March 19th, 2010 by Mike

When it comes to search engine optimization, there are so many routes you can do down that it often seems difficult to know where to start. And, when you consider that a lot of advice is just plain wrong, you don’t want to be heading in the wrong direction. So, to help you succeed in your SEO campaign to reach the dizzy heights of the top spot, here are a few tips that should always be remembered.

- When choosing your domain, remember to use the most common top level domains (TLDs) which are .com, .net and .org. The only caveat to this is if your business is country-specific, but it still makes sense to purchase the other domains as well. This way you can prevent anyone else from using the same one in a different country, and a great idea is to get the .com domain but then, when people type it in, redirect it to .co.uk (or equivalent) instead.

- Measure your performance. This is the only way to ensure that your SEO campaign is working, as how else can you be sure that your efforts are paying off? Use tools such as Google Analytics to your advantage, as having a thorough picture of how your website is working and where your visitors come from will tell you what, if anything, needs to be tweaked.

- Use keywords and link building strategies to your advantage. Research the most popular keywords in relation to your business and build your site around them. A few unusual keywords would be a good choice as well – this means that you’ll have less competition so will be more likely to appear at the top of search results. Be careful not to stuff your content though – keyword stuffing in SEO link building can result in severe penalties and can even get your site banned from search engines, so make sure to do everything in moderation.

- Create a blog. This is one of the easiest ways to improve your search rankings, as you’ll be able to use numerous tricks to your advantage. Blog posts can be used for targeted keywords and optimised META tags, and the comments section can be a great way to add mis-spelt keywords if they’re part of your search engine optimisation campaign. There’s also the option to post your articles on other sites, creating link banks and increasing traffic.

- Try to focus on text rather than images across your site. Images don’t get picked up by search engines but text does, so make sure to have plenty of content and keep it regularly updated.

- Don’t use too much complex javascript in your pages, as too much of it is likely to confuse search engines so won’t be picked up as easily. The same applies to flash – try using other languages to base your content around and you’ll have much more success with search engines.

These are just a few tips that you should always remember if you want your SEO campaign to succeed, and if you bear them in mind you can look forward to improved traffic and a much higher ranking through effective search engine optimization services.

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