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SEO Techniques in On-page and Off-Page Optimization - Part II

Before we start talking about SEO techniques, you need to know what on-page and off-Page optimization is all about.

This article is the second part of the series - What is SEO and Why Your Business Needs it

On-Page Optimization
Since approximately 25% of visits are based on the content of the site, on-page optimization helps you to create relevant content that will attract the search engine spiders and human visitors alike. It will also help you to modify keyword frequency in your website URL, Title, Hypertext Links, Headings, and the body of the text. Though many of these SEO tactics can be incorporated into the website at the onset, they are often left to be taken care of at a later stage. Much of it also depends on each individual webmaster, their level of SEO expertise, monetary constraints and the way they want to proceed with their SEO strategies.

Here’s a checklist for your on-page optimization:

  • It’s important to have proper heading tags at the top of each page, descriptive page titles and rich content on each page, especially your website’s home page.
  • Structural optimization is crucial for the site to be search engine friendly. So, you should make sure that all links work, the web pages are interlinked, limited use of images is made and ALT tags are added to them, the website navigation is search engine spider friendly and SPAM triggers are addressed properly.
  • It’s important to have a Sitemap uploaded to Google and Yahoo, which serves to tell search engine crawlers what pages to take notice of and which ones to update based on the changes made in them.

If all these sound like too much to handle, you can hire a credible SEO firm that will evaluate and refine many of the on-page items on an ongoing basis for the best possible opportunity for your site to be found by search engine spiders and human users.

Off-Page Optimization
Off-page optimization helps your site to get high ranking inbound links. Over 75% of your traffic is based on inbound links. Businesses need inbound links or these mini online “advertisements” to lead people to their site. This is somewhat equivalent to all those print ads that you used to place back in the 80s and 90s to get people to call you or take note of your business.

Here are some effective ways to create inbound links for your website:

  • Listing your business on local directories (Google, Apple Maps, etc),
  • Promoting your business on social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc)
  • Promoting your blog through article marketing - This ensures your website carries an extensive web presence on the Internet. Furthermore, it will bring extra opportunities for prospects to find your company by adding greater visibility for your business on the World Wide Web.

Think of all these inbound links you just created as hundreds of possibilities for people to find you on the web. However, it will be time consuming to create these accounts and then on top of that, to keep them going. Having high ranking (well traveled) inbound links to your site gives your greater visibility and lets search engines know your site is worth being listed. The majority of businesses don’t have the time to do what is required to make a difference, which is why they hire someone for their SEO needs. You too can do the same if you don’t want to be left behind in the SEO race.

Finally, here are some SEO techniques that you can use to get a better search engine ranking:

  • Directory Submissions: Submitting your site URL to the relevant categories of popular directories can help you to get valuable back links.
  • Article Submission: An easy way to get link juice via back links is to submit unique articles to various popular article submission sites.
  • Forum: Set up your account on some popular forums, build your credibility there and soon you will be allowed to add your site URL in your signature, which will act as a backlink and help to lure your avid followers to your site.
  • Blogging: Whether you have a blog of your own or want to write as a contributing blogger for some popular blogging sites, this can prove to be an effective way of making people take notice of what you have to offer. RSS Feed generation and submission also help to keep your avid readers interested in your updates and news even when they don’t have the time to actually visit the site.
  • Social Bookmarking and Q and A Postings: You can also further your SEO interests by posting question and answers on How To websites and via social bookmarking.
  • Social Networking: Networking on various social platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, which webmasters are using with a zeal. You too can join the bandwagon after some careful planning.

A careful analysis of your competitors’ inbound links can help you to find ways where you can usurp them to emerge as the leader. You can also give your business some leverage via online PRs. However, all these will need careful planning and strategizing. What’s more, you will have to come back to review your progress from time to time and fine tune your strategies to make them attuned to the changing times and demands of your clients. May people find these to be a daunting task. If you too belong to this league, don’t fret - you can hire a professional SEO consultant who will do the hard work on your behalf.