Search Engine Advertising
There is an easy way to be #1 in search engine ranks, pay for placement and you’re done. Search engine ads can jump start your web site traffic if your site is new or has a lot of key-phrase competition. If you fail to work on your organic traffic this will be an ongoing advertising expense. If your keyword competition is low, you will be able to discontinue (or even avoid) paying for ads by building your rank organically.
Climbing the Search Engine Rank Organically
Keyword and Key-phrase Competition
Organic Search Engine ranking success can be achieved, but it takes work some work. How much work will it take ? That depends on your keyword/key phrase competition.
Example 1: You have a new laundry soap you want to market. It would be difficult to rank among all the other name brand laundry soaps that spend untold amounts to advertise and promote their soap. Even if your soap is unique, will users search for the unique properties of your soap or simply search for “soap” ? Marketing your uniqueness could be costly.
Example 2: You have a landscaping business that only works within a specific geographic area. Your chances for rank high are much more likely as there are less competing businesses targeting the keywords visitors would use to find your service.
Keyword Research
I’ll never forget the Search Engine “Specialist” who told the client, “I will be fishing at XYZ River this weekend, and my website is #1 for ‘Fishing at XYZ River this weekend’” with such pride in his voice. He assumed everyone would be impressed, however, a logical thinker would wonder just how many people search for that search engine key-phrase.
A client of mine assumed people would search for his product with the keyword “cement”, but further investigation proved that more people would actually use the word “concrete” when searching for his product. Do you know for certain the ways people search for your type of business ?
Keyword research before you start your project will get your project off to a good start.
Best Practices
The underlying web site code
Your web site should be built taking your keywords and phrases in mind. Webpage titles, image alternate text, menu items should all be created with your target keywords in mind. Search engines “read” all the code the visitors don't even see. “Content is King” is the war-cry of search engine specialists across the globe and a web site filled with relevant information is the #1 thing required to ensure your web site gets ranked. “If you build it, they will come” does not apply to web sites however and continued attention is vital.
Organic Rank Marketing
Once your website has launched, there are several steps you should take to build your brand and rank. Do you have accounts with social media ? If not, you should. All your social media and relevant directories should include links to your web site. Your images and messaging should be consistent to build recognition of your brand.
Ongoing Marketing Strategy
Plan a regular topic to write about - anything is better than nothing, but certainly quality content will entice visitors to return. Search engine algorithms consider new and relevant content a ranking factor.
1. Create your article keeping your key-phrases in mind.
2. Create your hero image/meme to draw attention to your article and improve your rank.
3. Share your article with links back to your website. “Backlinks”, credible links that include your website url, is a search engine rank factor.
Track Your Results
Is all your effort paying off ? Certainly the real test is increased clients, however, regular reporting can show you what articles performed well and why.
