CSEO Basics

for the Online Business DIYer

Presented by Inklyo.com

It's search engine optimization (SEO) to the rescue!Five minutes of exposure to any form of today's media will tell you that we're living in

the do-it-yourself (DIY) era. Grow a vegetable garden on your windowsill! Get that

kitchen you always dreamed of! Cook Thai cuisine at home!

The ever-growing lineup of home renovation shows and YouTube videos on How to

Trick People into Thinking You're Good Looking are now being joined by another

category of DIYer: the online entrepreneur. Where we used to see ads for designer

business cards, now it's all about website design (GoDaddy.com, WhoIs.com, and

Wix.com, to name a few). The fact is, more and more self-starters are taking their

businesses online without the help of a web designer. So, how do you know if you're

doing it right?

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The DIY website operator needs one

very, very important tool in his or her

skills box: search engine optimization

(SEO). Without it, your site will be

about as visible as a sandwich board

on the side of a dirt road in back-

country New Mexico.

So, what is SEO, anyway?

Simply put, SEO is what makes your website

show up in Internet searches; knowing some

SEO basics can mean the difference between

being on page 1 or page 237 of Google search

results.

Can I really do SEO on my own?

Yes, yes, a thousand

times, yes! SEO

doesn't require coding

or even knowledge of

HTML; it's about word

choice and

placement.

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Choose your keywords carefully (these being the words potential visitors are likely to

enter into a search engine), and direct their placement even more so. Your primary

keyword should be in the page's URL, your content's title, the page description, and

ideally in the first 50 words of your body text. Keywords should appear throughout your

content, but not so often as to make the writing feel clumsy or spammy.

1. Use your words

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Don't neglect your alt tags and image tags! With every image and link on your page,

you have an opportunity to pump up your keyword usage. These tags (the text that

appears when you hover your mouse over an image or link) should always be filled in

with a concise label or description that contains your primary keyword.

2. Tag, you're it!

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A trick to jumping ahead in search

engine rankings is to make use of

different forms of media. Not only

are eye-catching images and

interesting videos going to appeal to

visitors to your website, they'll show

up in image or video searches and

even in regular web results. As

Google displays the most relevant

videos and images at the top of its

results pages, you can sneak into

visibility ahead of even the best

optimized text-only websites.

3. A picture's worth a thousand clicks

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We can't stress enough the importance of fresh, relevant content. Visitors to your

website won't stick around (or come back) if what they find was last updated in 2002.

That being said, constantly posting updates for the sake of updating itself while falling

behind on real need or quality won't help you. Be mindful of what you're saying when

you post. Are you addressing the current needs and inquiries of your customers? Are

you staying up to date and on top of trends? Determine a reasonable strategy, whether

it means daily social media posts, posting blogs or articles 2 to 3 times a week, or

seasonal promotions.

4. Content is king, but you don't have to be a

prince from Bel Air to be fresh!

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Nobody likes a sluggish website.

When the next option is only a click

away, the chances of a potential

customer actually waiting for a

stalling website to load are slim to

none. Cut down on bandwidth-

hogging applications, such as Flash

or JavaScript, and compress your

files and images. Page speed is

factored into search engine rankings!

5. Feel the need—the need for speed!

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The popular build-a-site websites we mentioned earlier each come with arsenals of

free templates for the not-so-technically inclined. Make sure to choose one that is also

designed to suit mobile devices. Not only are visitors unlikely to stay on your page if it

isn't readable on their phones and tablets, but Google is now factoring mobile

optimization into its ranking system.

6. Stay mobile

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Basic but beautiful is the concept of linking back to your own website. Every time you

post new content, include a link back to your site, be it to your homepage, landing

page, or archive. If you're using social media to market your business (and you really

should be), always include links to your website in your posts. Finally, establish

relationships with relevant websites so that you can provide links to each other's sites.

Each link means more potential traffic and a greater chance of appearing in search

engine results; just make sure that links to your site are appearing on legitimate,

relevant pages.

7. 'Cause it's all about those links, 'bout

those links, no bouncing!

How do I know if it's working?

What is success if you can't see it? Take a moment now to sign up for Google Analytics. This comprehensive system of tools lets you track who your customers are, what it is they need, what they're looking at on your website, and how they're reacting to it. You can also monitor what paths bring visitors to your website and from what kinds of devices so that you can continue tweaking your site to further drive traffic and conversions.

Want to know more?

Want to know more about

SEO for the online business?

Then check out Inklyo.com

today!

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