Businesses must have their websites listed within the 1st page of Google search engine results for keywords related to their products and services. Listings on the second page receive much less organic traffic and beyond that search engine traffic is practically non-existent. These five SEO optimisation secrets will help businesses rocket their website to page 1 of Google SERPs for their target keywords.
On-Page SEO Optimisation
Link building is such an important part of SEO optimisation that many businesses overlook on-page factors that may prevent them from moving to the 1st page of Google. SEO friendly META elements are still important for achieving top ranking on Google. Businesses also want to avoid over-optimisation, or stuffing keywords into content with hidden blocks of text or useless HTML elements. These old SEO strategies no longer work to boost ranking and sites may be penalized for using them.
Blogging and Social Media Marketing
Google weighs links from social media sites like FaceBook, MySpace and Twitter even if these links are technically “No-Follow” for SEO optimisation purposes. Businesses can expand their social media presence by presenting followers with quality content they will actually want to read and share with friends. As a bonus, this also results in more direct traffic.
Where to Leave Backlinks for SEO Optimisation
Since Panda hit in early 2011, businesses must pay more attention to where they leave backlinks for their off-page SEO optimisation. Low quality websites may now negatively impact ranking in SERPs. Businesses that once contracted with shady SEO companies to obtain thousands of these low quality backlinks may now have to clean up a huge mess before their site can recover in rankings. Businesses should focus on obtaining high quality links from websites related to but not directly competing with their own.
SEO Friendly Link Text
Businesses should avoid using “Click Here” or other non-descriptive phrases for link text both within their website and when building backlinks from other websites. These phrases do little to increase ranking in search engine results pages for target keywords. Instead, businesses should use keyword rich phrases for link text. Google offers a free keyword research tool on their AdWords site that businesses can use to help them determine which words and phrases should be incorporated into their link text. For SEO purposes, link text should appear natural and varied as opposed to using the same text for every link.
Analyse the Competition’s SEO Optimisation Strategies
The websites already listed on the 1st page of Google can provide businesses with a wealth of information regarding other SEO optimisation strategies that work to boost rankings. Businesses need only know where and how to look. Start by analysing the URLs already contained in the Google index for a competing website. Do this by typing “site:” followed by the competitor’s website address in the Google search box. This can reveal content the competing website may be using for SEO purposes that is not easily accessible from the main page. META tags may also reveal which keywords competitors are targeting for SEO.
Businesses that use these five SEO optimisation strategies can expect to begin seeing upward movement within as few as two weeks. Websites that were only recently indexed by Google may take longer before their SEO efforts move them up in the SERPs. Using these SEO strategies to obtain 1st page ranking may take months depending upon the amount of competition for target keywords, the website’s present ranking in the SERPs and the amount of time invested in SEO optimisation. Businesses may wish to consider hiring an SEO consultant for faster results.
