So you have a company website that you manage in-house and you want to be found on the Internet by your potential customers. You have most likely heard about search marketing, then, and that there’s a difference between paid search engine results and natural or organic search results.A stacked hand at a poker game where stakes are high.

Ah, but you aren’t clear on the differences and how much each should cost, let alone if either one will be worth your while. And you just don’t have it in the budget to consult a Internet Consultant…yet.

These 10 simple, natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips are designed to help a webmaster (that’s you if you have control over your website) see for yourself that SEO works - and that it’s necessary for your business if you want to grow your business and tap into your online market.

Try these essential and easy SEO tips on for size:

  1. SEO Keyword Research
    Brainstorm a list of ten keywords and keyword phrases that you believe your potential customers would type into a search engine when looking for your product or service. For example, one of ours is “internet marketing in Toronto”.Important to note: this is not real keyword research but guesswork. This is just to get you started. Real keyword research takes time and money – the trick is to find what terms people are actually using in the search engines to find your types of services and products.
  2. SEO Copywriting
    For each page, match your keywords and their phrases (try 1 to 4 per page) to the subject matter and weave them into the content. The general rule is use 3 to 7 keywords (of each) per 100 words.Important to note: The reader should always be considered before the search engines so make sure your copy is still engaging, informative, relevant, etc…
  3. Come up with some catchy, keyword-rich headings and sub-headings for your body text.
  4. Minor Coding
    Assign your headings as H1 and sub-headings as H2 in your web design program.
  5. Increase Content Value
    Add a glossary of industry terms to your website. This is a great way to better inform your readers as well as increase the frequency of keywords/phrases.
  6. Anchor Links
    Hyperlink a few of your keywords, per page, to other pages within your site. Again, make sure the links are relevant to the user, so when they come across “Toronto internet marketing company” and click on it, they should be brought to a page that will give them more information about the subject, in this case: the Apollo Media company page.
  7. More Minor Coding & SEO Copywriting
    Go through the text of each page and note which keywords you used. Use these keywords (and phrases) in the title meta tag for each page of your website. For example, “Internet Marketing in Toronto | SEO Firm | Website Promotion”.Important to note: Make certain that your titles match the concepts presented in the content that they are connected to. And also try to make each page title as different as possible from each other.
  8. While you’re messing with your title metas, include these page-specific keywords in your description and keyword meta tags per page as well.
  9. Rename each page using your keywords, for instance our company page is named:

    http://www.apollomedia.ca/company-internet-marketing-specialists.php

  10. Directory Submissions
    Submit your website to professional web directories. Yahoo! is the best paid directory (it’ll run you about $300 a year) and DMOZ is the best free directory. There are several good sources on the web that provide comprehensive reviews of web directories.Important to note: What you’re doing here is one of many link building methods. Search Engines rank your site heavily based on the number of inbound and outbound links to and from your site. But there’s a catch – they have to be good websites (popular with the people) and be related to your website content…SEO is all about relevance and providing value to the user. Also, link building should take time. Search engines flag websites as spam when they get too much link juice (a.k.a. inbound links) in a short period of time.

BONUS TIP
Sign up for Google Analytics BEFORE you implement any of these changes. It’s free and it will tell you almost everything you need to know about your website’s user behaviour.

This is fascinating stuff. Learn the basics of Google Analytics and you’ll know how your users found you, where they came from, what pages on your site they visited, how long they stayed, what page they left from, and what they had for breakfast.

Ok, that last one isn’t true but it might as well be!

Once you have your web analytics running, wait for a week or two and check the stats. Note them and begin the above changes. Go back to your analytics in another week or two and come back and tell me how much you love me. :)

Given these 10 organic SEO tips are merely a drop in the bucket, it should give you a glimpse into the potential exposure SEO can do for you and your company. If you feel as if you would benefit from a more comprehensive approach to SEO, hire a professional SEO agency!

Contact us at Apollo Media for your SEO consultation and let’s talk about getting you some search marketing services.