This document provides a beginner's guide to search engine optimization (SEO). It explains that SEO involves improving a website's ranking in search engines through on-page techniques like optimizing content with relevant keywords and off-page techniques like getting backlinks. The document recommends determining target keywords based on what customers search for, using keywords naturally in pages a few times, and providing helpful content to educate customers and establish authority. It also suggests hiring an SEO consultant for fast results since SEO requires expertise and ongoing work.

1. Beginners guide to SEO
by thepaulturner | on May 13, 2013
The original article can be found at :-
http://www.empowernetwork.com/thepaulturner/blog/beginners-guide-to-seo/
Congratulations! You’ve made the decision to take your business online.
You’ve built your website and you’re ready to
start taking orders, but where are all the customers you thought would be knocking on your virtual
door? Perhaps they have gotten lost? Or is it that they would be on their way to you….if only
they knew you existed!
If you are not clued up on Search Engine Optimization, then unfortunately it’s going to be the
latter. They simply can’t find you.
The beginners guide to SEO
Search Engine Optimization, (SEO for short), is the process of improving the ranking of your
website on the major search engines. The higher a website’s ranking, the nearer it will be to the
top of the search result listings.
Each search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo! etc) has its own ranking algorithms. These are
complex rules that determine how to rank your website for a search query. The search engines
never make these algorithms public and are regularly change how they work, so SEO can take a
little guesswork.
When someone types an enquiry in the search box of any search engine, it is the job of that search
engine to provide the most relevant websites for whatever query the searcher has asked.
Let’s say, for example, you search for a big brand such as “Amazon”. As you would
expect,www.amazon.com will pop up at the top of the list. This website takes the number one slot

2. in the search results because they have their SEO in place, as well as the fact that search engines
often rank big brands higher automatically. Plus, Amazon have probably paid more to be there.
But what happens when you use the search term “books”? This is a much more generic term and
can throw up thousands, if not millions, of results. How do Google and the other search engines
determine who should be top of the pile?
Well, apart from the sponsored links from advertizers who have paid to have their ads
displayed, (these are normally featured at the very top of the page), Google finds the most
relevant website based on the SEO work that has been carried out.
Not only does it mean that the keyword “books” has been used well within the site, but that the
website is known, trusted and has lots of links from other websites pointing back to it. SEO can be
quite a complex business, but when carried out well it can give you great results.
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One of the most important considerations in SEO is your website content. It needs to be well
written and needs to target relevant keywords in a natural way.
But a word of caution: If you litter your website with too many keywords Google will penalize
you by moving you down in the rankings. Never try to cheat the search engines. They are very
clever and can tell the difference between keyword stuffing and well-written content.
For example, let’s say you have a website that is all about cheese. Naturally, when people search
for the word ‘cheese’, you want your site to come out top in the search engine results. You might
be tempted to write an article which mentions the word cheese many times, in order to get your
site ranked highly by the search engines and so appear at the top of the search results. It could
even read something like this:
“If you are looking for information on cheese recipes, read this article which is written on the
topic cheese recipes. This cheese recipe article is an excellent cheese recipe article. This cheese
recipe article will help you make good cheese dishes. This cheese recipe is an easy way to make
dishes using cheese. In this cheese recipe article, you can find lot of information on making cheese
dishes. This cheese recipe article talks about which are the best cheeses to use, where to buy good
quality cheese, how to make good cheese dishes etc. Read this cheese recipe article to learn more
about making cheese dishes.”

3. It doesn’t make good reading and it certainly doesn’t show a
natural use of the word cheese, and overusing the keyword ‘cheese’ in this manner will guarantee
that Google and the other search engines will penalize your site by dropping it down the rankings.
So how do you go about optimizing your site for the best search results? First of all, you need to
determine what key words or phrases your potential customers are most likely to type in when
searching for your particular product or service.
In the previous article we used the example of a florist in Florida.
The keyword would not be ‘florist’. It is just too generic. There are thousands of florists out there,
far too many for your customers to be able to find you. Most likely, they will be searching using
the phrase “florist in Florida” or something similar in the search engines. So give some thought to
what terms your customers might use to find YOU, (normally your product or server + your town
or city).
Come up with the two or three most obvious keywords for your business, then use these within
your website content. The basic rule would be to have your main keyword near the top of your
web page or in the first paragraph of content and then use it a couple of times more throughout.
Add your secondary keywords in the body of your web page content. Search engines will then be
able to read these keywords on your website and send you potential customers who are looking for
these phrases. Just remember NOT to overdo it. Use them in natural manner and they will work
effortlessly for you.
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It is so important to provide valuable and informative content for your visitors, as today, more
than ever, Google rewards websites which provide good, helpful content related to whatever line
of business you are in. But Google wants to be sure your site is respected and an authority on the
subject you deal with before it sends anybody your way.

4. So if we use our florist example again, you could provide an article or two about flower arranging
or how to choose the best flowers for Mothers Day. You could go a step further and create a video
showing how best to display flowers, both in a vase and as a flower arrangement , or show how to
prolong the life of floral displays to get the most from them. The idea is to create information that
is going to interest your target audience.
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The quickest and best way to get more exposure for your business and turn that trickle of web
visitors into a flood of sales is to hire a specialist SEO company. SEO is a steep learning curve
which really can take a lot of time and effort, time that will take you away from the running of
your business.
An SEO consultant http://morebusinessfromtheweb.com/, on the other hand, can carry out all
the hard work, monitor your site and ensure you are getting the best exposure.
Now go and watch our video –
http://www.empowernetwork.com/thepaulturner/blog/how-to-rank-in-google-in-
2013/?id=thepaulturner – its part of our beginners guide to SEO