How Search Engines Work
Search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Ask, and many other types of search engines, all rely on a system called "crawling." A crawling algorithm scans the websites being indexed for particular words, phrases, and topics. The crawler then records every page it finds that contains those words, phrases, and topics. It does this by reading the text from each page using software that analyzes the words and sentences within the text. Crawlers often record the HTML code found on pages, too.
There are two kinds of crawling algorithms used by search engines. One type is based on simple keyword matching; the other looks at the context surrounding the keywords. Each of these algorithms has its strengths and weaknesses. For example, keyword matching algorithms tend to be better at finding exact matches of keywords (i.e., the search term appears exactly where the crawler expects it), but are less likely to find long tail keywords. Contextual algorithms tend to find longer tail keywords and more exact matches, but can miss keywords if they are out of context. The crawling algorithms make decisions about whether a given page should be included in the index. If the crawler determines that the page is relevant to a topic, the page shows up as part of the search result. Otherwise, the page won't show up at all.
Keyword Research
One of the most important parts of performing SEO is determining the right keywords to target. Search engines want to provide relevant results to searchers. By focusing your efforts on keywords that are highly competitive and have high volumes of searches per day, you increase the likelihood that your website will appear in a search result.
You can do keyword research yourself. First, think about keywords that people might use to search online. Then look at the competition. How many competing websites do people visit when they're looking for something? What keywords do people use when they're searching for those keywords? Do people frequently search for different variations of the same keywords? Try plugging some of these keywords into a search engine and seeing what comes up. Once you've identified the keywords you want to focus on, you'll need to determine which ones are most valuable. To figure this out, you'll need to know how competitive different terms are.
Competition Score
Google defines a competition score for any given term. It looks at the number of unique domains that include the word in question. Here's an example: If there are six domains that include the word "accountant," then each domain gets one point. So if you have six domains that include the term "accountant," you get 6 points. When you add up all the points for a list of terms, the higher your total, the lower your competition score. In this case, if you scored 5,000 points for the term accountant, you'd have a low competition score. On the other hand, a score of 50,000 would give you a high competition level.
If you don't have access to a tool that gives you a competition score, you can use Alexa's free toolbar to get a rough idea of how well a term is doing. Just open a new browser tab and go to www.alexa.com/toolbar. Then click Add Toolbar to add it to your browser. The toolbar displays several different numbers for search volume and traffic volume for various terms. You can select multiple terms at once and compare them side-by-side to see which one has received the highest amount of traffic.
Some tools include a competition score along with the other statistics. These are very helpful because they take into account not only how popular a word or phrase is, but also how difficult it is to rank a site above others. For instance, if the competition score for the term accountant is 1,000, you may want to consider targeting the term business instead. Business is a more specific term, but it's easier to rank than accountant. The fact that it has a competition score of 150 means that it's a little harder to rank for this term than for accountant. Another way to identify keywords with low competition is by looking at the volume of searches related to the terms. This can help you decide which terms to target.
SEO Content Strategy
When you start thinking about the keywords you plan to target, it's time to write your content strategy. Your goal here is to create content that will appeal to potential visitors and convince them to stay on your site instead of moving on to another. Think about who your audience is going to be and what they're likely to be looking for. Once you have a firm grasp on who your target market is, you can develop a content strategy that appeals to them. When you know whom you're aiming for, you can craft articles and blog posts that address their needs.
Content marketing is really just writing blog posts and articles that answer questions that people ask. The key to successful content marketing is making sure you're answering questions that people actually have. The best way to do that is to talk directly with real people through surveys, polls, and interviews.
If you're not comfortable talking to people or conducting surveys, use software such as Survey Monkey and Polldaddy to conduct quick and easy surveys. These tools let you easily set up surveys and send them to large groups of people. In addition to creating great content, you also need to build links to your website. To do that, you can create eBooks, white papers, and reports. Don't forget to include keywords throughout your content. The last step is promoting your content.
Promoting Your Site Online
Once you've developed your content strategy, it's time to promote it. There's no shortage of ways to advertise your site online. You can buy ads through Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, pay for ads elsewhere, or even put up banners and display ads on your own site. Regardless of what kind of advertising you choose, though, the best option is always to make a strong first impression on people visiting your site. The more compelling your site is, the more likely people are to spend time learning more about your company. Then they're far more likely to purchase a product or service from you than someone else. It takes time to build a solid SEO campaign. But once you do, you'll see steady gains in your keyword rankings and increased traffic. That means more sales, which means greater profits for your business.
