Darrell Hadden: President, Graphically Speaking
Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about setting up your website so that your company shows up on the first page of a search engine's organic results. Think about it. Did you know that the top three organic ranked results in Google receive 58.4% of all clicks?
To get the most out of SEO you'll first need to research what keywords/phrases people use to find your business, products and services. Start with words that are highly relevant to your business with large search volume. Google's free AdWords Keyword Tool analyzes potential search terms and provides the quantity of search activity of various keywords.
Next, with your arsenal of keywords, you will need to optimize your website by editing a few core elements on every page. Add applicable search terms to elements such as your page titles, meta descriptions, header tags, content, alt tags, in-page links and external links.
Create a content page for each major keyword/phrase for best results. Ideally, each keyword/phrase should also be on your home page and link to the internal content page.
With the advent of mobile, local search is becoming more important. In your keyword analysis, ensure that you have appropriate geographic terms within your keyword/phrases such as "Langley paint store" or "Vancouver SEO." Be sure to add these geographic terms to your website content.
To expand your keyword list, consider regularly adding new content to your blog or website.
Add Google Analytics to every page of your website to monitor your search results and analyze website traffic. This free service is an excellent tool for helping you make SEO decisions based on real data.
