What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? According to Wikipedia it is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s unpaid results.

Search Engine OptimizationThere are a number of ways to do SEO. Over the next several weeks we will discuss some of the things you can do to help optimize your website.

Step One: Finding your keywords.

When a person goes to Google, or another search engine, the first thing they do is type in the words which they think will get them the best result for their search. These are called keywords. In order for your website to be found on the search engines it has to have the right keywords used in the right way.

Here are some proven ways to help identify the keywords you should have on your site.

1.       Brainstorm: Gather together the people who know your business. Employees, friends, clients (customers, patients) to ask them what words they would use to search for you. Be sure and think about synonyms, similar words and common misspellings. Geographic keywords are very important, if you want to attract people into your physical location (like a store or restaurant) or provide services in a specific zone (like a plumber or doctor).

2.       Check with your competitors – While we don’t think it a good idea to call and ask them directly, there are several ways to see what keywords your competitors are using.

a.       Read their site. As you go through the text you should be able to see which words they are repeating and emphasizing.

b.      Check the page titles. What keywords do they use in the title?

c.       Look at the page source code and find the keywords META tag (near the top of the page in the header area). You can also check their image tags to see what keywords are used there.

We would be glad to assist with this, as it helps to be able to read HTML.

We will go into what to do once you have your list of words in the next post.

If you don’t want to wait, call CityCenter now at 626,449.0100.