Organic Search Engine Optimization- It’s Good for You!
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Sat, Oct 09, 2010
I kind of like the word “organic” in reference to search engine optimization. When I think organic, I think the opposite of artificial—you know, as in “no artificial ingredients”, “all natural”, healthy and good for you.
Yes, in general organic is good. But what is organic search engine optimization? I guess you could say it’s SEO without the artificial ingredients. Better for you in the long run. Organic SEO is, simply put, the effort you put into getting found naturally. It’s the difference between forcing yourself on people through interruptive methods or paid promotion and letting them come to you because you’re so awesome.
Ranking within organic search engine results cannot be bought. It’s the result of many non-biased factors over a period of time. It’s dependent on the overall popularity of your website with Internet users. So, if you want to rank organically i.e., not have to pay to rank, you have to use organic search engine optimization techniques to get your site noticed. As many of you already know, this takes more effort than writing that proverbial check.
Organic search engine optimization tips read like a how-to manual for anyone trying to improve their web presence. Remember, buying your way onto the first page sounds like a good idea until you realize that you don’t have anything of value to keep visitors on your site and purchase from you. People get bored very quickly with bad sites, won’t patronize them and you’ve paid for that click without getting anything in return. Try this instead:
1. Plan a content strategy- Take a good look at what your company does and what your objectives are. What’s the heart and soul of your business? What search terms (keywords) do you want people to use to find you? Who are trying to reach i.e. who is your target market?
Organic search only works when you focus your efforts on the correct keywords. Make a list that contains both words and long tail keyphrases. Use Google AdWords to determine how competitive each term is and mix that up, as well.
2. Talk to an SEO content provider- Whether it’s a professional SEO copywriter or an SEO firm, these people know how to write content for your site and other content vehicles that will maximize your organic search engine optimization efforts. A good content provider can help ensure that your site is the one that people find naturally, when they type in your search terms.
Set up a relationship with your content provider(s) whereby they create fresh, new content for you on an ongoing basis. Perfect vehicles for this would be a company blog, articles submitted to directories on a schedule, posts to social media, etc,
3. Distribute your content – Speaking of social media, this is just one of many great ways to get your content distributed throughout the web. Why is this so important to organic search engine optimization? The more places your content (and therefore, your company) is seen, the more clickthroughs to your site, the more visibility with interested parties who can pass it on, and more people will be linking to you, so…
4. Develop backlinks – When other credible sites link to you, it really boosts your organic search results. So encourage it by linking to them, commenting on their blogs, guest posting for them, etc. This is the popularity we mentioned earlier. You want to be popular, don’t you?
5. Stay involved – Your organic search engine optimization strategy will only keep you on top if you follow up and stay involved with the process. Analyze your results (or have someone do it for you). Step in and create content yourself every once in a while. Are you the company president, founder or other VIP within the organization? Your customers want to hear from you! Your wisdom means something to people looking for information, so be free with it. It will help your rankings.
Organic search engine optimization is healthy for your company in
much the same way that a good diet and exercise are good for you. Both are good habits to get into and will yield fantastic results if you just change your mindset from the easy path to the one that takes more effort but is worth it in the end. It’s like putting down that donut and getting on the treadmill. Go on, put it down. Slowly. Good.