Recent Google updates have made it clearer than ever that there's good SEO and bad SEO. Small businesses can't afford to get swept up in the bad! The main things you need to know to do SEO right are actually pretty simple. Check out this presentation on the Basics of SEO for Small Businesses for the details. For more information on good marketing, check out http://austin-copywriter.com/blog.

2. 
1. Keyword Research
You want to make sure you’re ranking for terms people are actually
searching for and that are likely to bring conversions.

2. Site Optimization
Analyze site to ensure menus are intuitive, important pages are easy to
find and a clear call to action is present on every page. Use
keywords chosen in step #1 to optimize individual pages for higher
rankings.

3. Link Encouragement
This is the step where SEO really morphs intocontent marketing.
Develop a strategy for encouraging other sites to link to yours. The
best way to do this is with valuable, shareable content.

3. The terms people use in their searches aren’t always
intuitive, which is why this step is so important. Before
you put in the time for step #2 you want to know:
The relevant terms with the highest search volume
 The terms your analytics show convert the best
 How competitive different keywords are
 What keywords your competitors are optimizing for
 How you currently rank for relevant keywords
 How competitors currently rank for relevant keywords

*Extra Perk: What’s learned in keyword research for SEO is
useful in content strategy and PPC campaigns, and vice
versa.

4. B Get the Google
and Yahoo Rank
A. Find competitor keywords via
meta tags, page titles and
if/when they show up in
search research
B. Check first 10 Google pages,
first 5 on Yahoo to see where
each business ranks for each
keyword
C. Use Google Keyword tool to
find out how many searches
are performed for each
keyword
A. List Competitors
and their keywords
C. Capture Search
Volume

5.  To
finish Step #1:
Rule out the keywords with low search volume,
questionable relevancy, and those overly
competitive and focus on those the research
shows will get the best results.
 To
move to Step #2:
Choose which pages on the site you want to
optimize and pick a relevant keyword optimize
each for.

6. For the chosen keyword for each page, update
all of the following to include keyword as
much as possible without losing readability:
URL
Page Title
Meta Description
All Headings on page
On page copy
Image alt text

7. URL
Page Title
Page Title
Meta Description
URL
Headin
All images
can include
alt text

8. Search engines see something different when
they look at a site than people do. They
disregard images and any flash animation,
but they see the text and assign some parts
of it more importance than others (for
example: the title, headings, the url).
You want search engines to see your chosen
keyword as many times as possible when it
scans the page, while keeping each page
user-friendly.

9. Some firms call this “link
building,” but we believe the most
valuable links are more likely to
be gained through methods that
encourage others to share your
site’s content because it offers
value.

10. Think about what you can provide that would be
valuable to your customers and potential customers.
Possible formats:
 Blogging
 Videos
 White Papers
 Newsletters
 Webinars
To learn more, check out the Austin Copywriter video
series on the Basics of Content Marketing for Small
Businesses!

11. I hope that was helpful! If you have any questions, contact me
at kristen@austin-copywriter.com. I’m happy to help.
For more great content, check out
http://austin-copywriter.com/blog and sign up for regular
updates!