SEO Requires Onsite and Offsite Action

There are many different things required for proper SEO, or search engine optimization.  There are both onsite and offsite actions you will need to take.  Here is a look at some of these different actions.

For proper SEO one of the first things you will need to do is extensive keyword research.  You need to find keywords which are easier to rank for.  If you go after the wrong keywords and phrases you will have a harder time overcoming the competition.

As far as onsite actions go, you need to pay attention to your website's design.  Try to design your website for both human and search engine visitors.  Most importantly, your markup will need to be valid.  It can also help to have the content appear as soon as possible in the code.

You should also strongly consider creating a sitemap for your website.  This will provide search engine robots with a direct link to every single page on your website.  Creating a sitemap is a really good idea if you have a really big website.

As far as offsite actions go, you will probably spend most of your time taking actions to gain links back to your website.  Do not settle for getting just any type of link though.  Getting as many high-quality links as you can pay off.

Look for websites that have high PR pages in your niche.  Ask webmasters if they will be willing to place a link back to your website.  You may need to setup a links page of your own to create links to other websites too.

Article marketing is a great way to gain links back to your website.  If you do not want to write an original article, then you can take the content you already have on your website and use it as the starting point for articles. You should use the keywords and phrases you found during your keyword research as anchor links in the backlinks at the end of your articles.

You will want to see how your SEO efforts are paying off.  Therefore, you will need some sort of tracking program to see how many visitors you are getting and the keywords they are using to find your website.  Google Analytics is one of your best options, but your web hosting company may already have a tracking program installed on your website.

Proper SEO requires a lot of work.  There are things you will need to do both onsite and offsite.  Formulate a proper plan and stick to it.  You will see results soon enough.