While there are a few secrets to working out how search engine ranking algorithms work in ranking web sites, the secret to search engine optimisation is that there are no secrets! For a search engine advertising campaign to be successful, it requires a hard working, dedicated team of professionals who know the basic rules of SEO and good web design.
Basic SEO / design rules to consider when trying to attract traffic to your site:
- Make your site attractive to search engines / directories.
- Include a good amount of plain text and meta / title tags on your web site, but be careful of common search engine myths.
- Choose the right search engines / directories to promote your site to.
- It's important to get a high profile on search engines that receive high volume traffic.
- Raise your profile in the search results.
- Many search engines prioritise web sites based on the amount of traffic they receive. So the more traffic you get to your site, the higher up the list you move.
- Gather links from other related sites.
- An easy way to increase traffic to your site is to have a link on other, related sites such as industry association sites, to your site.
- Publicise your web address.
- Include your Web site address on all company communications.
Getting visitors to buy from your site:
- Keep site design and navigation simple.
- Make sure each page has a clear message and can be skimmed over quickly. Make sure the paths you want people to follow are clear and logical.
- Include extensive product information.
- Customers need to have confidence in the product in order to purchase.
- Make the purchase process simple.
- Anything that requires too much information or too many screens could mean the customer gives up and may purchase from a competitor's site instead.
- Allow customers to purchase as soon as they are ready.
- Make sure there's a path to the purchase page from every product page on your site.
- Make the most of customers who have already purchased.
- Reward existing web site visitors by offering incentives and special offers to purchase again from your Web site.
Find out about search engine myths.
Related information: Google Advertising Tips | Google Ranking Report | About Internet Advertising | Importance of a Search Engine Listing | Search Engine Services | Search Position Improvement | Gaining a Top Search Engine Ranking | Direct Marketing | SEO Company | Web Marketing Techniques | Web Site Advertising