Fundamentals of SEO
In these tough economic times you might be tempted to do some things yourself. If you were thinking about doing SEO (Search Engine Optimization), here are a few fundamental things about doing SEO:
- Add your site to legitimate website directories (e.g. dir.yahoo.com, dmoz.org) on the Internet. There are lots of spam directories which will not provide you with any value. Search engines love links to your site and there are a lot of legitimate directories that will allow you to add your site to them. The rule of thumb to determine if a directory is legitimate or not is to check if there’s a rigorous editorial process involved. If there is then that directory is legitimate, otherwise if almost anyone can get in will be useless to you.
- Provide unique content on your site that people will find valuable (advice, tips related to your business, products or services).
- Do not use “tricks” you don’t understand. Lots of links from reputable sites (avoid shady sites) and great content will help you considerably.
- Give it time. After you added great content and lots of links from legitimate sites, it may take a few months for you to see results.
- The truth is adding all those links (especially if you have to follow editorial guidelines), making changes to the website, keeping up with proper techniques that change almost every several months takes a lot of time. If you’re not getting results you want after a few months or if you don’t have the time or knowhow to do it all, it may be time to hire a professional.
