SEO, also known as Search Engine Optimization, has been around almost as long as the Internet. That doesn’t make it easy to understand, though. Many people have trouble understanding exactly how to use SEO and how it can help them.
In the most basic terms, SEO is the process of getting traffic from the search engines. Some people may call this “organic” traffic or “free” traffic.
Here’s an example. Let’s say that you have a blog about organic produce and you use the term “organic carrot soup” in one of your blog posts. When someone types that term into Google, they receive pages of listings. If you rank high for that term, you’ll be on the first page of the search results. The person searching for that term may click on your listing and visit your site. Google just sent you traffic.
In the past, it was pretty easy to get traffic this way. All you had to do was use keywords on your site. There were people who had low quality websites and were using popular keywords that had nothing to do with their site, just to get traffic.
The search engines caught on to these tricks and changed the way they listed their results. They created tougher methods for getting top listings. Your content has to be high quality nowadays to rank well.
It may be tougher to get “free” traffic, but it doesn’t mean you should give up!
Using keywords is still an effective way to get traffic. You just need to be smart about it.
You can use a keyword tool such as the Google keyword tool (login for best results) o research keywords and phrases. When you find a phrase that has been getting searched on a lot, you can Google that phrase to see how much competition you have. Google will tell you how many people are using that phrase on other web pages.
Your goal is to find a keyword or phrase that has a high # of searches but low competition.
It will take some work and some time, but you can find keywords and phrases that will help bring you search engine traffic!
Here are some posts that will give you additional help with keyword research:
Keyword Research Using Google’s Free Adwords Tool
Keyword Research Using Wordtracker’s Free Tool
Keyword Research Using Market Samurai Software
Keyword Research Using Scribe SEO
Advanced Keyword Research – On-Site Application of Keywords
Advanced Keyword Research – Off-Site Optimization
Advanced Keyword Research – Paid WordTracker
Intermediate Keyword Research – Market Samurai
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Glennette Goodbread, Owner
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