Strategies for Optimizing Your Website and Achieving Number One Rankings
Be careful when you hear that search engine optimization is totally free. The truth is that organic results themselves don't cost much of anything but the effort required to achieve those results are expensive. Whether you are paying someone to optimize your website or build inbound links, achieving top rankings for your website require time and money.
Before undergoing any changes to a website, you must determine what keywords people are using to search for your programs. You want keyword terms that are frequently used but have little or no competition from other websites. This improves the chances of increasing web page ranking significantly. Marketing professionals can research possible keywords by talking to current students and using free online tools such as Adwords Tool which provides estimates of search volume and advertising competitiveness.
After choosing a keyword or set of keywords you'd like to optimize for, it's time to do a little research. Do a Google search for the keywords you are considering and evaluate the websites in the first three positions of search results. Take a look at each website and determine their Google PR, web site age, number of inbound links and other ranking factors. After doing a bit of research you'll have a good determination as to whether or not you can out rank them based on your SEO efforts.
Another good way to learn about your competition is with the help of Alexa. Alexa is a website about other websites. Essentially, you can learn a lot about those websites you're trying to outrank by collecting data related to web site age and the number of site's linking in. I only compete with websites that have a low number of competing pages and in bound links. As a result of doing my research and finding the keywords that match this criteria, I almost always achieve number one rankings.
Upon deciding which keyword phrase is ideal for your search engine optimization campaign, the next step is to design your site in a way that is both easy to read and highly accessible by all search engines. Consider breaking up your search engine optimization campaign into on page optimization factors and off page optimization factors. By addressing both, you can quickly influence rankings in a positive way. Consider starting with site design that integrates SEO best practices including meta tags, headers, and typeface. Once complete, turn your attention towards building links to your web site.
Without a doubt the most important factor in Google rankings is a combination of Google page rank and the number of web sites that are linking to your own website. Referred to as inbound links, Google evaluates their authority and rewards your site with higher listings on search results. You are always better off receiving links from sites that are established and popular than new sites that have neither a strong web presence or inbound links. When link building be certain that link text includes your keywords.
Succeeding with search engine rankings is easy if you take the time to optimize your site and focus on building in bound links. The result is a site more valued by search engines, improving rankings for keywords and keyword phrases. Stay the course and build links over time. This ensures that you rank higher than your competition over the long term.