Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of tweaking your web pages in such a way as to improve it's overall ranking in the major search engines. For online tutors, learning search engine optimization is a major step in making your pages stand out from among the two billion web pages on the internet (and thousands more that are been created daily). Below are a few simple techniques that you can use to help you improve your overall ranking. If you have a website that is non-pornographic, non-gambling or not illegal in anyway, applying these simple suggestions can help you to greatly improve you website ranking.

1. Providing Quality Contents

Content is king on the internet! If you plan on providing a tutoring service, think about the types of information you can provide on your website that may benefit a visitor. Search engine optimization is pointless if you don't provide useful content on your website. Good content is what people search for, and it's what will also determine if your site ranks well. Even if you only have a small tutoring business, think about adding such contents as lesson plans, a guide for parents or a few helpful review articles. If you tutor college level physics for example, you might like to provide helpful study guides and links to additional resources. If you provide a home tutoring service, you might include information to help parents tutor their own kids. Write up content based on examples from your own tutoring experience. Eventually you may even be established as an authority by others in that particular field. Another advantage with putting up quality contents is that the site itself can act as an information management system that you can refer to time and time again.

It's also important that your keywords appear in the actual text as well as the page titles. For example if you are a math tutor, your company title might read: "Jim's Tutoring". However, it is more likely that parents looking for a private math tutor for their kids might begin their search with the keyword phrase "math tutor". With this knowledge, your strategy would be to change your page title and text content accordingly. A good rule of thumb for search engine optimization is to make sure that your web pages contain at least 100 words per page or more, and that they contain some related keywords to you article. A useful tool for keyword research is the Overture Keyword Selector Tool. If you build a website without good content, or the content is mostly flash, graphics and sound and other bells and whistles, search engines will likely over look your site.

2. Avoid Spamming

Great websites are created for human viewers, but some designers create websites purely for monetization. They try to use search engine optimization techniques such as repeating keywords, changing titles, and using links to fool search engines into ranking their site well. Such techniques are considered "spamming" techniques by search engines, and these sites eventually get removed from the search results listing. If you plan to hire someone else to design or help optimize your website, be careful that you don't hire companies that make big promises about getting top listings in major search engines. These companies often use techniques to trick search engines and visitors. Besides the danger that your site might get removed from search engine listings, these slimy search engine optimization techniques often end up annoying potential visitors and making them leave.

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