Optimize Your Website in 10 Steps

Is your website generating the traffic it deserves? Outlined below are 10 steps to drive more traffic to your website.

1. Planning – Every task, even the smallest, needs to have a goal or objective. Basically, ask yourself, what is the purpose or objective of the website or page(s)? Do you want people to make a purchase? Sign up for a newsletter, or just provide information? Figure out what ‘action’ you want your visitor to make when visiting your website.

2. Build Keyword List – After you’ve established an overall objective, you will need to create a keyword list. Identify all the keywords that are relevant to your objective. To find some of these keywords: review your current website, marketing materials, website statistics and customer inquires.

3. Keyword Research - With your new list, it’s time to research your keywords and find out if they are searched at all, how many times, and what competing sites are using your keywords. During your research you may find other phrases you might not have thought of. The rule of thumb is to pick the most popular keywords with the least amount of competition. There are many tools to help you in your keyword research:

   • Use Google - Type your keywords into Google. Google will display related searches and you can check your competition's keywords too.
   • Use Google's Keyword Tool
   • Use the free Wordtracker tool

4. Create a ‘Short List’ - After you’ve chosen your most noteworthy keywords, you will need to brainstorm which 2 or 3 keywords or phrases you want to focus on within the copy of each page of your site. Being extremely focused at this stage is critical to your success.

5. Add Keywords to Website Copy – After you’ve established your short list, you will have to add these keywords (or phrases) to your website copy. Add your keywords to the top of each page, to headings and at the beginning and end of paragraphs. Don't stuff all your keywords into the copy. Remember your visitors will read this copy and if it doesn't read well, they'll leave.

6. Add Keywords to HTML - Now add your keywords to the HTML tags in order of importance (If you do not know HTML, contact your webmaster for assistance.):

   1. Title Tag
   2. META Description tag
   3. Heading tag(s)
   4. Hyperlinks
   5. Image Alt attributes (tags)

7. Upload Updated or New Pages – You’re almost done. Upload your new web pages to your live production web server.

8. Submit Your Website to Search Engines and Directories – Submit your website to the most popular search engines: Google, Yahoo, & Bing. Submit your website to ‘Open Directory’ and any industry specific directories that are related to your business.

9. Build a Link Campaign – Begin by researching link partners and contact them about exchanging links. Don't forget your Local community. Add your website information to these local directories: Google Places (Local), Yahoo Local & Bing Local. Overall, the more useful your website is, the more likely others will want to link to it.

10. Wait, Measure, and Reconfigure if Necessary – At this point, only time will tell. You should begin to see results within a couple of weeks. Check your website statistics, measure any new purchases or feedback and inquiries from your site. Give your site up to 3 – 6 months before changing anything if necessary.

That’s it. Granted, this may seem daunting and it will take some time and work, but performing these steps – in order - will get your website noticed and found.

Good luck in your marketing efforts.