Below is a list of just some of the things you can do to formulate your organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. Keep in mind the search engines are trying to give their users the best experience by ranking what they believe are the best results, while at the same time, keeping the “bogus” pages and sites from ranking higher. This is their daily balancing act. There isn’t a “quick” way to the top of search results, but you can prepare your site for the best possible chance.

1. Find out who is ranking near the top now and why.
    a. Pick 5 keywords or phrases that you believe applies the most to your site or business.
    b. Search Google for these keywords. Visit every site on the first two pages of results.
    c. Reverse engineer why they are ranking so well (#2 below)
 

2. Reverse engineer web pages that are ranking at the top of their keywords.
    a. Count how many times the keywords you searched on appears on their site. This is

        called keyword density. You can use control F in your browser to speed up the counting.

        You need to have as many keywords as they do, but don’t go too far as the search engines

        will think you are trying to cheat.

    b. Note if their keywords are in their URL. Most probably are somewhere in the URL. You need

        to do the same.
    c. View their source to see where the keywords are located as well – alt text, meta keyword tag,

        meta description tag, etc. It all adds up.
    d. In Google, type in “links: websitenamehere.com” to see how many inbound links are going

        to their site. This also creates an excellent todo list for your inbound link strategy. You want

        to have links from these sites as well. Check out who is linking to your site as well.

3. Don’t put keywords in your meta keyword tag that are not in your visible content. Google and other search engines deduct points for doing this. Also, don't try the white text on white background trick. That will get you excluded for sure.
 

4. Get as many legitimate inbound links as you can. Add this task to Outlook to remind you to do this at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. Avoid link farms. Search engines deduct points for this tactic.
 

5. Build a sitemap. Google even provides sitemap tools. This and many other free tools can be found at www.managemyadvertising.com in the Tools section.
 

6. Use tools like www.Quantcast.com and www.Alexa.com to get free demographics and other data regarding your site and your competitor’s site. Keep in mind, competitors include sites that are ranking on your keywords and phrases, not just the ones your customers mention to you.
 

7. Put your keywords in your title tags. Build several pages (and articles) that contain focus on a given topic and set of keywords. Make sure there is an obvious link to your home page so you can get the visitor to your core product or service.
 

8. Avoid flash pages and pages with lots of graphics since search engines can’t index. Check out the “How search engines see your web site” tool at http://www.managemyadvertising.com/seo-search-engine-optimization-spider-simulator-tool.html. It strips out the view of the site to just what search engines can see.
 

9. The age of your domain name and how many years you have reserved your domain name matters. If you only have a 1 year term, you might be lumped in with temporary, fly-by-night web sites targeted to “get rich quick”.
 

10. Check out the history of your site, your competitor’s site and the sites that are ranking well in step 1 above at the WayBackMachine - www.archive.org. This can give clues to see what they’ve done to rank well.
 

11. Submit your new web pages and news articles that mention your site to Google and Yahoo. These links are available at www.managemyadvertising.com in the Tools section.

12. Monitor your web log files / web analytics tools and study your existing organic traffic. This will help you understand how and why you are getting your existing traffic and will help you find new ideas or exploit existing sources to get even more traffic.
 

About ManageMyAdvertising.com

ManageMyAdvertising.com has been helping small to medium sized companies gain customers through media buying, search marketing (Google Adwords, Yahoo Search, etc), affiliate programs (Commission Junction, LinkShare, DirectTrack, etc.), organic search results and other online marketing methods since 1997. Training and Q&A sessions are also available. You can email them at info@managemyadvertising.com or visit them at www.managemyadvertising.com, www.managemykeywords.com or www.managemyaffiliateprogram.com.