Generating traffic seems to be the main concern of many website owners. This is understandable because when no one is visiting your site, you aren’t making sales, signing up subscribers, or gaining new clients.

And even though there is a plethora of information related to traffic generation available on the internet (I even offer an ebook on my website that has some solid advice on how to generate traffic), many people overlook one of the most basic ways to generate traffic.

I’m talking about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices.

If you’ve had a website for awhile, you’ve undoubtedly heard of SEO, but if you haven’t, here’s a definition from Widipedia:

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results for targeted keywords.  

In other words, generating traffic by using techniques that will ensure visitors find your website in the search results when they type in relevant keywords.

Many beginners don’t do search engine optimization on their website because they feel it’s too complicated. Instead, they turn to an SEO firm to do the work – and often end up paying exorbitant fees. 

If are totally unfamiliar with HTML, you may have no other choice than to hire a professional. However, if you know even a little HTML, following are three basic steps you can take to increase your rankings in the search engines. Each involves adding code to the ”head” area of the pages on your website.

1. Make sure every page on your website has a ‘Title’ (the colored bar at the top of your browser) — preferably one that includes keywords found on that page.
2. Write a ‘Description’ for each page. In other words, write a brief sentence that tells what the page is about using keywords that are found on that particular page.
3. List ‘Keywords’ that people might use to find the information that’s on that page. (Note: I have found from my own experiences that this step is less important that the other two — particularly for Google search results.)

That’s it. Pretty simple, huh? And yet, you will be amazed at the difference it will make in your ranking and thereby, traffic generation.

Be aware that making these changes to your website does not mean you will see overnight results — or that you will get the #1 position in the search engine results (although you might, depending on your niche). But within a matter of weeks, if you’ve done the SEO work correctly, you will notice that your website has moved up the list.

(Qualifying note – This is assuming you have quality content on your website.)

I just came across a wonderful tool for checking to see how well your website is optimized for the search engines.

I suggest you try several of the tools and, if you’re familiar with SEO practices, take the SEO quiz to see how much you really know. (I only missed one. )

Search engine optimization is so important for good listings — and you don’t have to pay beaucoup bucks to an SEO firm to create an optimized website.  There are numerous  steps you can take yourself that will benefit your position in the rankings.

Here’s the URL: http://www.webconfs.com/.

One caution – if you try any of the optimization tools, be sure to scroll down and read the instructions. They’re simple, but you do need to follow the steps they present.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think of these SEO tools.

I just came across an excellent series of articles on optimizing your website called “Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website.”

The author is Dave Davies, the owner of Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning.

The first article in the series is titled Keyword Selection, and it can be found here.

If you are even the slightest bit interested in optimizing your website for the search engines, I urge you to read these articles.

BTW, I don’t get a thing for this promotion other than the reward of helping online business owners find success on the internet.

For more information on website optimization, you might want to read my post about the Search Engine Optimization Tool.