When the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) phrase became mainstream, I remember thinking, “Man, this must be complicated!”  Then it was complicated even more being paired with the word “organic.”  I thought only food was organic?!

Organic SEO simply means what you can do manually to improve the search engine optimization of your websites.  Non-Organic SEO includes paid services such as Pay-Per-Click or AdWords to improve your website search rankings (which can get expensive).

Unlike organic food and pay-per-click, organic SEO is cheap and relatively easy if you follow basic principles.  These principles can be easily spelled out with a bit of knowledge.  Below is a summary of the basic principles and best practices for the Organic Search Engine Optimization of your website, specifically with Google (because, let’s face it, they are the Goliath!)

* As of July 2009 Google owned about 65% of all internet searches, Yahoo (17%) and Bing (9%) followed-up.

S-uitable Keywords

Keywords (aka “Meta keywords”) used to be the bread and butter of a website and how it was indexed and found through search engines.  Keywords define your business/website, your specialties, your location, what you want to be known for, or what you expect someone to type in the Google box to find you.  Meta keywords are the keywords put on the back-end of your website.

Unfortunately, keywords are going the way of the do-do.  A recent article stated Google doesn’t pay much attention to meta keywords, mainly because spammers have taken advantage of this function.  Instead, Google looks more at what content is on your page and how often it changes.  The solution is to still define your keywords, but the key is to ensure they are included in the text on your webpages.

Now, this doesn’t mean you should forget about good keywords in your meta tags.  Other search engines do pay attention to these valuable keywords.  When making your keyword selection be sure to choose no more than a dozen or so that focus on the core values/services of your website and include them in your website code.

Example of Keyword Usage:

You are a mobile dog groomer in Memphis, TN who specializes in poodle trims.  Your business name is Pretty Pooches (fictitious company).  Your meta keywords should be something like “pretty pooches, pretty pooch, dog groomer, mobile grooming, memphis, tennessee groomer, memphis groomer, poodles, pet trims, pet care, dog bath.”   Now, the content on your pages should center around these keywords.  Blog about your poodle hair styles, add pictures with descriptions of your best dog grooms, put constant updates as to your locations within the city and where you are going next.

Note:  Having a proper descriptive tag on the back-end CAN help a small amount with your SEO through Google and other engines.  You can also include a couple of your main keywords within the description.  Here is an article on how to write a good descriptive tag.

E-xceptional Content

The most basic need of any website is relevant and exceptional content.  Your website is made of it and it is what people keep coming back for.  Your content should include your set keywords and should be constantly updated and refreshed for best organic SEO results.  Your goal is to have a steady stream of good content.

On the other side of good content, is bad content.  There are a number of things you should avoid with your content to get the best out of your organic SEO.

Ways to avoid bad content:

• Use text rather than flashy graphics. You know your big company logo at the top of your website?  Search engines don’t read the text.  Instead have the text outside of the image with a prominent header tag or include the actual text somewhere else prominent on the page.

• Just like with bleach, more is not better! Having descriptions of your product or service is always good, but some companies can go on and on and on and on about themselves.  This is bad not only from a consumer standpoint (because of short attention spans), but also bad from an SEO standpoint.  Unless you need to be uber descriptive, limit the word count on each page to 250 words.

• Include live links within your text. One big way to improve your organic SEO is to include links within your text.  Well, unless the link is no longer valid (Dead links hurt your SEO).  Web links not only serve as an additional resources for the reader, but also hep with your page rank.  When adding links to your website, have them describe what your are linking to, rather than have a “click here” button.  You also want to do everything in your power to link to affiliate websites and have these affiliates link back to you.

O-ffer Flair

Yes, the movie Office Space made “flair” out to be a bad thing, but adding specific types of flair to your website is a good thing.  What I describe as “flair” are simple enhancements or additions to your existing content to help search engines pick up your keywords more easily.

Simple Ways to Add Flair:

• Bold your keywords that show up in your web content
• Enlarge your keywords that show up in your web content with header tags (i.e. <h3></h3>)
• Use bullet points with keywords

In conclusion, the SEO game doesn’t have to be a difficult or expensive one.  These are a number of companies who don’t use any form of paid search engine optimization.  Their websites offer so much useful content that they get plenty of visitors just on their organic SEO strategy alone.  I am a firm believer that with a little practice and using some of these tips, you or your business can cheaply and quickly increase your web visibility and cruise to #1 on Goliath’s, I mean, Google’s front page.

Please share any comments or suggestions of  your favorite Organic SEO practices.

Tags: memphis, organic seo, seo, seo marketing