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Search Engine Optimization(SEO) continues to be one of the most cost-effective, solid strategies to use for online marketing - as long as the strategy is built on a solid foundation of basic SEO principles.
A successful SEO strategy must include the following five basic, yet vital, factors to improve your 2011 search engine positioning: 1.
Website Design.
No matter how gorgeous your site may be if it isn't developed with user and SEO-friendly components, it's not going to bring your company the results you may be expecting or needing.
Make sure you have a good SEO-friendly architecture: your link structure must be properly established and navigable.
Additionally, one mistake that many designers and developers make is that they are not aware of canonical URL issues.
If you're the beholder of the beauty of your site, take a closer look to make sure it's not just a pretty face.
2.
Keyword Research & Development.
Before any content for the website is written, it's necessary that research is completed to discover the terms that are actually being used by your audience.
Marketers often think they know the terms being used by people who are searching for information about their products or services.
However, professional research will often shine a different light on the keywords that must be used within the website, meta data, and all online communications content.
Once a user-centric list of keywords is established, these keywords can help propel your website to the top of search engine listings as well as help you better reach your audience.
Also, be aware of the proper use of keywords within meta data and content: it can make or break your SEO success.
3.
Web Content Optimization.
Website copy writing is not the same as any other marketing copy writing and must follow specific SEO Content Guidelines.
Many companies still use content from their print materials for their website content - which is not going to help improve the user experience or search listing positioning.
Website copy writing requires an understanding of the science and art of online copy writing not only for websites but for all online communication.
4.
Inbound Link Building.
The number of links coming into your site is not as important as the quality of those inbound links.
Many marketers are still under the wrong impression that as long as they have hundreds (or thousands) of incoming links, they're golden.
Not so.
Search engines pay attention to who is linking to your site and how those links were acquired.
Keeping up with inbound link building requirements will improve your website's performance.
5.
Ongoing Web Analytics Review & Reporting.
Many website owners have a wealth of information at their fingertips about the performance of their website, campaigns, and audience but never take advantage of that resource: website analytics applications or web logs.
If you don't have a web analytics application intact, get Google Analytics; it's free, and it will provide invaluable information about the realities of your website.
Of course, interpreting the data takes some expertise but it is worth it.
Web logs may not be the best resource but if you have them at least look into them to see if you can scrape together some useful data.
Web logs (usually provided by your hosting company) are a little clunky to go through and may tend to focus more on technical rather than user issues but use 'em if you got 'em.
It is possible to get on the right SEO track as long as each of the vital factors, above, are integrated into your Search Engine Optimization Strategy.
Don't have an SEO strategy? Get in touch with an SEO professional who can develop a professional strategy that will setup your 2011 for SEO success.
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