The vast majority of internet experiences start with a search engine search. It has been estimated that at last 93% of all people start their browsing this way. Most of these people will not look past the first page of the search engine results. This is where proper search engine optimization (SEO) techniques come into play. Developing a positive and proactive SEO strategy can be very important for the success or failure of a website.

1. Get the right keywords. The cornerstone of any good SEO strategy is finding the right keywords. You should know your current customer or client base and know what they need from your company. Knowing that is a big part of developing a list of the best keywords and keywords phrases. Google makes you register for an AdWords account in order to use their free Google Keyword Planner but this is a great tool that can help you see what people who use your products or services will be searching for. This is a free tool and can be very helpful in creating a successful SEO strategy.
2. Make sure your site loads quickly. People are impatient and do not have terribly long attention spans. You have about three to four seconds for your page to load. No SEO strategy can make up for a site that takes longer to load. If it seems like it is going to take more than four seconds to load, people will abandon your site and get what they are looking for somewhere else. When it comes to making a great website. Developing simpler sites that load quickly is more important than having an ornate site that loads slowly.
3. Make your site look great on mobile. A few years ago, the number of people who access the internet from mobile devices exceeded those who accessed it from other kinds of technology. As more and more devices are developed, this is only expected to become more true. If you run a local business such as a restaurant, this becomes even more critical to your website’s success. When people are out and about, they look to their smartphones and tablets to find places to eat, you want them to find your site and go to your establishment. If you do not get your site ready for mobile, you will miss out on a lot of sales.
4. Optimize your site for voice searches. People are using their voice to do searches. Siri, for iPhones, may have lead the way in this area but now people are using devices such as Alexa and Google voice. Since 2014, it has been estimated that about 40% of all internet users are searching with voice apps. Tailoring your SEO strategy for voice searches can make a big difference in getting people to your website.
5. Put your keywords all over. It is not enough to put your keywords in your meta description. You need to put it in the URLs on your page, the page headers, titles and all over the content. If you are looking for people who are interested in great pepperoni pizza, you want them to be able to click on a link that brings them to the parts of your page that deal with pepperoni pizza. Liberal use of keywords in an important part of SEO strategy.
6. Use keywords around your images. It may be true that “a photo is worth a thousand words but search engines cannot see images, they only index text. That does not mean you should not include high quality images. Your web design company should include images in your site. To make your images work with your SEO tactics, you should make sure you add descriptions and captions. The spiders that search the internet for sites to index will see that text.
7. Write great content. This may not seem like the most important thing in SEO strategy but it is crucial for the success of your site. Nearly half of consumers who were surveyed said that they judge a company’s professionalism by their website so you need copy that is well written.

Your SEO strategy will never be complete. You will be constantly changing and improving it.