5 steps to gaining site traffic through search engines

The secret to coming up first in Google's search engine results pages is not as elusive as one may think. Not quite as simple as flipping "The Google Switch," but if you work hard, have dedication, and use creativity your site can climb the rankings. Because of what it takes to be perfectly positioned, the process is very much like a competition. Beating the competition (being no. 1 in search results) is an ego booster. It feels good to see your company riding high above your competitors, but when done correctly, your SEO efforts will drive potential customers to your site who are looking for what you have to offer.

Step 1:
Know your Google goals
The process of search engine optimization, or SEO, begins with examining your goals for the project. Map out in a document your benchmarks for success. You should have short term goals and long term goals. These goals determine how to proceed with your keyword research.

• Sell more high-heels through your online store and increase your revenue by 30%.
• Add 200 subscribers to your blog.
• Increase the length of visit by 2 minutes from visits coming from a local keyword.

You must have site analytics to truly measure whether or not you've been successful.

Google Analytics will give you concrete numbers that measure your site's visits, keyword referrals, search engine traffic, and much more. You must look at the before and after data to determine the success of your site's SEO changes.

Step 2:
Successful keywords perform a balancing act
Once you have articulated your goals, you can then examine the best keywords for your campaign's success. We use software to determine a keyword phrase's competition (how many pages Google has indexed for that phrase), how often the phrase is searched, and how relevant it is to a company's goals. Balancing these factors is key.

You can use Google's Traffc Estimator for free, but it doesn't provide all the information to make keyword phrase decisions.

Step 3:
Know your competition
Competitive intelligence is not only stealthy, but a great indicator as to what you need to improve. Examine the other sites standing in your way to high rankings. Look into their site structure, links, keyword phrases, domain age, and more to help determine which factors need improvement on your site.

Step 4:
Examine site structure and content
When a search engine produces search results it has not only examined the content on the page, but it also examines the site's code. It's important to know how to look under a site's hood and determine if the proper tags have been utilized.

Step 5:
Report, examine, and repeat.
After the necessary changes have been made, be sure to report on what has improved or changed in the search engine results (relative to your goals). Examine data from your site (or have us help with site analytics) to determine what changes need to be made in order to complete a successful Internet marketing campaign.

***Plexus does not guarantee to make your site number one in Google. We are just outlining the steps to success. Significant progress with significant ROI can be made with persistence, patience, and proficiency. Anyone that guarantees you the top spot for a Google search probably isn’t an ethical consultant. Be sure to do your research and ask questions in order to find the best SEO partner for you.