What the heck is SEO and how does it work?

With experts and lay-people throwing big acronyms like SEM, SEO….LOL around, it’s hard for business owners to know what to know to get and keep a competitive advantage online.  So, let me start by giving you a crude example of how Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works.

Google has automatic algorithms that rank your site. They send out what are called “spiders” (and while I have an immense phobia of spiders, these are the good kind) to “crawl” your site and check it for over 100 indicators that determine whether your site is valuable or useless. These indicators include things like backlinks, domain age, traffic, fresh content, etc.

SEO is the art of making sure those spiders are happy with what they find. It is an extremely complex field that is constantly changing but in all that chaos there are a few constants that have remained true since the beginning.

Understanding the basics of SEO

1. Purchase your own domain and hosting

If you are really serious about your website you should get your own name and host it yourself. And Google only wants to point to websites that are considered serious and trustworthy.

2. Solve problems with original content

Google’s whole purpose is to provide their customers with relevant and useful search results.

The most important thing you can do for your SEO is create massively useful content that solves people’s problems. If you are solving problems that people are searching for then it is likely that you are going to get shared on social media and ranked in Google.

The phrase “original content” means so much more than just written word. Some tips:

• Photography
  Get on Flickr or Photobucket and use original images on your blog or website. Even better if you take them yourself.
• Videos
  Make tutorials or do video posts with your webcam. This builds links and traffic from Youtube and does well on mobile devices.
• Podcasts
  iTunes is growing fast as people get better smart phones and spend more time plugged in.

The idea is to build a relationship with your readers by helping them out. This will mean more sharing and faster results on the SERPS (search engine rankings positions).

3. Build relevant backlinks in a natural way

If you are just getting started with SEO you might know a little about backlinks. A backlink is when another website links back to your site from their site.

• The source matters
  The blog that is giving you the backlinks makes a huge difference. If it is an old domain name with excellent rankings itself then the backlink counts for more. One good link from an authority domain name and your rankings change more than hundreds of little ones.
• The anchor text matters
  The anchor text are the words that are used as the link. For example, just then I used “anchor text” as the anchor text. You want this to be relevant to your targeted keywords.

As mentioned, the best way to build quality backlinks is to write amazing quality content and then guest post on the best blogs in your niche.

4. Make sure your theme is SEO optimized

Think of SEO as having two components: the off-site stuff like social media and backlinks and the on-site stuff like optimizing your theme.

Optimizing your theme is important because it helps give Google indicators that you are a trustworthy site. It also helps Google find your content. Some of the things you can do include:

Having a well-designed theme is also important for your brand. Separating yourself from the competition is a very important thing to do.

5. Comment on other blogs

Comment on other authority blogs. Not only does it get you more traffic, exposure and new relationships, it also counts as a backlink.

6. Build your social media profiles big time

Nowadays, you want to have a big focus on social media for SEO purposes as well as traffic building purposes.

Why? Because Google is now looking to social media as a signal of an article’s authority and relevance.

If thousands of people are tweeting about it then chances are you have written something pretty good. And the best way to get tweets is to build a loyal following and write killer content that they just love to promote for you.

Some things you need to start doing:

• Tweeting big players
  Get to know the big players in your niche by casually building a rapport with them on Twitter. Down the track you can hit them up for re-tweets.
• Add separate value
  Tweet and Facebook information and facts that don’t appear on your blog. Think of it as a separate resource for people to tap in to.
• Share others
  The more content you share from other bloggers the more likely they are to share your stuff. Give and then get later.

There are many companies that specialize in SEO optimization.  Before you agree to go with one, make sure they at least know the basics.  Be an informed buyer.  Often times companies or individuals promise huge results, but deliver rankings that you or one of your employees could have received yourself.

Websites are vital to all businesses, no matter the size or industry.  This is where people are getting their information.  To be competitive, you need to be relevant.  So be sure you have the content, the resources and the interaction with your potential and current customers.

Not everyone is a writer.  Just because you can write your name, doesn’t mean you should write your content.  Hire an expert in the field and your SEO rankings will be off to a good start.