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How to Set Up Your Small Business Website for SEO - Part 2 of 2

posted by WEBSITES.COM // January 23, 2010 // Build Your Website

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Continued from How to Set Up Your Small Business Website for SEO - Part 1

In addition to keywords, META tags and content, search engines may use other criteria to determine how high your site should rank for a particular search. The number and quality of links that point to your Web site is a common consideration, and another reason that listing your Web site with many online directories is a recommended step.

Step 5: Link to Other Quality Sites

You have spent a lot of time and effort to bring customers to your site, and in general, you want to keep them there as long as possible. However, no one business can be all things to all people, so you can provide a real service to your customers by giving them links to quality Web sites that contain relevant content they are interested in. By providing these links, you can also increase your ranking in both directories and search engines.

When you link to another Web site, make sure that site loads in a separate browser window; this makes it easier for your customers to return to your site.

Step 6: Encourage Other Sites to Link to You

Encouraging other Web sites to link to your site accomplishes several things. Most importantly, it can be a major source of new customers. Also, search engines will give you a better ranking if other sites provide links to you. Some search engines also take into account how popular the sites are that link to you; for instance, a link from CNN.com would be more valuable than a link from someone’s personal Web page. Many Web sites will be more willing to link to you if you offer a reciprocal link to them.

Step 7: Register Your Site with Directories

At this point you have a complete Web site and are ready to advertise it to the world. Your next step is to submit your site to all the directories, such as Yahoo! and ODP. Registering your site begins the review and ranking process, which may take a matter of days, weeks, or months, depending on the directory. Once you register your site with a directory, visit that directory often to ensure your site is categorized correctly.

When determining your ranking, many search engines will check to see if your site is listed in directories. The more directories your site is listed in, the higher your ranking, so be sure to complete this step before proceeding to the next.

Step 8: Register Your Site with Search Engines

Now it’s time to register your site with the search engines. As with directories, simply registering your site does not mean it will be ranked and available in the search engine. Check with the engine often to ensure your site is listed properly. Search engines constantly revisit the same Web sites to make sure they are still active and to update their ranking, but when you make major changes or upgrades to your site, you should re-register it with the search engines. This will help ensure that you are quickly rewarded for your work.

Step 9: Review Your Web Server Log

Your Web server keeps a log of information that is invaluable for refining your Web site content and shaping your marketing and advertising efforts. For instance, your log file contains information about what search engines or directories your customers are coming from and what search words they used to find you. By keeping successful keywords and replacing unsuccessful ones, you will build your customer base and search engine ranking.

Web server logs can contain hundreds-of-thousands of lines of information, to make the best use of them, you will need specialized software. Some Web hosting companies make this software available with your hosting plan.

Step 10: Repeat This List Frequently

Building a successful site is a recursive process. As in all aspects of business, you should periodically assess your competition and adjust your efforts accordingly. Adjust your META tags. Rework your keywords. It is especially important to frequently update the content on your site, not only because it improves your ranking in search engines, but because your Internet customers expect it.

Even if you already have your Web site up and running, wait until you have optimized it before registering with directories and search engines. Because the criteria that determines a high-ranking Web site is different for each search engine and directory, and because the criteria changes frequently, you may also consider hiring an SEO professional to improve your site's rankings.