3 Tips for Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing is a bit of a tricky subject. It used to mean packing as many keywords into the web content as was physically possible, and hoping that the sheer volume of traffic would increase revenue. With improvements to search engine algorithms, however, search engine marketing is easier than it was before.

Search engines such as Google have adapted their algorithms to better serve consumers. This means that a website whose primary focus is also the consumer will be more successful than one which tries to manipulate the search algorithms. Since the technology is so sophisticated, search engine marketing is much more intuitive. Here are a few simple things to guide you in the right direction.

Long-tail keywords

A long-tail keyword is simply a group of words which a consumer is likely to type into a search engine. For example, someone might come across this article by searching for “online marketing for small businesses” or “what is SEO?”. Now that those phrases are in the content, search engines are more likely to post this page higher on search results for similar queries.

Quality vs. quantity

Search engines are able to interpret meaning and intent in queries. This means that if someone types “goldfish new york city”, the search engine will put results for New York City pet shops which sell goldfish above results which define “goldfish” or information about New York City. For this reason, a webmaster must create content which is specific, detailed, and easy to search for.

Simplicity

Keep your language simple. Even the most verbose individual is most likely to search at about an 8th grade reading level, so the content on your page should reflect that. Don’t use one obscure word when three common words will do. When browsing the internet, people spend between 7 and 20 seconds scanning a post for pertinent information, so clarity and concision are important. Key words and phrases should appear more than once, but no more than five times, and should appear naturally in the content.

To sum up, search engine marketing really boils down to good customer service. Find out what people are searching for when they look for sites similar to yours, and adapt your content accordingly. Sprinkle key phrases naturally into the content to avoid overuse. For more resources for exceptional internet marketing, please contact us.