1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,500 Businesses are very dependent upon search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. 2 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:09,720 Each one has its own way of determining the value of your website. 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,380 This is what's known as their search algorithm. 4 00:00:13,380 --> 00:00:17,110 By considering specific variables and using a special blend of code, 5 00:00:17,110 --> 00:00:19,860 search engines will look at every page on your website 6 00:00:19,860 --> 00:00:23,830 to determine what they're about and how valuable they are. 7 00:00:23,830 --> 00:00:26,550 Then when people search for certain topics, 8 00:00:26,550 --> 00:00:29,730 the search engine will know which pages to return. 9 00:00:29,730 --> 00:00:32,750 These results are also known as organic search results 10 00:00:32,750 --> 00:00:34,810 as they're based on the search algorithm 11 00:00:34,810 --> 00:00:39,000 and not on paid advertising or other outside forces. 12 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,150 The order in which the results are shown 13 00:00:41,150 --> 00:00:44,990 depends upon how strong the search engine thinks your page is, 14 00:00:44,990 --> 00:00:46,990 and this is vital. 15 00:00:46,990 --> 00:00:49,350 Getting to the top of the search results page 16 00:00:49,350 --> 00:00:52,920 can be quite lucrative for businesses because research has shown 17 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:59,190 a huge percentage of users click on the top results and often don't scroll down to see more. 18 00:00:59,190 --> 00:01:01,480 When the search includes a brand name however, 19 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,220 the top results get clicked even more. 20 00:01:04,220 --> 00:01:08,620 Therefore, ensuring that your business website is seen favorably by search engines 21 00:01:08,620 --> 00:01:10,620 is a high priority. 22 00:01:10,620 --> 00:01:15,500 And it can also lead to heavy competition for certain terms. 23 00:01:15,500 --> 00:01:19,030 Search engine algorithms are essentially secret recipes. 24 00:01:19,030 --> 00:01:21,700 Nobody knows exactly what's included. 25 00:01:21,700 --> 00:01:26,380 Google claims its algorithm takes over 200 different variables into consideration 26 00:01:26,380 --> 00:01:30,890 when ranking results, and they tweak the algorithm all of the time. 27 00:01:30,890 --> 00:01:33,800 But what we do know about these algorithms is that in general 28 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,820 there are certain aspects they all take into account. 29 00:01:36,820 --> 00:01:39,160 The content on each page-- 30 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:45,110 more specifically the collection of words--is a very important element of a website's SEO. 31 00:01:45,110 --> 00:01:48,740 If your webpages include the important terms you want to be found for, 32 00:01:48,740 --> 00:01:53,310 your chances of being found and displayed near the top of search result pages 33 00:01:53,310 --> 00:01:55,310 are much better. 34 00:01:55,310 --> 00:01:59,170 This means writing great content about your company. 35 00:01:59,170 --> 00:02:01,950 Products. Services. Expertise. 36 00:02:01,950 --> 00:02:03,950 The people in your company. 37 00:02:03,950 --> 00:02:05,950 Your customers. Sharing testimonials. 38 00:02:05,950 --> 00:02:07,950 Reviews. Answering questions. 39 00:02:07,950 --> 00:02:09,950 Providing help. Contact information. 40 00:02:09,950 --> 00:02:13,450 And doing it all in a logical and natural way. 41 00:02:13,450 --> 00:02:16,410 Provide a variety of formats as well. 42 00:02:16,410 --> 00:02:19,320 Recently, search engines have started to feature video content 43 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,600 near the top of search engine result pages, 44 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,440 so don't miss this opportunity to get found. 45 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,990 Anticipate what your users need and what they want to know about. 46 00:02:28,990 --> 00:02:32,010 In other words, what will they search for? 47 00:02:32,010 --> 00:02:34,380 And build this into your site. 48 00:02:34,380 --> 00:02:39,360 Another important aspect of using these key words and providing all of this content 49 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,700 will be ensuring that you link to all of it. 50 00:02:42,700 --> 00:02:45,870 Using key words in the titles and headers of your pages 51 00:02:45,870 --> 00:02:48,540 and linking to and across all of the pages can 52 00:02:48,540 --> 00:02:50,840 show search engines what each one's about 53 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,360 and how they connect to each other. 54 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,380 Now when other websites link to you, 55 00:02:55,380 --> 00:02:58,510 it increases the value of your site even more-- 56 00:02:58,510 --> 00:03:01,670 just as a personal recommendation from a friend would. 57 00:03:01,670 --> 00:03:05,800 The more prominent the website the more valuable their link to you is, 58 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:10,070 so it's very helpful to get links from important websites in your industry. 59 00:03:10,070 --> 00:03:12,220 So, how can you make that happen? 60 00:03:12,220 --> 00:03:16,920 Writing a guest post or getting your product reviewed by a high-profile site 61 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:21,710 in your industry can lead to very valuable link-building opportunities-- 62 00:03:21,710 --> 00:03:27,290 not to mention coverage in social media--improving your SEO and find-ability. 63 00:03:27,290 --> 00:03:31,590 As with all things, it's important to maintain balance-- 64 00:03:31,590 --> 00:03:36,710 in this case between natural use and overuse of key words. 65 00:03:36,710 --> 00:03:41,620 Don't try to unnaturally overload your site with key words, links, 66 00:03:41,620 --> 00:03:44,410 or try to cover too much on 1 page. 67 00:03:44,410 --> 00:03:47,390 Some people create overly-redundant links. 68 00:03:47,390 --> 00:03:52,670 Some people even set up dummy websites simply to provide links back to their initial site-- 69 00:03:52,670 --> 00:03:56,320 all in an attempt to make their site look better than it really is. 70 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,300 Search engines can detect these practices 71 00:03:59,300 --> 00:04:02,810 using their algorithm, and they will penalize a site's value 72 00:04:02,810 --> 00:04:06,460 if they believe you're trying to unnaturally cheat the system. 73 00:04:06,460 --> 00:04:09,870 Simply focus on providing real-world value 74 00:04:09,870 --> 00:04:12,040 organizing your website in a logical way, 75 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,470 and put content in its proper place. 76 00:04:15,470 --> 00:04:19,070 Lastly, search engines love fresh content. 77 00:04:19,070 --> 00:04:22,790 They assume that websites that haven't been updated in a long time 78 00:04:22,790 --> 00:04:25,210 may be old or out of date. 79 00:04:25,210 --> 00:04:29,990 Many sites use blog platforms to publish new content on a regular basis. 80 00:04:29,990 --> 00:04:34,070 And because it's easy to manage and provides many built-in SEO benefits 81 00:04:34,070 --> 00:04:37,700 like using title key words in the URLs of each post 82 00:04:37,700 --> 00:04:42,140 and providing easy ways for users to share content. 83 00:04:42,140 --> 00:04:46,170 These are some of the core best practices you should consider 84 00:04:46,170 --> 00:04:49,240 if you want to improve the SEO on your site. 85 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,240 Now, one last thing. 86 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,720 Recognize that fresh, key-word rich content that provides lots of helpful information about 87 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,310 you and your company won't just impress search engines. 88 00:04:59,310 --> 00:05:01,430 It will also impress real people-- 89 00:05:01,430 --> 00:05:05,450 your potential customers with money to spend.