Here are some simple rules that you can follow as far as trying to rank for your keywords.
When I optimize a site, I base all of my SEO packages or Custom quotes off of the competitive nature of a keyword.
If a keyword is competitive then I know the campaign has to be on a long term basis. If the keyword is low in competition, then I know that basic work will need to be done and not so much on a long term basis.
So here's somethings that you can jot down in your BIG THICK BOOK OF SEO ADVICE.
If your keywords are low in competition i.e. usually three to five words in a phrase.
Here's some things you can expect to do (of course there are other things but these are just quick tips):
Make sure your keyword is in your meta title and meta description.
Put your keyword in a Header tag.
Make sure it's in your on page content i.e. descriptions.
If your keywords are medium in competition i.e. Between 700K to 900K in competition for example purposes.
- Follow all the steps above
- Start link building with your keywords i.e. add your site to directories, other related websites, blogs.
No Sir-E
Not only do you have to follow the steps above, it will be a must to make sure, without a doubt that you are link building with your COMPETITIVE keywords.
Many think that by optimizing your onpage content or website pages that you should be on the first page of Google with no problem. WRONG!
What you will find is that your endless hours of searching for your ranking, will be wasted because 9 times out of 10 not only will you not be in the top pages, you will not be in the top 100 pages for a very long time.
Well unless the internet Gods are watching over you.
Here's what you want to do if your in a competitive niche or market and you want to eventually rank for one of your "competitive" keywords.
LINK BUILD, LINK BUILD, LINK BUILD
I know, you're tired of hearing those words, and I get tired of it too sometimes but the truth is, it's effective.
- Link Build using your keywords in your link i.e
YOUR KEYWORD HERE
YOUR DESCRIPTION HERE
Your URL HERE
YOUR DESCRIPTION HERE
Your URL HERE
The section that states your KEYWORD HERE is going to be the part of your link that is clickable.
You always want to make sure your keyword(s) are in the clickable area of your link.
- Make sure to change up your Keywords and Descriptions. Natural link building is important. It's not so natural for each and every site to have the same exact linking information to your site. So switch it up here and there.
- Submit your site to directories. YES, this still works. There are still some great directories out here that are being listed in backlinks everywhere.
- Create great articles and submit them to articles directories like Ezine.com or GoArticles.com. These are also great ways to create backlinks with using your keywords.
- Contact blog owners and see if you can get listed in their blogrolls. Blogrolls are an excellent way to help with backlinks and ranking.
- Do a quick search for the keyword phrase you want to rank for. Take note of who is already listed on the first page for that phrase. Contact them and try to get listed on their site. Their current ranking can help you out as well.
- Check and see which pages you are currently listed on the first page of the search engines for and add your keyword phrase on that page that you are ranking for. Simply place your keyword phrase on that page somewhere in the content. Link that keyword phrase to your page that you want to rank for and repeat with other pages that may be indexed on the first page.
- Last but not least. Try getting your website on high quality websites. Site with high page rank may be a bit harder to get a link from but it doesn't hurt to try!
There are tons of ways to get links to your site, by link baiting (creating a fuss to get people to link to your site, whatever a fuss means to you, go for it), one way links to your site are the best, create blog post and link back to your site from your blog, and don't forget the internal links on your site. It helps to link from your own website pages to others. A great place to do this is from your home page, but don't go overboard. Linking to a few deep inner pages can help that page get indexed and may help with ranking as well.
DISCLAIMER: Keep in mind the word "competitive" exist for a reason. Ranking will be harder to achieve and requires patience and determination because this is not something that is going to happen overnight, expect to wait at least 6 months to a Year before you start to see some real ranking results in the search engine result pages.
SO BE VERY PATIENT, IT COULD DEFINITELY PAY OFF IN THE END
Not a patient person? Consider Adwords for quick traffic for your keywords, while your waiting on your SEO work to take effect. The two tactics can compliment each other very well.
If you choose not to do any link building. You'll have to wait until the age of your site becomes a ranking factor for you. Sorry to sound harsh, but GOOD LUCK WITH THAT : )
Hope I didn't make your head spin to much with all of this wonderful and exciting keyword ranking and link building!
Just take it one page at a time and you will be okay!
Got a question or just confused. Leave me a comment and I'll try to ease the confusion.
