Become Freelance

After you’ve set up a really nice website, the online marketing doesn’t end there. People now need to find it among the millions and millions of websites online. It’s like being in one lonely taxi cab among hundreds in the rush hour traffic of Manhattan. You will be hardly noticeable because there are thousands of people just like you – with a business like you and who want clients to land on their pages instead of yours. There’s a big game and a whole new industry out there that society never had in the past. It’s called Website Traffic – and believe me, it is a traffic jam! The information superhighway is overloaded.

But don’t despair. You can stand out among the crowd and rise to the top. You’re just about to learn some new terminology. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) principles are the well-known avenue in the online world to put your website at the top of the pile. If it sounds kind of complicated, well… that’s because it is. Foolproof Freelancing will break it down for you in layman’s terms.

First of all – what is search engine optimization, and why is it so valuable to the strength of your web presence and marketing efforts? You will find many complicated descriptions for it, but in essence and simply put – search engines are the words people type in to seek relevant websites for the information, services and content that they need. It is called an “engine” undoubtedly because it is a complicated system of html applications, which use heavily saturated word content and other strategies to cross reference to a site. Therefore, knowing what words people most commonly type in the blank bar at the top of their internet browsers to find something is highly desirable information to a company. Knowing those words can be used to target market to these people. The optimization process is used to sprinkle those keywords within the website, so that people will find your site faster. In theory, the more words that appear on your website that match those used by people searching, the higher your page relevance will appear on those famous search engines like Google, Yahoo, AIM, MSN and a few lesser-known search applications.

Often, it takes someone who is a computer programmer to understand exactly what is involved in editing the html coding and the site’s content to increase its visibility when those pertinent keywords are typed in by the people looking. When YOU look for a website to do research or to buy something, usually you look at the first page, maybe the second and unlikely the third. By the third page of relevant content, the chances are you found something already on page one that will match the information or service that you need. That is why it is so imperative for a company to know those words people use to find you – and it is also very important to get higher listings on the searches. With millions of websites available, that is a difficult task and one that must be continually monitored. If someone doesn’t manage the SEO then another company will come along and “knock you out” of position. SEO has become a very competitive industry. Highly qualified SEO specialists are more in demand than ever. In fact, that’s a great Freelancing business to consider. Become an SEO expert and you’re sure to have plenty of business!

Moving along. SEO is expensive. If you’re just a little Freelancing one-man show just starting out and don’t have the big bucks to spend on a fancy website and SEO services (which can cost in the thousands of dollars for an entire package), then you need some simple strategies to apply to your website that will instantly increase the traffic and search engine optimization of your site.

6 FREE DO-IT-YOURSELF SEO STRATEGIES TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE

1. Avoid Ostentatious Website Designs - Those fancy flash sites may look really cool when you land on them, but many search engines are not able to read past the animation on the landing pages. Instead, develop a home page that is full of rich content, appealing design and easy-to-navigate pages.

2. Manage and Change Content Frequently - Keywords are constantly changing, and so are the readers. Freshen up your content by way of blogging, articles, newsletters or information for people who land on your page. Not only does it give your audience a reason to come back, but it may help new readers find you by adding more keywords to the ever-changing context of your site.

3. Interlinks with Other Sites - Link up with as many websites as possible to attract more readers to your site. One of the factors of SEO and people finding you is the number of times you are cross-referenced to other websites. If you have partners to link with, this can be a win-win for you both. Let’s say you are a Freelance event planner. You can make partnerships with other vendors within your industry, simply by emailing or calling them. Use the “you scratch my back and I scratch yours” strategy. Put a link from their website on yours, and vice versa. You can create a “recommended affiliates” page or small page of listings. The more listings you have out there, the higher you will increase your SEO rankings on major search engines. You can also do this on your own by listing your website in as many places as possible online. Here are some ideas for FREE linking to your site –

• Social Networks:i.e. – LinkedIn; MySpace; Facebook; Vois; Hi5; YahooGroups; PickensPlan; etc. Keep in mind that you must make an appearance every once in awhile. Or, offer to pay a kid to manage it for you at a rate of $100 bucks a week.
• Online Games:Believe it or not, I’ve had great success by killing time playing a game such as Yahoo Answers! People ask questions on any topic and you help them. When it asks for a source, use your website as a reference. People have found my website that would never have been looking. There are many popular sites such as this to play with.
• Forums, Blogs, & Announcements: Take a few hours every day (or hire someone) to do this for you – FOR HUGE RESULTS. Be everywhere. The more you make yourself known online, the more you will increase your visibility and rankings. If you know of a special event forthcoming – post it! If you know of a breaking trend within your industry – blog it! Always make reference to your website, even as a mention at the end. Put who you are, the name of your company and your website address. Not only will you gain respect as an expert in your field, but this will help you develop a name on the mega-highway online.
• Classifieds:Again, something for you to stay on top of. You can create messages on such popular sites as: www.craigslist.com; Yahoo Classifieds; www.oodle.com; and “oodles of caboodles” of others.
• Articles:Write! Submit those articles pertinent to your industry or create a twist to make it relevant. There’s plenty of websites that want you to post content for free and this will generate fans of your work. At the end of each article include your byline, business name and domain address.
• Business Directories:Look up as many business directories as possible. There are a bunch of online versions of the yellow pages, like www.dmoz.org; www.onlinebizlin.com; www.allbusiness.com; www.hoovers.com and a million others. A word of caution – some will ask you to return the favor and post a link from your site to theirs. You don’t want to junk up your site with too many links, so create a separate page and choose sites that have the most traffic.

4. Set up Multiple Landing Pages - If you have more than one aspect of your business, your main landing page (home page) doesn’t always have to land on the introduction page. Set up your site to land on the most RELEVANT page. If someone is looking for you, they will type in those keywords that will take you to the correct page. Once on there, if your content holds their interest then they will probably check out the rest of your site, too.

5. Get a Traffic Report - UNBELIEVABLY, this service is still FREE. Go to www.google.com/analytics and you will be taken to a page that will tell you exactly how much traffic your site is generating, the length of time people stay on it, a review of your content (or lack thereof), and a detailed report if you like. You do have to sign up for a Google account, but the analysis can be done BY YOU for free, rather than paying some SEO “expert” to do it for you at a whack of several hundred dollars. Once you see where you fare, you can make adjustments to optimize.

6. Brainstorm and Research Keywords - By now you may have a better understanding of the relevance of traffic to your website through the use of words. Now, if only you knew what those words are so you can use them! Here are some suggestions for finding out those crucial words to use on your site:

• Analytical Logs: When you visited Google’s Analytics, you probably noticed on the dashboard a place for you to discover which keywords people use to find your site. There is software that will do the same thing. Of course Google is the most renowned, owning over ¾ of the marketshare. You could also use www.HitsLinks.com; www.StateCounter.com; www.Webtrends.com or www.ConstantContact.com.
• Spy on the Competition: Identify wording used in the Top 10 sites that would be your immediate competition. There is a reason they made it to the Top 10. What words do they use frequently and how long are the paragraphs? Also check out bestsellers on popular shopping sites. What words do they use? Make notes! Apply some of the verbiage to yours in a clever way, without plagiarism.
• Ask People! Run your own survey among family, business acquaintances, clients or pals. What words would they use to search for what you are selling? Make a list of about 50 words and ask people to add to it.
• Think of Every Variation: You have to think like a customer. Not everyone thinks of your business the way you do. They type in the strangest things to search for something they are looking for online. Microsoft Word has a great Thesaurus feature to use. Plug in a word that represents your industry. If you are a Freelance cake baker, for example – you might have keywords like: wedding cakes; cake decorators; cakes for special occasions; cakes for weddings, etc. You can use the keywords foreword, backwards and anywhere in between. The more often they can be used on your site, the easier it will be for search engines to find.

DID YOU KNOW? Keywords can also be incorporated within your site as HIDDEN elements under backgrounds, layers or photos. If you’re not artful in the skill of HTML programming and applications, find a computer or web guy who knows how to do it for you. It will increase your rankings without unsightliness to your web design.