Post written by Dana Prince

If you want to be a successful internet marketer, search engine optimization is one of the most important things you should dedicate time to learning. For many, the question is: should you learn it alone or get help?

The time and effort you spend learning how search engines work will pay a huge return on your investment. A solid foundation in understanding how search engine optimization, or SEO, applies to marketing online can enable you to:

• Reach a larger online audience,
• Reach the right audience;
• And help you save money on your internet marketing efforts.

Learn SEO

SEO, also known as search engine optimization (or search engine optimisation in the UK), is a vital aspect of search engine marketing. This equals the act of optimizing your site so that it will be more likely to be featured in the top rankings in search engines relating to your niche. There are many different ways to do this and not all suggested methods are going to work.

SEO is an advanced topic with many facets and learning SEO the right way will help you reach success and profitability sooner. The wrong search engine optimization techniques will slow down your progress and lead to frustration.

The desire to be featured on page one of Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines for your business niche is huge and those who do get to the top of the rankings for the right keyword phrases have a good chance of being profitable with minimum (to no) advertising costs.  SEO isn’t just about reaching the top spot on search engines for your keywords, though. It also includes: knowing which words and phrases will get you there, which words and phrases will be more likely to lead to a sale, knowing how to optimize every page of your website, doing off-page optimisation, unleashing the power of social media, and being able to stay on page one despite fierce competition and changing search engine algorithms.

Some internet marketers try to buy their way onto to the front page through pay per click sponsored advertisements and while this does have its place in a search engine marketing strategy, organic SEO placement is the best way to get traffic and make money online without a huge investment. Getting educated on the latest organic search engine optimization methods is the best way to make money online with minimal investment.

In terms of search engine traffic, organic results are something to strive for. When people surf for something, they’re much more likely to choose the organic results rather than the sponsored ads on the sidebar and learning how to be naturally featured in the top spot by your target audience is an important first step in being able to market your product or service to those who are most likely to buy from you.

Search engines are vital. Trying to navigate the internet without them is difficult and they were designed to help people find what they are looking for. Learning proven SEO methods as part of a search engine marketing strategy will bring you the type of traffic that will convert from a visitor into a customer. If you know how to make your website appear to be relevant to your topic and learn how the search engines think, you will naturally get traffic from people who could be qualified customers.  

Beyond SEO, there are many other facets to internet marketing but learning how to optimize your business for the search engines is a major part of internet commerce.

Question: How do most internet marketers learn SEO?

Through trial and error.

Learning the SEO Ropes

Some new online entrepreneurs who try to learn through trial and error have difficulty attaining success and give up before they make any real money. Some of them pay a small fortune for insider information that often no longer applies. Because some of the most profitable online niches are extremely competitive, quick tips aren’t the best way to get ahead of the competition for long. While there is a lot of free information available to those interested in learning SEO, much of it quickly becomes outdated and search engine algorithms change regularly so you need to stay abreast of changes so that you can continue to compete in your niche market. Many agree that the most logical way to do that is to get a formal internet marketing education.

Do you need a Degree in Internet Marketing?

There are people who have achieved online success without a degree in internet marketing.  But the vast majority of those individuals have had to endure a long period of trial and error before becoming profitable.

By investing in an accredited education, you can make calculated and informed business decisions about how to market your online business. You can also become qualified to apply to work for others as a consultant who teaches them how to be successful online. Whatever your business or personal goals are, learning how to do it the right—from the start — will make your journey toward success a smoother one.

Whether you’re new to search engine optimization or have an intermediate level of knowledge, investing in an internet marketing education is the smartest way to reach success online.

Post written by Dana Prince

If you want to learn SEO basics, you’ll definitely have more success in internet marketing than someone who jumps into online commerce without taking the time to become educated on how successful marketers have achieved their success. 

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the foundation of marketing through search engines. Optimizing a site for search engine placement will increase a website’s chances of success, especially in competitive niches.

Search engines send traffic to optimized websites so the quite simply…if you learn SEO you increase your chances of succeeding online. Even if your website is beautifully designed and your copywriting skills will convert a high number of visitors into customers, SEO is pivotal in getting traffic to your site so that you can wow customers with your sales copy and site layout.

There are a lot of different parts of an optimized website and by learning about those individual areas, you can improve your chances of being successful.  The more optimization that’s done, the more likely the site will get organic search engine traffic. 

What’s meant by organic? Sites that get organic traffic do so without having to pay for listings because search engines see their optimization efforts and send interested traffic their way.  The search engines deem the people searching for specific words and phrases to be interested in what your website contains due to several factors. Learning about those factors and how to apply the right strategies to them will help you devise a well-rounded search engine optimization strategy.

Not only is knowledge of how search engines work important for organic SEO but even if you’re paying for clicks through Google Adwords pay per click campaigns, the layout and optimization of your site is still vital. In fact, well-optimized websites pay less per click than non-optimized sites and get better sponsored ad placement as well. So, whether you’re planning on attracting the majority of your site’s traffic organically or through sponsored ads, learning to think like the search engines is going to benefit you substantially.

Core SEO components to learn include:

• SEO’s Relation to Internet Marketing and How Search Engines “Think”
• Keywords
• On-Page Strategies
• Off-Page Strategies

Let’s look at an overview of each of these components and how learning about them can help you succeed:

General Online Marketing and SEO Knowledge

Having a foundation of internet marketing knowledge will help you in all facets of search engine optimization. Knowing how SEO relates to internet marketing and online commerce is essential.

You’ll also need to develop a basic understanding of how search engines work. This doesn’t require a specialized degree in computer science but it does require taking the time and energy to learn what search engines look for when making their decisions about website indexing.  Search engine algorithms do change but a basic understanding of how they grade a website is essential in grasping important concepts required for success in online commerce.

Researching Keywords and Results

Possessing research skills for your website is an essential aspect of search engine optimization. Learning how to do the research and then knowing how to apply the data you’ve found to your website is important. Why? It helps you to create a search engine optimization strategy can help you not only get traffic but get traffic that converts from a visitor to a customer.

Assuming you already have a website that you want to market, things you’ll need to know include: which keyword phrases are highly searched in your niche market, which keywords may be too competitive, the difference between optimization for local search markets versus national or global search, and other areas as well.

Once you’ve begun optimization, you’ll also need to learn how to research your website’s analytics so that you can determine whether various efforts are successful or whether targeted keywords and other strategies need to be tweaked.
On-Page Search Engine Optimization Strategies

Search engines look at each page on your website to help them make a determination on what the site is about. Various aspects of your site’s pages need optimizing and learning about these aspects will help you do things in a way that will provide you with maximum free exposure to the type of traffic you’re looking for. If you think of on-page SEO in terms of grading, the more components you optimize, the higher your score.

Off-Page SEO Strategies

What’s perplexing to some new internet marketers is how to optimize a website beyond the pages that exist on their domain. In fact, off-page optimization is almost as important as on-page optimization because things that you do outside your website could bring people and search engines to your website plus increase your levels of traffic dramatically.  There is a score here as well. It’s associated with your off-page SEO and it can increase or decrease based on several variables. An increased score can mean increased free traffic to the site.

How to Learn SEO

Learning about search engine optimization is vital to success of anyone who wants to use the internet either for business or to enhance their business.  Successful internet marketing professionals who learn SEO learn how to create and maintain a website that naturally attracts high volumes of the desired type of traffic. Not all traffic is equal and search engines look for many things when grading a website. More people than ever are seeking a professional education so that they can truly excel in this important area of online business.