Search Engine Optimization Made Easy

Optimizing a website is not a one-time deal; it's a continuous process that you must commit to doing on a quarterly basis, especially if you want to maintain or improve your current search engine ranking. SEO should be a high priority line item in your marketing budget, and you should never put it off until later.

rong>HTML: HTML is just a fancy name for the code that makes your site function. Within this code are page titles, descriptions and tags that search engines look for when they rank your site. It’s likely your website platform provider allows you to view and update this information in your administrative panel; therefore, you should be reviewing and updating this information quarterly. If you don’t have access to these fields, ask your website provider if you can submit updated information for them to code into the site.

Architecture: Website architecture is crucial to success. An example of architecture that is clearly visible is your website URLs or addresses. The ideal URL clearly describes the page content. For example:

Optimized URL: http://name.com/vehicle_showroom_2013

Non-optimized URL: http://name.com/vclshwrm.asp?year=2013

Characters such as question marks are unreadable by search engines. Your page URL shouldn’t include abbreviations, either. Inventory your non-optimized URLs and address the list with your website provider.

Off-Page SEO
Publishers cannot directly control off-page ranking factors. These factors include inbound links, social channel activity and online customer reviews.

Inbound Links: When other sites link to yours, your site shows up higher in search results. You can measure how many inbound links you currently have at www.opensiteexplorer.org.

Once you collect this data, take these actions:

Scan your highest-authority inbound links for opportunities to create more similar links.
Scan your competitors’ highest-authority inbound links. Can you get those links too, or do they provide ideas for getting similar links?
Inbound links from non-profit (.org) and education (.edu) sites are especially valuable. Do you have any? Should you have more from your friends and partners in these realms?

Build your inbound links gradually. Google algorithms will notice a quick accumulation of links and may penalize you.

Get your staff on board with the idea of “thinking links” — always keep an eye out for opportunities to request an inbound link.

For a complete list of SEO best practice guidelines, look to Google Webmaster Tools. The platform will show you how your website is performing before you put your SEO strategy in motion. For more information, go here: http://bit.ly/1azzEf6.

Award-winning blogger and CEO of Duo Web Solutions, Heather Blessington is a nationally-renowned speaker on social media marketing and a digital marketing veteran. Her company provides MPN monthly columns focused on best practices in Web marketing for powersports dealers.