Search Engine Optimization Made Easy

Every internet marketer is interested in targeted traffic and where can you find the most targeted traffic? Well… Search engines are arguably the best form of targeted traffic, provided that proper keywords are used to find your site. For example, if your website is about ’search engine optimization’, you will want people to find your site by typing ‘Search Engine Optimization’ into the search. This immediately qualifies the visitor as someone interested in the topic, since he would not have intentionally entered the search otherwise.

Many people are fascinated by how some websites can always appear on the top in search engines, while others are struggling to enter the first 3 pages. The problem often lies in the fact that many people go around searching for secrets, when you can do it the age-old proven way… doing what the search engines like you to do. Of course, there are black hat search engine tactics in use, but they are often cracked down by the major search engines within months. If stability and long term income is what you are interested in, your best bet is to develop a long-term strategy that the search engines will love.

By that, I refer to a magic word… content. Content seems simple enough, since all websites will have some form of content. However, we can never emphasize the importance of content enough. Nowadays, content is everywhere and it is really difficult to stand out, but there is what makes it rewarding if we do win the game. When I look back at my own websites, my traffic is almost directly proportionate to the amount of quality content I write regularly.

Some guidelines for effective content

• Original content - Search engines favor original content, thus duplicate content is getting penalized by the search engines, most notably with Google leading the change.
• Up to date content - The content should be applicable at the time of reading in order to retain your visitors. Of course, if your site is about history, it is a different story altogether.
• Informative/ Entertaining content - Your visitors are either surfing the web for entertainment or information, therefore your best bet is to provide one or both with your content.

Over time, content will bring you links. Other blogs and websites will gradually link to your site and link popularity will help you to rank higher on the search engines. Your content will then retain visitors and probably draw some more of them to link to you. We can see a visible loop of how content can bring you links, however that initial surge of traffic is still important. For many people, the problem is in trying to get that first 100 unique visitors per day. Trust me though, getting to 100 per day is the easy part, but keeping it that way is tough and that is why you need content.

Getting Initial Traffic
To get some traffic, there are basically two ways… free or paid. Nothing in this world is for free though, which is why you pay your time when it comes to getting free traffic. I will list some free ways to get traffic and discuss them in detail in subsequent posts.

• Forums
• Topsites
• Classified ads
• Directories
• Article Marketing
• Social Networking Sites
• Link Building
• Blog commenting
• Partnership with other webmasters
• Banner or ad networks
• Start page Exchanges
• Web rings

There are many other sources of traffic, but not all of them work extremely well. I will discuss the free traffic methods that work for me in my next post. Stay tuned…