Implementing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices is critical to maximizing the potential of your business. We want to continue the conversation begun two weeks ago about SEO practices. In our previous blog post, we focused on the “Don’ts” of SEO. In this post, we want to point out the steps you can take to improve your SEO. The goal is to ensure your website remains listed on any search index and that – most importantly – buyers can easily find your images, video clips, and other digital content. We also call out a few other SEO practices designed to help you convert visitors to your site into customers.

1. Know your Keywords: If you want to see what keywords people are using in their search queries check out Wordtracker’s free keyword suggestion tool.  Once you see where the keywords you use rank, determine whether they’re paying off for you.  Keywords used in only one search query, may not be offering you the best return.  However, for as much as you’d like to use broad keywords that are queried more frequently, balance that approach with specific keywords that describe your image.  For example:  “Labrador dog yellow, show dog, local dog show 2009, champion first place Labrador winner, Champion Fido the First.”  Such a set of keywords covers the broad category of Labrador dog, details about the dog’s name, information on the show that you photographed, and indicates that this is an image of the first-place winner.
   
   
2. Keep Keywords in focus:  When you’re writing content for your Web pages, be sure that you are incorporating the keywords used in your title and in your metadata to keep your keyword strategy focused and on target.  You may want to refer to this article from SEOmoz.org about how many keywords to use.  Depending on your keywords and your target market, the number of keywords you use could range from one to 15.  This article also provides good examples of how to write your Title, Meta Descriptions, and Headers so that they incorporate the keywords, make sense to anyone searching, and resist the trap of keyword stuffing.
   
   
3. Create Unique Page Titles: For every page you create, add a unique page title that clearly and accurately describes the content on that page.  Construct the page title by taking two to three of the keywords that bring you good keyword results and that target your audience. For example:
   
               www.somerandomwebsite.com/labrador_best_in_show_2009_pictures
   
               vs. 
   
               www.somerandomwebsite.com/123ABC
   
   
4. Construct a Search Engine-friendly Site:  Use HTML and include a Sitemap.  Flash is a gorgeous and safe way for you to display your photos, but may make your pages all but invisible to major search engines.  So build your gorgeous and safe Flash site, but also create an alternative HTML version that you can link to from the Flash section. That way, the search engines can easily crawl and index it.  A LicenseStream Creator account will give you that option and the buyer can license your content directly from your HTML site.  A sitemap also provides a clear and easy path for the search engines to index your website.
   
   
5. Build Links:  Creating relationships that foster links back to your site is a good thing and helps raise your ranking in the search index.  When you foster link backs to your site, the search engines view the links as nods that your site has good and relevant content, resulting in a higher search index ranking.   Engaging in social networking contributes to these efforts.  For example, if you post to a blog about how the License Management features within LicenseStream help you price your images at a level that drives sales, and then someone picks up a link to that post and uses it as a reference in their blog, you’re generating nods of approval by a search engine.  Alternatively, if your colleague writes about you and links to your LicenseStream Store to show his audience how LicenseStream is helping you build a successful business,  the search engines are likely to recognize such affirmations.  Slowly but surely you will rise in the ranking index.
   
   
6. Provide Beneficial Content: Create content that is beneficial to your online audiences and communities.  While plugging your business and work is important, so is building credibility with your audience by providing information that may be helpful to them.  For example, if you’re a photographer, you might want to share the newest tricks that you’ve learned from shooting with your favorite Nikon camera.  Of course you can use examples from your shoot that will promote your work, but be sure to focus on how you can help your followers on Facebook, Twitter, or blog with information that will benefit them instead of focusing solely on how you’re looking for work or on your deep interest in licensing your work. By providing such helpful information, you’re more likely to generate links to your site from members of other sites whose editors and contributors find your content useful and potentially valuable to their audiences.
   
   
7. Engage in Social Networking:  You can engage in social networking on multiple platforms.  You might be Twitterific or a Facebook Fanatic.  You might find the professional network on LinkedIn, or any of a number of photography, videography, music or other content forums helpful to building your business.  Or you might just find that blogging about your passion and your work is enough to keep you busy.  Whatever outlet you choose, social networking can help generate links back to your site and your images. Stay tuned for a separate blog post about great ways to leverage various social networks.
   
   
8. Keep Your Sitemap As Shallow As Possible:  The deeper your website and Web pages go, the more difficult for the search engines to index the pages. When you’re building your website, use the same rationale for search engines as you would for customers coming to your website: enable key pages to be found easily from your main homepage.  Once a potential buyer visits your main page, he or she may be willing to click a layer and maybe even two layers down into your site. However, forcing a visitor to click any further may result in a potential buyer abandoning your site.
   
   
9. Stay Current with Your Keyword Research:  Review and refine your keywords on a regular basis.  Strive to review your keywords at least once every couple of months.  If you find your time pinched on other projects and tasks, then at least schedule a review of your keywords each quarter.  Part of the review should include a look at how your page rankings are doing.  Many people use the free Google Analytics service to see which keywords are generating traffic to their sites or to specific pages.  You’ll find knowing what works and what doesn’t to be helpful in revising your keywords. Couple that exercise with using the free Wordtracker service to determine which keywords are most popular.  Together, these services offer some of the best free tools available to sharpen your keyword strategy.
   
   
10. Ask For Help:  There is nothing wrong with asking for help, and there are many services out there to help you with SEO.  To take full advantage of such a service, make sure to engage actively in the SEO process so that it serves as an educational tool for you.  Ask plenty of questions, such as "Will you need me to make changes to my Web site content?" If your SEO partner says no, you may want to shop for another SEO agency that will make the changes you need to drive Web traffic and online sales. You should also ask about the tactics the SEO agency uses, to avoid the use of unethical SEO techniques that could get your site kicked off a major search index.  You may want to refer to our previous blog entry about SEO Don’ts to learn more about unethical behaviors that will hurt your search rankings. Track what the SEO agency is doing and what is  – and isn't – working.  Always benchmark your starting point. For example, start with determining the current number of visitors and page views per month and track these metrics each month over time. A good rule of thumb is to give your SEO partner 6-8 months to produce results and measure those results against your starting point. If the results promised fail to materialize in that timeframe, then you need to find another company to handle your SEO.

Now that you’ve reviewed the Dos and Don’ts of SEO, get started!  Begin by conducting your keyword research and building your keyword strategy.  Do as much as you can on your own to build links, engage in social networking and build communities around your work. Measure and see what results these efforts bring.  If you need to improve your SEO ranking further and/or you can’t manage the tasks, bring in an SEO consultant or company to help you.  Building a strong SEO ranking is a cost effective way to drive traffic and critical for your online business to thrive.