Everyone who owns a website knows the basic tricks and techniques of search engine optimisation. The most effective and well publicised seo tactic is of course based on exploiting the benefits of key search terms. Most of us are aware of how seo can be increased by spiking the content of website with an assortment of relevant key words and key word phrases – from page titles to sub categories, image names and embedded links.
However, as more and more website owners become increasingly skilled and adept at the most popular and effective seo techniques, the techniques themselves also become less effective. If you want to reach the top of search engine listings for your industry, it’s essential you stay one step ahead and that may mean taking unusual and unexpected approaches to seo. Let’s take a look at four such practices that you can incorporate into your seo campaign:
1) Consider adding common misspellings or alternate spellings of keywords to your website. Many times your potential customers who are entering their search terms into a search engine will be in a hurry or be unclear on the spelling of industry-specific terminology so a lot of the time they will be searching for misspelt terms. Targeting your keywords in this unusual way can be a strategic way of overtaking the rankings of your competitors. However, remember to use this technique sparingly and don’t use misspellings in the main content of your website. Blog posts are the ideal place to exercise this technique and are extremely search engine friendly.
2) Start using the images on your website as an element of your seo strategy. Google Images picks up on target keywords placed in image file names and directory names and captions or image links, so keywords in the text attributes of image files can be an advantageous hidden seo technique. (Note: I have used this to good effect all the time).
3) Use Google Video to boost seo using the same method as described above. Always include a text box in, or below, your video that clearly displays a link to your website or product and a brief description of the video content that includes key word phrases. Your company logo should also be displayed on-screen throughout the video presentation.
4) Blogs are at the top of the list of favourite seo techniques, but have you ever thought about blogging about the new products released by some of your industry competitors? Blogs about the most recent news automatically appear higher up in search engine listings, so when people search for the new product or service it will, in fact, be your website that comes at the top of the list. As long as you can provide equivalent products and services, this can be a great way of robbing your competitors of some of their web traffic and attracting new customers to you.
About Author
John K Taylor has been working as a freelance writer for Infinite IT Solutions, a Melbourne based web design and search engine Optimisation Company.