At this point, most people know what SEO is. It’s the process of getting your website ranked higher in the search engines, so that you gain more traffic and exposure. However, most people still do not understand the ins and outs of how it really works, and what kinds of expectations they should have when getting started with SEO marketing.

Search marketing campaigns include many different components and pieces. The most successful ones combine several different strategies into one overarching campaign. However, despite the prevalence of multiple tactics and plans, what remains at the heart of SEO is still the correct usage and research of keywords.

In case there are is any lingering confusion about what a keyword is, it’s merely the search query that somebody types into a search engine in order to find what they are seeking. As the owner of a website, it’s your job to use the correct keywords and key phrases within your website in order to target your market as effectively as possible. It all begins with research, where you can find hidden gems and long-tail keywords, which are just keyword phrases with a minimum of three words. By using these longer, more targeted phrases, you will have a better chance of being ranked as highly as possible.

After discovering the keywords and key phrases themselves, it’s now time to actually use those phrases on your website and in your entire SEO campaign. After the proper inclusion of these phrases, you will experience an increase in traffic to your site. Not only that, but the visitors to your site will also be more targeted, providing you with better prospects and more future customers.

Keywords can be used in any number of different ways, starting from the beginning of the process when you may want to choose a domain name that includes some of your targeted keywords. From there, keywords can be used in individual page names, in the links that you have from one page on your site to the others and most prevalently, in the written content of the page itself.

Most people still most commonly associated keyword usage with the actual content that goes on the page. This is still true, however there is an important line that has to be made. The line is the difference between naturally included targeting keywords while providing useful, informative content and stuffing dozens of useless pages of content with superfluous keywords in hopes of finding more traffic. Clearly, the latter is a strategy doomed for success, both with your site visitors and with the search engines themselves.

All of the above steps of keyword inclusion were different pieces of onsite optimization. There is also another field of SEO marketing, offsite optimization, that is equally important to your success. Mainly, offsite SEO is about building up inbound links to your website, so that you can increase your site’s visibility, exposure and credibility. The right kinds of links can make all the difference between an average ranking and a fantastic one.

Before getting started with your own SEO marketing efforts, it’s important to at least have a baseline of understanding for what it is, what the steps are and how it’s done. From there, you can develop realistic expectations that will help guide your processes and your thoughts. Remember, SEO is an amazingly powerful tool to have for your website, but it doesn’t promise you instant, number 1 rankings. It’s a journey, and it entails hard work at every step.

David Wittlinger resides in Steamboat today, a small mountain town of Colorado. Owner and operator of Zirkel Exchange, David spends his days tirelessly staring at a computer in search of the latest marketing ideas!

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