Every business owner wants to be in the number one or two position on the internet search engine rankings. This is a healthy goal, however, this is not easy and does not happen overnight. To gain a consistent spot at the top of the page takes patience on the part of the business owner and a strategic and informed plan by an expert that knows the SEO landscape. There are, however, four “tried and true” concepts that are key to a successful SEO plan:
1. Build your site for your customer. When creating your site, remember who you’re building it for. Think about your visitor and what they are looking to learn. Forget about your competition, ad dollars and search engines. If your customer comes first, the search engines will follow.
2. Educate, inform, and share. Create content that educates and informs “your” customer. Rather than selling on every page, make sure that you give your visitor something to take away – links to articles, downloadable pdf’s with support information, images to view and share with a friend.
3. Use “customer” keywords. Do a search for keywords that customers use in your industry. Ask your receptionist, sales team and office manager for words that they hear consistently from customers who call or visit. Remember, these may not be the words you would use, but you are not the one searching. Include these relevant keywords in copy only where it makes sense when reading.
4. Don’t look for the easy way to the top. Don’t take the shortcut and buy into shady tactics. These less than fair tactics include spam, buying links/likes, creating fake profiles, and “quick-fix” tricks that could get your site removed from the Google index.
These four simple rules have been the foundation for successful SEO for over a decade. This does mean that the business owner has to work harder, but in the long run it does pay off as your rankings increase and your names gains visibility.
