Search Engine Submission + Optimization

You have created a website after weeks of hard work and are ready to show it to the world. Good idea, but how do you start? You need traffic, lots of traffic. How will you sell anything without having a steady stream of customers day in and day out?

When you are starting your website promotion campaign, you must start with the search engines. A top ranking position in the major search engines is a very effective way to generate a lot of traffic without spending any money.

Statistics show that anywhere from 20% to 80% of people find websites by doing a search in a major search engine. However, most people never look beyond the top 30 search results they receive! Therefore, the only way you will generate traffic from search engines is if you can achieve a top position.

Competition for top ranking in the search engines is unbelievably intense. Using free submission services is not going to do the job. You need to learn the correct techniques and apply them if you are going to succeed.

Search engines use different sets of ranking systems. However, there are some common-ground factors that are considered essential by the search engines.

KEYWORDS: The most crucial point in search engine optimization is selecting the right keywords. Do not select keywords with a high number of searches unless you already have a website that is well established within the search engines. Keywords with a high number of searches have a very large number of competing pages which makes it extremely difficult to achieve high ranks.

You should focus on selecting a small list of keywords (25) that have a realistic amount of searches and a small amount of competing pages. A good place to start is by using keyword research tools such as Wordtracker and Overture Keyword Assistant to find out what people are typing into search engines.

Once you have found those terms, the next step is to work out the level of competition and effort it will take to get a reasonable rank for each term. To determine the number of competing pages for a keyword phrase, enter that phrase into a search engine and look at the number of pages indexed. Select keyword phrases that have less than a million pages indexed in Google or Yahoo.

Please do not select keywords that have no searches related to them. You are wasting your time optimizing for them. There is no point in being ranked number one for a keyword when no one is searching for that term.

If you target the right keywords and properly optimize your website, you should be able to achieve very strong rankings in the search engines over a period of time. Remember, keyword optimization very simply means choosing the correct keywords for your website.

KEYWORD DENSITY: This refers to the number of times your keyword appears throughout your site. Your keyword density is a factor that is heavily weighted by search engines. Therefore, it's very important to make strategic use of your keywords.

If you optimize your site correctly with keywords, you will start receiving traffic. Scatter your keywords throughout your pages. Your content should read smoothly and not sound like you have deliberately shoved a bunch of keywords into your pages. Otherwise, the search engines will see it as keyword spamming and not list your site.

INCOMING LINKS: Attaining incoming links to your website has become a crucial factor in search engine optimization. Search engines see each incoming link as a recommendation from another site. The more relevant links you have, the more trustworthy and credible your website becomes by search engines, and the more targeted traffic you will generate.

This does not mean you can simply acquire a bunch of links from any site. Links need to be relevant in the sense that the website linking to you has some sort of affiliation with your theme, otherwise the links will not benefit you. For instance, if someone visits a favorite website and sees that they have posted a link to your website, they will be more inclined to click on your link to see what you offer.

Developing a linking strategy is not an overnight process and requires work. However, once you have done the initial work, the links that you establish will remain on the websites for years to come. This means you will receive a continuous flow of targeted traffic as long as your links are present.

About the Author:
Chris Chenoweth writes articles pertaining to health, nutrition, and online business. If you would like information on additional methods of effectively promoting your website, learn how to deliver an unstoppable flood of traffic and sales with BUTTERFLY MARKETING! http://www.ezniche.com/data/article.php?l=283
Added: 03 Oct 2006
Article Source: http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/38167.html