There is no use having a shop with no one in it! So how do you get people to visit your website?

The easiest way to find what you need on the internet today is to use a search engine such as Google. It follows, therefore, that the easiest way to get someone to your website is for your site to appear in Google, and most importantly, on the first page of the listings. Over 95% of people never visit the second page on Google!

It is easy but time consuming to promote your site in such a way as to move it up the Search Engine Returns (SERs) so that it eventually appears on the front page. There are two processes that have to be carried out.

The first is On Site Optimization and the second is Off Site Optimization which we will deal with in another article.

On Site Optimization.

1    Isolate a 'keyword' or 'keyword phrase' that accurately describes a page of your website. For example 'Leica Digital Cameras' might describe a page on your site about this specific type of Leica product. Try not to use just one word as they are difficult to be successful with.

2    Write about 400 words of visible text on the page. Make sure that you use the exact keyword phrase about four to six times in the body of the text.

3    Start the Article with an overall title exactly matching the Keyword Phrase and make it the largest heading size you can, i.e. H1.

4    If possible make the first line of the first paragraph begin with the phrase, but don't destroy the sentence syntax.

5    Change the next occurrence of the phrase to bold emphasis.

6    Change the last occurrence of the phrase to italics.

7    If you have access to the html code (you'll know if you do!) make sure of the following:

8    If you use images on your page. Make sure their tags also have the phrase in them.

The total of all these changes explains to the search engines that this page is all about your keyword phrase. But don't just fill the page with keywords; the search engines are wise to such tricks. Use well constructed sentences that you would expect to read yourself.

The next article will explain how to show the search engines how important your page is and therefore why they should list you more highly in the SERs.