SEO: Tips for Improvement

Attracting visitors to your website is a vital step in acquiring new customers. That begins with where you appear in the search results on Google, Bing or Yahoo. And that, in a nutshell, is why search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical part of any marketing strategy.

There are a few key ideas to keep in mind when thinking about your business’s SEO performance.

The first is your relevant keyword universe. In other words, consider your products and services, and the customer needs you fill. Then, think about terms customers would use in their searches to satisfy those needs. Maybe you serve a focused niche (like part-time nannies in central New Jersey) or a broader one (document management services for medium-sized businesses, for instance). Either way, there will be a group of relevant keywords to include in your online content that can help your target market find you.

Another important part of SEO to consider is blogging. If you consistently publish high-quality content focused on your keywords, you increase your chances of cropping up in searches for those terms. Publishing a blog means more site pages, and that will increase the amount of indexed content you own. By promoting your blog posts, you can also increase the number of backlinks pointing to your site, which is great for search engine optimization.

SEO tactics have become more sophisticated over time, and keeping up with the latest SEO strategies is vital to maintaining or increasing your ranking in the search results. The following article discusses seven basic tactics for improving the SEO of your website including choosing the right keywords, the value of blogging, and why automated SEO tools may not be enough to keep you ahead of the competition.

Read Small Biz New Year's Resolution: 7 Ways to Improve SEO in 2012 at businessinsider.com.

What's next?

Learn about SEO from the ground up at the pbSmart Essentials blog.