Internet Marketing Know-how With Rachel Pradhan: SEO

Get Your Website Found: 9 SEO Techniques You Can Do Yourself!

I get asked about Search Engine Optimization almost everyday by my clients. And for good reason – if the major search engines like Google and Yahoo aren’t finding you – then neither are your prospects! With 60-70% of the population using the Internet to research and discover answers to what they are looking for, and then 80% of them using Search Engines to find it – you have to know how your website can be optimized. The following are 9 techniques that you can do without hiring a Search Engine Optimization professional to increase your exposure of your website:

1. Social Networking: www.LinkedIn.com , www.Facebook.com , www.ning.com/ , www.naymz.com all have great page rankings, which means that when you have your website address on these sites they are creating an Inbound Link. Trust me, social networking is a constructive use of your time when used wisely! (For more information on Search Engine Optimization in relation to Social Networking, please listen to the Podcast: “LinkedIn: Social Networking for Life and Business Coaches” – link: http://helpinghandsforcoaches.com/2008/03/07/16)

2. Submitting Articles: www.prnewswire.com , www.Gather.com and www.Zaadz.com are all websites that coaches should use to submit articles about their niche or target market. Remember to use keywords, but don’t over-do it, and have a link to your website. You may not receive clients directly from writing articles, but the links you add to these articles (which are rich in keywords that your prospects would search for) will never go away. The relation between popular websites with a lot of content, such as the above examples, and you is good – it’s like being at the ‘cool kids table’ in High School: importance by association.

3. Write Comments in Blogs: add your link at the bottom of your comment on blogs that relate to your niche or coaching. But, don’t SPAM blogs; otherwise your comments won’t be approved. Instead, read blogs that relate to your niche or target market that you genuinely find interesting – as well as the public. So, yes you are looking for blogs that are popular. For instance, if you coach entrepreneurs, then www.escapefromcubiclenation.com would be a great blog to read and post comments on. Where do you find blogs that relate to your industry? With over 112 million blogs, technorati.com is the largest directory of blogs in the world. Type-in keywords that your prospects would use to find you in Technorati’s “Search” function to view blogs that relate to you. To know their popularity, you simply find blogs that have high “Authority” ratings.

4. Submit your website to directories and search engines: www.dmoz.org (the largest human-edited open-directory project), www.alexa.com, as well as the larger ones like www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, www.msn.com, etc. For the major search engines, you can use a free service, like www.submitexpress.com/submit.html. The software the website uses will automatically upload your website address to all the major search engines for you – but for smaller directories and search engines, like www.dmoz.org, it’s best to go and search and submit yourself.

5. Be active in forums. They are the best source for fast search engine indexing and quality traffic. How do you find forums in your niche/target market: 2 ways. One: Google your target market + forum. Example: ‘Stay At Home Dads forum’. Second: ask your target market if they visit any forums. A good example for me is: www.coactivenetwork.com. This forum was not easily found on Google, but I when I asked some coaches where they went for advice online – this is where they sent me.

6. Submit to classifieds websites: www.craigslist.org , ezilon.com/ (the European version of “CraigsList”), www.oodle.com (another “CraigsList”), adlandpro.com all get millions of hits a day – and it could be for your services! You may be thinking, “No way will I get business from classified directories” – but you will be surprised! Just remember, don’t SPAM these sites either and post the same ad in lots of different categories or regions – pick one region, one category. Remember, these classifieds will cancel after about a month, so you can pick a different region/category the next month. I recommend that you put it in your calendar so that you’ll remember to update your listing monthly to continue the momentum!

7. Write reviews of books or movies in www.Amazon.com : I was surprised by this too, but I just read that some people have found great results in Search Engines by reviewing books (that they read, remember) that related to their target market. There are a lot of books on Amazon – so I’m sure you could find a good handful to read and review that relates to your niche.

8. Domain Name: this is pretty widely known- but it’s worth repeating. You can have several (don’t go over-board) domain names that describe through keywords what your website is about. For instance, if you were an ADD coach for entrepreneurs, a website address that redirects to your website might be www.ADD-help-entrepreneurs.com. The combination of having domain names with keywords, and having a keyword-rich website, is looked upon favorably by the major search engines.

9. Content is King: adding content to your blog, rich in keywords, is wonderful for SEO. But, don’t write so much that it takes ages to read – remember the keys to writing good web content is: bullet points, sprinkled with testimonials, and a dash of questions your visitor are asking themselves. (for more information about blogs and blogging, visit the article from April: www.icforangecounty.org/internet-marketing-0408.shtml)

Before you implement some of the ideas above, you need to know what keywords you should be promoting. To do this,

1. First, go with your gut. What do you think prospects will be searching for to find your kind of services?
2. Write down about 15 keywords, and then research those keywords at www.submitexpress.com/keytracker.php This software will let you know how popular the keywords are, and add some suggestions as well.
3. Select about 20 keywords, and write them on a sticky-note by your computer. Refer back to it when you’re implementing one of the tactics above. You don’t have to use all 20 keywords each time – select ones that relate to each other and use them together.

t really all boils down to being active on the Internet. If you’re active then search engines will notice that, especially if you’re giving quality content and not just advertisements. Remember, the Internet was born from the idea that it would be a large free resource of information, and Search Engines function on that idea – that quality, free content is the winner. So, be sure to provide that, and not just Spamming everyone with your advertisements.

If you want to partake in *FREE* Internet Marketing Webinars for Coaches, please visit the website www.HelpingHandsforCoaches.com

Rachel is a web designer and internet marketing specialist working with life, business and corporate coaches on creating online possibilities. For more information about developing custom websites, blogs, eNewsletters, podcasts and online video go to her website: www.IndraMarketing.com. She also teaches free Internet Marketing teleclasses, which you can register for at www.HelpingHandsforCoaches.com.