Understanding topics like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and why you need Google Analytics on your website can be overwhelming for a business owner, but it is important to know so you can generate the kind of content you should be creating, and measure whether or not what you're doing is really working.

This week on the podcast I invited Darlene Moore of DriveTraffic Digital Marketing to join me to talk about some of the basics.

What are you trying to achieve?

Just like in all strategies, if you don't have clear and specific goals and reasons you want people to come to your site, it's hard to know if what you're doing is working. You don't want random people coming to your website, you want the RIGHT people who are going to want to work with you.

Once you know what you're trying to do, you can create the kind of content that works people towards those goals.

Understand what you're trying to do
Create the right kind of content
Optimize that content for search

The importance of good quality content

Google wants to bring up search results that are valuable to people and they do this by trying to figure out if your content is of good quality. An example of the way they do this is by tracking how long people stay on your site when people land on your page.

By creating valuable content that people want to read, you are going to get better results in search engines.

What topics do you want to be known for?

Be clear on what topics you want to be known for and that will help you guide your content. You can also check to see what terms are getting people to your site now by using Google Webmaster tools (link below on how to do this) and deciding if you either want to change this or create content that better fits those search terms once they do arrive.

The key is to :

Measure
Create Great Content
Repeat

For more information on how to optimize your content, visit Darlene's website and blog, and keep your eyes open for the course she's launching this year!