Freelancer's Guide to SEO "" More Visibility, Traffic, and Clients

Credit: Pressmaster on Photodune

To describe SEO as a simple process would be a lie, but it’s not magic. There are quite a few simple things you can do for yourself that will improve SEO on your website.

Bear in mind that search traffic generally has a higher conversion rate compared with other online sources, so if you are going to invest time and resources in online marketing, SEO is definitely worth considering.

Search engine optimization in its most basic format can be separated into four areas; keyword research, on-page optimization, content development, and link building.

Follow this DIY guide to increase your search engine visibility, get more visitors, and grab more clients.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is a fundamental part of SEO, but it is often a process that people spend less than an hour doing. In my experience, investing time and energy at this stage will pay dividends at a later stage in your campaign.

What you don't want to do is select keywords based solely on the search volume. I would suggest that when performing keyword research you need to identify keyword opportunities that meet the following criteria:

• Relevant "" identify keywords that are suited to your business. It sounds so straightforward but it can be easy to get carried away with keywords that look attractive, but if they aren't relevant, then targeting them effectively is going to be challenging.
• Conversion friendly "" identify keywords that your prospective customers are going to use to look for your services, don't waste your time driving traffic that isn't going to in some way benefit your business.
• Ample search volume "" the number of people searching monthly for that keyword is obviously an important metric because you need to know it is going to be worthwhile optimizing for.
• Realistic "" understanding and appreciating where your site currently sits in terms of SEO is important at the keyword research stage. Thinking you are going to effectively target "~web design' as a keyword perhaps isn't realistic if you are a freelancer just starting out. A more localized keyword such as "~web design Calabasas' might be more realistic and probably lead to more clients if you are pitching yourself as a local designer.

Be clear which pages of your website are going to champion the keywords you have chosen to target. A common mistake is to attempt to target a dozen or so keywords with the homepage, when in reality you could silo your website, and more effectively target different keywords with different areas. For example you might offer web design, email marketing design, and social media page design services "" separating these and targeting them as individual business areas would improve your SEO.

On-Page Optimization

On-page optimization is essentially housekeeping on your own website to ensure it is generally search engine and user friendly.

There are a great deal of on-page factors to consider as time goes by, but to get you started, here are some of the essentials that you should really be taking care of:

• Clean code "" find a designer that is committed to lean coding, as bloated code with over-use of Flash and Javascript can be harmful to your SEO efforts.
• Meta titles and descriptions "" craft unique meta titles and descriptions for each of the pages on your website. These have become less important in terms of rankings, yet they still act as your "~advert' in the search results, and can encourage people to click-through to your website, so make sure each title and description is relevant and enticing.
• Title tags "" make sure each page has no more than one ‘h1′ tag, which should wherever possible include a natural use of the target keyword.
• Keyword use "" use the keyword you are seeking to target naturally throughout the content on each page. Consider inclusion in the title and opening paragraph for maximum impact. Don't overdo it though because keyword stuffing (overly repetitive inclusion of a keyword) is not seen as a good thing by Google or your visitors.
• Address, privacy policy and terms "" Google likes genuine, reputable businesses, therefore you should always list a physical address on your website, and wherever necessary a privacy policy and terms of service. These act as a signal to Google that you are a real-life, authentic business, worthy of appearing in search results. Make sure that wherever your business is cited around the web, the address and phone number match up, as Google references many data sources for local listings and outdated contact info could cause confusion.
• XML sitemap "" your website should generate an XML sitemap to help Google find all the pages on your website. There are quite a few plugins and gadgets out there that help you do this.
• SEO friendly URLs "" many of the leading open-source web publishing platforms enable you to easily create SEO friendly URLS (i.e. yoursite.com/web-deign rather than yoursite.com/c-45678/p-126478/) but there are other ways to do this manually if you don't have the luxury of WordPress and the like.
• Speed up your website "" loading time plays an important part in visitor satisfaction and also plays a part in search engine performance. You can speed up loading times by ensuring code is lean, your host and server setup is optimized, and if you wish to reach audiences around the world then you might even consider implementing a CDN (content delivery network) to further increase speed.

If you are looking for further reading on this subject, I produced a complete guide to on-page optimization for Web Design Ledger.

Content

Content forms the lifeblood of any successful website and as a freelancer with skills and expertise to share, creating the content shouldn't be a problem.

I'm a keen advocate of freelancers and indie consultants starting their own blog because I think it is a very smart attention strategy that helps to generate new business, convey expertise, and build trust and authority.

The aim of the game is to produce engaging content that actually pulls in visitors and encourages links, rather than producing content for the sake of the search engines.

You may have seen the talk recently about Google's Panda update(s) and this has put a stop to a tactic that was previously effective, which enabled website owners to create as much junk content as they wanted and still rank for hundreds, if not thousands, of different keyword terms without providing very much value to the end user.

When I produce content for my own website, I follow a very simple 5 step process:

1. Brainstorm "" pull together as many topic ideas as you can. Look around the web at competing blogs, forums, Alltop, news outlets. Identify opportunities and common problems that you can provide a solution to.
2. Collate "" bring all your ideas together and start fleshing them out. Conjure up a few headline ideas and start to determine the key points of the piece.
3. Refine "" since we are hoping to garner some SEO benefits from the content, it is important to refine your ideas by identifying keywords that the piece can target. Look closely, as slight variations of a phrase or a different way of describing something can ensure your work gets found in Google.(Note: I am suggesting you develop content ideas and look for potential keywords, rather than the other way around, which tends to result in junk that is boring to readers and meant only for search engines!).
4. Produce "" now you actually have to write and I believe that the best way to produce top-notch work is to not force the issue. This is a creative process and so you have to be "~in the mood' to write in order to create something worthwhile. As you develop at writing content for your freelance business, you will become more adept at coaching yourself into the right mindset to produce great content.
5. Share "" I call it seeding the content, because while it might be first-rate stuff, if nobody can find it, it is a wasted opportunity, and sharing it is essential. Broadcast to as many social networks as you are active on, and tell your email list about it. If it is particularly noteworthy, ask your professional network for a hand promoting it. Search engines will pick up and rank higher content that is well shared across the social web.

Link-Building

Google says you should encourage links to your website, rather than build them, and if you are looking to establish a long term web presence then this really is the best way to go about it.

That being said, there are some good, low cost tactics that you can employ to start generating some traction for your website.

• Directory submissions "" target good quality thematic (industry/geography) directories.
• Article submissions "" target high quality websites and produce unique content.
• Social bookmarking "" thematic and general social bookmarking websites are a good source of high quality links and for generating good volumes of traffic.
• Press release submissions "" create news about your freelance business and spread the word. Provided you submit to the right sources, very often you will find your press release makes it onto Google News, which offers great exposure for your personal brand. A press release distribution campaign is also a very good source of high-quality links.
• Web 2.0 mini-sites "" websites like Squidoo allow you to contribute content and add a link to your own website. This can be great for link-building and driving visitors. There are also quite a few industry specific web 2.0 websites out there now, which makes this technique all the more effective provided you choose the right outlets.
• Guest posting "" look for relevant blogs and websites that you can work with to produce content that appeals to their audience, while getting you some attention and a link in the process.
  Links from partner websites "" work with a service partner that offers something closely related and start referring business both ways.
• Linkbait "" see my guide to creating free linkbait.

Regardless of what you hear around the web, these tactics still work. The lower quality tactics discussed above such as directories, articles and bookmarking are still highly effective when used strategically and in conjunction with other methods.

Analyze Your Performance

Understanding how well your website is performing is essential. I wholeheartedly recommend Google Analytics because it is quick and easy to get installed and it's completely free.

Having Google Analytics tracking installed on your website will help you understand where your visitors are coming from and what they do once they arrive. This can help shape your SEO strategy going forward.

As a minimum you should setup goal tracking to help you think of your website as a lead generating, marketing machine, rather than a pretty brochure.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Pressmaster.