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Ask Crissy: What is SEO? Do I need it? How do I do it?
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I recently had a reader ask me what SEO. They also wanted to know if they needed it, and how they were supposed to go about getting it.
SEO stands for Search engine optimization and it is definitely something that every online business owner needs to be familiar with.
It sounds big and scary - but once you get the feel for it, it’s pretty simple to understand the basics…
For today’s purposes, we’re just going to cover the basics. If you’re ready to get more technical than that, you probably aren’t reading this post anyway, because you would have been able to answer the title question yourself : )
SEO is defined by Wikipedia as “the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.” So, what does that mean you might be asking. Here’s how it works.
When someone sits down to their computer and wants to find information on a particular subject they go to a search engine and type in a few words that describes what they are looking for. These words are called keywords.
The sites or pages that appear in the search results are ranked in order of importance according to the search engine they used. How a site owner has optimized their site, or specific pages (among other things, a few of which include the content on the site and the number of other sites linking to that site) for those keywords determines where their site ranks on the list that appears to the person doing the search.
As you know, if you’ve ever done an online search, most people will choose one of the first few sites on the list to find the information they are looking for. So, ultimately you want your site to be listed as one of the top sites that appears for a particular keyword phrase.
You will need to not only determine what keywords fit best with your site, but also what keywords people are using to find the information you are providing. Of course, as stated earlier this is just the basics of SEO. There are more things that play a factor in optimizing your site for search engines and each search engine has their own way of determining a sites page rank, but once you understand why it’s important the rest will be much easier to put into place and comprehend.
Just as a word of caution, search engines should not be your only source of traffic as an online business owner. The ways that the search engines use to determine your page rank are constantly being changed and improved upon. You will need to determine what changes make a difference in your sites rank, but at the same time you can’t possibly expect to be 100 percent perfect for every search engine all the time. It’s just not possible, besides you have more important things, like marketing your business, to tend to that will make your business flourish.
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Looking to make some extra money at home? If you’re good at finding information online, you could start your own internet research biz and make money googling : ) Check out this resource for more info:
Internet Research Business Guide
A little audio packs a BIG punch
Adding some audio to your site - whether it’s in the form of a regular podcast or a simple welcome message can really pack a punch. A little bit of of audio gives your reader a whole new way to take in your content.
Different people have different likes and dislikes. Some people can sit for hours and read the content on your site; other people are really busy and prefer to download content and listen to it while driving or working out.
Having both written and audio content will help you attract a bigger audience - and it can also help you increase your sales.
I recently wrote an article on this very topic - click here to read more about this topic.
Website Hosts
Recently, one of my readers asked me the following: “I was wondering if you have any recommendations on website hosts. Who hosts your website?”
Lucky for us, there are lots of website hosts out there to choose from. However, that means that there are so many to choose from, finding one that best suits your needs can seem a bit daunting. Here is a quick run down:
GoDaddy.com is a great place to buy domains (that’s where I buy mine). They also offer hosting, at around $4 per month, and that is where I started back with my first site in 2006.
However I have since moved on to a web host that offers cPanel hosting. This makes it very easy to install WordPress blogs, forums, and other things. I personally use Host Gator
as I pay under $10 per month and can host as many sites as I want to (and I have a few).
If you like the idea of cPanel hosting, another very affordable option is Mom Webs. For a single site, plans start out at only $15 per quarter! They also have plans for hosting multiple sites. In fact, I would be using them, except I had learned about them after I purchased my current plan and have been too busy to switch. I really should put that on my to do list! : )
great info on using technology for networking & marketing
I found this post on The Woman’s Dish blog that is full of great info on using technology to help w/ your marketing and networking efforts. Generally speaking, if you are an “online” kind of person, you are probably kind of shy and if you are an “indie” person, you are probably not to amped up on the idea of joining a stuffy old networking group. Well, thanks to the internet, ya don’t have to! Read the post to learn more