SEO – What does it really mean?

I dont do Search Engine Optimisation.

I can do it, but I wont.

Im actually pretty good at it, but it is not something you can just “pop into”  it is a constant organic growth that needs to be monitored and tweaked and compared with stats.

People bandy the phrase “I need some SEO on my site”  like thats all that matters.  We just add some code and voila!  Google loves you!

For starters, let me ask you the first simple question before you even attempt to delve into the murky pond that is optimisation.

What phrase or keyword are you aiming for?

Nine out of ten of you are already stumped.

Its all well and good to say I want to be in the first page of google when someone searches my site.  That’s what I hear so often.  Searches what?  If they are going search 2dragons.net in google, they will find me on the first page.

But no one is going to search that, I have to decide what phrase I want to match my site.

For example, I am a florist, I am based in New York.  When someone types in “Flower Delivery Newark”  I want to come up on the first page.

Thats my “phrase” or my “keywords”.

And before you get carried away.  That one tiny phrase is going to be a full time thing to get on the first page.  It’s not just adding a few phrases.  You pick your keywords, you add them to the META tags, you change your copy to match them as much as you can, you sign up for as many forums and blogs that you can, leaving comments with your site address in your signature to get your backlinks in place while you talk about the subject of “Flower delivery Newark” you have a site map, a google webmaster account, preferably a blog with some cunningly title permalinks, you compare your competitions keywords with their ranking, you check their backlinks, you study thier copy in comparison to the positioning  and you do it every day.

Every, single, day.

And you monitor your place against your actions that day to get a feel for things.  And you keep posting on the blogs and the forums, the more well know the better.  Then, 6 months later, if the Gods of Google are willing and havent penalised you, because a site you were back linked to was cheating on something, or the algorythm they use that no one really understands, changes again.

You will be on the front page.

So with that in mind.  Best you pick ONE set of keywords/phrase, not a half dozen.

Cos you have a lot of work to do.