Website optimization or SEO is important and should be done according to best practices, BUT it is not enough by itself. A holistic web presence is one that includes:

• A sustainable content development plan
• A sustainable internet marketing campaign
• Link building strategy
• Blogging, forum participation, social media, etc.

If you have not yet done your keyword analysis, go back and start there, please!

Site optimization, also referred to as on-page optimization to differentiate it from link building, advertising, etc. starts with the home page. Your home page should be optimized for no more than two key phrases. Here’s what you do:

1. Choose a page title. It should start with your best key phrase, the one that applies to the business as a whole. Since local search is becoming so important, make sure you include city or area and the state. Your company name is not necessary in the title. Save your branding for the site content. eg. Everything to do with widgets; Kalamazoo, Michigan.
2. Write a page description. Start with the same key phrase you used in your title. Yes, the same one. The search engines see these first two pieces as guides by which to decide what your page is about. Then, have a sentence describing the page content. End with a call to action. Since this often shows up on the search results pages, including a phone number might give the potential customer what they need right away! Eg. Everything to do with widgets. You can buy a widget, sell a widget or browse our complete widget resource guide online. Or call to talk with one of our trained customer service professionals 800-555-1717.
3. Check your headers. They needn’t, and shouldn’t have the exact same key phrase with the same word order as your title and description, but should be keyword rich. To continue the example, we could have one primary header “Widgets” a secondary “widget guides” and third “buying and selling widgets” with appropriate text blocks beneath each.
4. Each of the text blocks should have links to pages within the site, often referred to as hypertext links or editorial links.
5. There should be content on the home page that changes on a regular basis to keep the search engines coming back.
6. Include at least one call to action.

Each page is, in essence, a home page. So follow the same steps above for every page. Yes, every one!