SEO Friendly Techniques for Small Business Websites

A properly optimized website will get you high rankings on web
search engines. My small business website ranks #1 and #5 on the organic
Google search results for my targeted term 'Northern Colorado
Photography'. Learn more about our website seo services for small businesses.



Even though you may be a small business, a professionally designed
website with compelling photography, attention grabbing design, and an
easy to use interface is critical for your livelihood. You have to
create an online experience that demands people's attention and makes
them say 'I want to go there' or 'I want to buy that product/service'.
With that being said, potential customers need to find you first. The
most popular way to be found is through search engines...

That brings us to search engine optimization (SEO). A properly
optimized website will consistently rank high in organic search engine
results for multiple terms. Organic search results are the free listings
provided by search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Another facet
of organic search results are map listings that are displayed at the top
of search engine results pages. Even though your websites SEO does have
an impact on map listings, these two types of search engine results are
separate entities and need to be optimized separately.

This blog post does not include a detailed description or step by
step instructions on how to accomplish each of these SEO techniques,
that would take a complete book, but is meant to give you an outline of
the techniques used to accomplish a search engine friendly website. The
information for accomplishing each of these tasks is readily available
through online research.

Core Search Engine Marketing Techniques

These techniques are the foundation of every website that is SEO
friendly. The amount of competition for your keywords will determine the
amount of time and effort needed to accomplish your search engine
marketing goals.

-Analyze your website structure and content

-Compare your website to your competitors

-Determine targeted keywords

-Optimize your Page Titles, Descriptions, and Keyword Meta Tags

-Optimize your HTML Markup and Link Navigation

-Analyze and Optimize your Website Content

-Use 301 Link Redirects for your Optimized Link Navigation

-Create HTML and XML SEO Sitemaps
-Setup Google Webmaster Tools

-Setup Google Analytics
-Analyze Reports for Site Traffic and Keyword Rankings



Additional SEO and Web Marketing Techniques

The businesses that consistently rank the highest for their targeted
keywords not only implement the core SEO techniques but also invest in
these additional SEO and Web Marketing strategies.

-Add ShareThis Social Bookmarks to Website Content

-Customize a Twitter Page
-Create a Facebook Business Fan Page

-Submissions to Online Directories - Free and Paid

-Comment on Industry Related Blogs

-Participation in Industry Related Forums

-Create SEO Friendly Forum Signatures

-Submit Press Releases and Articles to Industry Related Sites

-Create How-To Videos and Blog Posts

-Incorporate Google Adsense on your Website

-Participate in Affiliate Marketing Programs

-Use Pay-Per-Click Advertising - Google Adwords and Facebook Ads

-Send Out Email Newsletters Regularly

-Maintain and Update your Website Frequently

By implementing these SEO techniques and procedures you will greatly
improve your search engine rankings and increase the targeted traffic to
your website.

Author: Warren Diggles / Posted: 25-05-2011