Internet Tech Boston

At one time or another, almost all of my clients have asked me, “How do I improve my Search Engine Rankings?” When I explain that optimizing a web site for search results is actually a long process that starts with building the website properly, researching keyword traffic, optimizing content for both search engines and humans, and continually monitoring and reacting to website traffic data, they realize that it’s not a simple 10 step process and get discouraged.

Have heart – the dirty little secret of optimizing for Search Rankings is that there is no secret. Most of the tactics employed by consultants (including my list of eleven below) fall into 1 of 2 categories – adding content or acquiring inbound links.

Here are eleven free things you can do to improve search ranking, ranked in order of effort required on your part. Keep in mind, I said “free,” not necessarily “easy.” Some are time consuming. No pain, no gain.

1. Link to your website from your email signature. Use that signature all the time.
2. Submit your site into the Google Directory.
3. Submit your site into the DMOZ Directory.
4. Post free ads on Craigslist with links back to your site.
5. Create a del.icio.us tag library with content from your site.
6. Create a LinkedIn profile that links to your site
7. Issue press releases on PR.com
8. Get more high-quality links from other client, contractor, partner, vendor, regulatory, etc websites to your site.
9. Create a Blog and update it weekly with content that links to your site. Add content from your LinkedIn and del.icio.us accounts.
10. Create a Lens at Squidoo and link to your site. Add content from your del.icio.us, LinkedIn, and Blog accounts.
11. Syndicate, optimize, and publicize your Blog using features found at FeedBurner

Many organizations do not have the time or resources to undertake a successful Search Marketing campaign. Even the List of Eleven can seem out of reach. In that case, consider choosing the right Interactive Firm to guide you and to take some of the workload off your plate.