Need to get a website ranked higher? Website optimization is an ongoing process and there is always more that can be done to increase organic search engine rankings. Search results are always changing and so is the search engine's algorithms that produce them. It is important to keep up with the latest SEO techniques that are changing every day to keep and maintain search engine rankings. Step #1 - Keyword Research
It is important to know which keywords you want to target. Different search terms will drive in various kinds of web traffic. Try to picture yourself as your ideal customer. What terms would you type into search engines to find your website? In addition to knowing these terms, finding out how many people per month type these words into a search engine is also useful information. Targeting larger volume keywords can become more competitive, but also drives more web traffic in once you get ranked under them.
Step#2 - Unique Meta Tags
Make sure that each page on your website has unique Title, Description and Keywords tags. None of them should match exactly and should reflect the content on the page accurately.
Step#3 - Natural Use of Keywords
All of the content on each page of the website should be written naturally and not keyword rich. It is a good idea to include targeted keywords, just don't use them multiple times over and over. Make sure that all use of keywords are flow naturally.
Step#4 - Alt Picture Tags
Did you know that any picture that is posted on your website can have keyword tags? These are called "alt tags". Alt tags are not visible to people viewing your website. They are visible to search engines and are located in the source code of your website.
Step#5 - Above The Fold
Having eye catching and informative information on your website is vital. Making sure that that information is visible is another challenge. When a visitor goes to your website for the first time, the information that pops up before they scroll down or click anywhere is considered "above the fold". Make sure that eye catching, informative information is above the fold to increase conversion rates and get visitors to stay on your website longer.
Step#6 - Link Building
Getting other website to put a link on their website pointing to yours builds back links. This can be done through link submission services, link exchanges and buying links on other websites. Building quality back links is a quick way to increase your online credibility along with getting websites ranked higher.
Step#7 - Blogs & Reddit
Blog writing is a great way to put out additional content, educate visitors and build back links. Once a blog has been written submit it to reddit and build links to your blog. If a reddit user likes it they can vote it up. Higher quality articles will get ranked higher and you will be able to obtain feedback on what people like to read.
Step#8 - Expert Author
Becoming an expert in your field takes time...but no one needs to know that. If you are called an expert online, then you are one. Writting content for someone else's blog will allow you to link back to your own blog or website. This gives exposure to a new audience and gives people a chance to hear what you have to say. If they find the information that you write about informative, then they are more likely to consider you an expert in your field.
Step#9 - Submitting
Any time your website has been updated (and it should be updated frequently) tell search engines about it. Letting them know that something has changed will cause them to send their search engine bots to your website to index it. The more a website changes, the fresher the content is. Since search engines are always looking for fresh content this will be something that is considered good for your search engine rankings.
Step#10 - Validating Code
Making sure that your source code validates can improve or hurt your natural search engine rankings. If a content management system is being used such as blogspot or wordpress, then your code is automatically written for you and there is no need to worry about this. If you are using web development software such as dreamweaver or microsoft publisher and can edit the code manually, then it may be a good idea to copy and paste the source code into w3.org's HTML Markup field to see if there are any errors.
For more detailed information on these steps and how to execute them download:
