Getting People To Your Website: 25 Simple Tips for Top-Notch Search Engine Optimization

by Fern Reiss

One of the most common laments in the business world is, “But now that I have a website for my book/business, how do I get people to find it?” Putting up the website is only half the battle; unless people are able to find it, you won’t be improving your business. And most search engine optimization techniques don’t require a computer science degree to implement. Here’s how to fly to the top of the search engines—and stay there.

Tip #1. Optimize for your top keywords
When people search online for your topic, what words or phrases are they looking for? And which of these words can you realistically hope to ‘own’ in the online marketplace? The better your choice of keywords, the better your ranking will be. For example, I advise writers on how to find literary agents. “Literary agents” is a Google search phase that’s extremely popular—too many other websites are vying for this phrase, so my chances of ranking highly would be minimal. But if you do a Google search for ‘find a literary agent,’ a slightly less popular phrase (but one that authors still use), my PublishingGame.com site pops up on the first page. Likewise, if you do a Google search for ‘writer organizations,’ The International Association of Writers appears on page one of the results, hovering between number three and six, despite the newness of the organization.

Tip #2. Figuring out your top keywords
So how do you figure out which keywords to use? The following all do similar things, but they have slightly different ways of calibrating what words and terms people are searching for (and some people find some of them easier to use than others.) By combining them, you come up with the ‘best’ list of what terms to include:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
www.keyworddiscovery.com
www.wordtracker.com
www.goodkeywords.com

Tip #4. Don’t neglect indirect marketing/indirect marketing keywords
It’s also important to figure out keywords for your ‘indirect’ marketing. Think carefully about who your indirect markets are—and how they will find you. For example, the primary market for my Publishing Game products (books, workshops, and consulting on publishing and book promotion) is the writers themselves. But my indirect market is anyone who knows a writer. This ‘indirect’ approach resulted in a whole sideline of products for friends of writers—such as gift baskets for writers, in prices ranging from $39 to $99, particularly popular around the holidays. (Try a Google search for ‘holiday gifts for writers,’ for example, and see what comes up.) So zero in on your indirect markets, and compile a list of keywords for those indirect targets, as well.

Tip #7. Don’t over-use graphics
Good websites need graphics—but don’t make the mistake of placing important text details, such as contact information, in an image file. Image files can’t be indexed by search engines.

Tip #14. Avoid content mirroring
If you’re writing articles for other websites as a way to improve your search engine linkings, be aware that ‘content mirroring’ is considered a no-no by search engines. Content mirroring occurs when you duplicate the content exactly in an outside-your-website article containing a link to your website—which contains exactly the same article. Rather than avoiding publishing your own article on your own website, simply create two versions of the article: One for your own website, and one for all the other websites to which you’d like to distribute. You can either simply rewrite the article using different phrases or change the order of the lists or paragraphs; or you can add unique content to the middle of the article (such as an additional tip, the inclusion of contact details, etc.) As long as there is a 30% difference in the content, search engines will consider your article ‘unique.’

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Fern Reiss is the director of the International Association of Writers, Speakers, & Experts. She offers three and six-month online visibility campaigns for individuals and small businesses who know they should be doing Web 2.0/social media/search engine optimization for their businesses–but just don’t have the time. You can learn more at http://www.Expertizing.com

This article appeared in Fern Reiss’s Facebook Writing and Publishing group. Please feel free to re-post it, as long as you include all the attribution/bio down here at the bottom. Thanks!