1. Keep your old domain name and do not purchase a new domain name unless you absolutely have to. The search engines like domains that have been around for a while. You could also redirect your old domain to your new one in order not to go down in the ranking. If you're redesigning your site or building a new site and have to use a new domain, you can expect at least somewhat of a loss in search engine traffic. It could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months or longer to get back where you were.



2. Don't optimize your website for the search engines. Make sure you are optimizing for your target market. The search engines are looking for pages that best fit the keyword phrase someone types into the search engines search box. If these people are typing in search words that relate to what your website offers, then they are most likely part of your target market. Good keywords and keyword phrases, found through research, are crucial in getting high search engine rankings.

3. Design your website around your keywords. Don't even start writing copy until you have found your keywords and then you will want to sprinkle your keywords all over your site and your pages. Also, make use of long tail keywords or phrases. These really help to qualify your target market and leads to higher quality leads. They know exactly what they are looking for and when they are led to your site they will be more likely ready to buy.

4. Make sure you make your site friendly to the search engine spiders. Search engines can't interpret graphics, fill out forms and can't read Java Script links and menus. You still want to use them, but make sure that the search engine spiders can navigate your site and can find the other pages on your site. The search engine spiders will never find a drop down menu and will never know about your other pages.

5. Label your internal text links and clickable images (alt tags) as clearly and descriptively as you possible can. Your site visitors and the search engines look at the clickable portion of your links (the anchor text) to help them understand what they're going to find once they click through. Don't make them guess what's at the other end with links that say "click here" or other non-descriptive words. Be as descriptive as possible with every text and graphical link on your site. Important hint, use your keywords and key phrases to describe.

6. Write copy for your website that uses your keyword phrases, but make sure your copy is compelling to you target market. This is so important for a successful website. The search engines want to read keyword rich copy on your pages so they know how to classify your site. Don't hide your copy in graphics or in flash. Write your copy using your most relevant keyword phrases while you are giving your visitors the information they have been looking for.

7. Title tags are given a lot of weight by the search engines. What ever keyword phrase you have written about in your copy, should be used in your title tag. The information that you place in this tag is what will show up as the clickable link to your site at the search engines. Make sure that it accurately reflects the content of the page it is on, while also using the keyword phrases people might be using at a search engine to find your site.

8. Make sure that other sites can link with your site. The ability for other sites to link to your site is extremely important for successful search engine optimization, because all the major search engines place more emphasis on your sites link popularity. You also want to be very careful not to link to a crappy site. Both your customers and the search engines will frown on you and will hurt you search engine ranking.

If you have done the above 8 things correctly, you should start to see an increase in targeted search engine visitors to your site fairly quickly. Forget about where you rank for any specific keyword phrase and instead measure your results in increased traffic, sales, and conversions. Using free Google Analytics, you can track and measure the things you want to know. It is also a good idea to add new content every once in awhile. All of these steps taken together will go a long way in helping you with your search engine optimization and search engine ranking.