much greater potential for getting lots of links and lots of traffic.

The benefits of writing your own articles are tremendous. Not only do you separate yourself as an expert in your field, you will garner higher search engine rankings through content as well as links. You can share your articles, submit them to directories and give them to webmasters to fill their content. At the bottom of each article you include a small resource box with a link back to your site and there you have lots of high quality content and links.

Write one article every week and in a year from now you will have 52 content rich pages on your site, and 52 articles floating around the World Wide Web proclaiming you as an expert.

In conclusion, by following these four proven steps you will generate an endless stream of free, quality traffic to your website. Yes, they actually take effort and work on your part, and guess what, so does any real business. Look at the top internet marketers online today and you will see that they live by these four principles. Start working on one of these strategies everyday. The key here is continual, persistent work. I wish you the best of success with your business!

About The Author

Norbert Orlewicz offers only the most effective strategies for promoting your online business at his website http://www.homebizproz.com. Use the FREE online guide and discover the best tips, tricks and methods for your online business.

webmaster@homebizproz.com

---

How I Suddenly Stumbled Onto No.1 In Google and Yahoo Without Search Engine Optimization - So What?

Sometimes, the search engines act really strange. And this story... Read More

How MSN and Yahoo Sells Your Traffic

Yes, it really happens. Now you might find it hard... Read More

Google Loosing Fan Base?

"Nothing last forever but the Earth and sky." - from... Read More

What Makes The Perfect SEO Firm?

SEO companies come in all shapes and sizes. You've got... Read More

PageRank for Websites: Is There More to the Web?

Google's PageRank has been around for years, and in the... Read More

The Changing Face of Search Engine Optimization

With the ever evolving internet market for just about anything... Read More

Search Engine Musical Chairs

News broke this week that Yahoo has purchased the Inktomi... Read More

LSI and Link Popularity

When Paypal's official Web site no longer ranked #1 in... Read More

Fixed Point of Reference

According to author Frank Peretti, "A fixed point of reference... Read More

Search Engine Optimization Techniques

Search engine optimization is the process of increasing the amount... Read More

SEO India: Tips & Techniques

SEO is all about "Individualism"According to me SEO is not... Read More

Googles Good-Writing Filter

I was recently struck by the fact that the top-ranking... Read More

The Simple Formula To Search Engines

Search engines are one of the best tools to bring... Read More

The Wonders of Wordtracker: Its More than a Hunt for Keywords

For me personally, Wordtracker.com is not just a... Read More

An Ethical Alternative to Doorway Pages

Definition: A doorway page is content created specifically for the... Read More

Crash Course in Getting a #1 Google Ranking

First, here's the rundown of some of the terminology I'm... Read More

SEO #6: How TO GET Banned by Google!

Yesterday you should have read the fifth course out of... Read More

Search Engine Optimization Tip: Dont Buy Anything Before You Learn More!

Thinking about purchasing that premium SEO software that will hyper-optimize... Read More

Why Is SEO So Important To Your Site?

You have heard the phrase LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. But wait,... Read More

Search Engine Optimization for Dummies

Lets face it. Search Engines rule the World Wide Web... Read More

Marketing to Search Engines AND Humans

When you were just a young and precocious student of... Read More

Give the Folks at Google What They Want

Recent developments on the Google front have web marketers and... Read More

7 Simple Steps to Spy on Your Online Competition and Acheive a High Page Rank

My Grandfather ran a small Grocery Store and when you... Read More

Get Traffic You Need - Make Your Links Work

So you have built a nice web site with good... Read More

Increase Your Search Engine Ranking

There are methods to increase your search engine rankings which... Read More

Submitting to the Search Engines and WebCrawlers

When you want your brand new site to be indexed... Read More

Everything You Wanted To Know About Google -- But Were Afraid To Search For!

(A Reflective look at the little search engine that soared!)All... Read More

Local Customers Know Where to Find Local Businesses... the Internet

Through search engines and directories, the Internet provides a quick... Read More

The Modern Day Search Engine

The first task most netizens do when they log on... Read More

Do Search Engines Like Your Web Site?

Between 75% and 98.8% of visitors to Web sites come... Read More

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (and Other Analogies and Cliché?s for SEO)

We've all heard that familiar expression, "Good things come to... Read More

Search Engine Traffic Domination - How to Turn the Search Engines into Your 24/7 Salesmen

Getting your website returned by the search engines as a... Read More

Google Slavery...Old Habits Die Hard

For the first few months after Yahoo decided to go... Read More