Despite what you may hear, search engine optimization isn’t entirely free. In fact, some companies spend tens of thousands of dollars each year trying to get their websites ranked in the number one position organically. This is not only expensive, but can take loads of time. If you think SEO doesn’t cost a cent, than think again. However, if you have the time to spend, you sure can save a lot.

Before undergoing any changes to a website, you must determine what keywords people are using to search for your programs. You want keyword terms that are frequently used but have little or no competition from other websites. This improves the chances of increasing web page ranking significantly. Marketing professionals can research possible keywords by talking to current students and using free online tools such as Google’s Adwords External Tool which provides estimates of search volume and advertising competitiveness.

Before choosing a keyword phrase for search engine optimization purposes, size up your competition. Look at the number one ranked website and learn more about them. Consider the websites age, Google PR (Page Rank), and number of in-bound links. This can give you a good understanding of how solid a competitor that site is.

The next step is to do research using Alexa. This site provides additional details that can help you determine whether or not the keyword you’ve chosen can bring you success. While researching competitors sites, Alexa will provide additional details on site strength including age and sites linking in. If the number one ranked site has less than two million competing pages and few in bound links, then you have a good chance of outranking them.

At the point when you’ve decided which keyword phrase gives you the best chance for success, it’s time to start focusing on making your site easy to read and easily navigated by search engine spiders. Consider designing you site with particular attention to navigation, meta tags, headings, keyword density and other on page factors. Once you site is well designed, its time to focus on building links from high authority websites. This signals search engines that your site has important content that delivers value to browsers and therefore improves rankings.

The most heavily stressed factor for Google is the PR of those sites linking to your website. The best links are those from highly ranked pages, particularly in relation to your chosen. A hundred links from strong web pages are worth more than 1,000 weak ones. So concentrate you link building efforts on sites that are in your niche and have a high Google PR. Links should also use your keyword phrases as the link text instead of your URL.

As you focus on SEO your chances of improving rankings increases twofold. Search engine optimization is ideal for anyone who doesn’t want to spend a great deal of money on performance based advertising like Google Adwords. Instead of spending cash, spend time and energy on improving organic rankings. Pay attention to on page optimization criteria and start researching and contacting other sites for link building. This will enhance website value and improve rankings.

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