SEO 101 for Startups
What is SEO?
SEO is an acronym for search engine optimization. In short, SEO
refers to a variety of techniques used to position a website on the
first page of search results. When an individual searches online
for a specific item, topic, answer or solution to a problem, the
search engine brings up links to websites offering the best matches
for those search terms. Search engine optimization is the process
of optimizing language on your site so that it displays prominently
in the list.
On-Page SEO
Here are 5 On-Page SEO tips:
2. Add internal links, that link pages of your website to other internal pages
3. Enhance your page loading speed
4. Create quality content of a good length (not too long)
5. Improve your URL structure- make your URLs logical, and related to a page's title
Off-page SEO efforts also aim to increase visibility in the search engines, but from a different perspective. Keywords still play a role in off page SEO, but rather than function inside the page's content, they work as anchor text. Anchor text is the text that you choose to highlight when you add a URL into a sentence. Using keywords in the text that links to your page- for instance, linking the word entrepreneurship to www.wamda.com, will increase the search engine connection between that URL and that keyword. In this process, the general search engine ranking of the sites that include your URL is actually more important than the keyboard. In other words, getting a highly authoritative website to link to your site is more valuable than a link from less authoritative website.
Concerning link building, it is an ongoing SEO project. Links lose
their significance over time, going stale like day old bread,
especially as new web pages appear and gain ranking in the search
engines. Therefore link building should be continual like any other
form of marketing. Just as start ups should plan marketing
strategies and campaigns, savvy start ups develop a plan to
actively seek out inbound links for their website using multiple
strategies like:
Infographics:
infographics have turned out to be one of the Top 10 website to-dos
in 2010. Using an infographic will help create a successful piece
of linkbait, like the one we did on the
Facebook Demographics in the Middle East, which was featured on
multiple
middle eastern and
asian blogs.
Videos:
Using Videos can also play a big role in promoting your links.
Using
Video Sitemaps on your website will help enhance your search
results in Google Search results as it show below:
Or, if you produce videos and use Wistia for video hosting, Wistia Player will let visitors embed the video on their blogs or sites. This can be another great way of getting links.
With a little creativity and hard work, any startup can succeed at SEO, especially in the Middle East, without having to spend a big chunk of your investment. In this rapid evolving digital age you cannot afford to not have an SEO strategy!
