SEO? What's That?
by Sarah Egan-Mooney

article continued

Let’s start with the basics. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. According to Wikipedia, the definition of SEO is “the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines via ‘natural’ (‘organic’ or ‘algorithmic’) search results." Huh? What the heck does that even mean? In a nutshell, it means that search engines like Google are the new phone books of the world, and if you have an unlisted number, it’s almost impossible for clients to find you.

Obviously, to even get started with SEO, you need a website. Let’s face it, search engines really are the new phone books of the world, and when somebody’s looking for something to buy, they check the Internet first. Especially when it comes to travel.

Once you have a website, there are a few important things you need to make sure it’s equipped with:

• Proper Architecture
• Relevant Keywords and Meta Tags
• External Links
• An Online Marketing Strategy

Once all of these elements are in place, people start to find your business when they search the Internet for the things you offer. An added benefit is that people will find you no matter where in the world they are searching from, and no matter what time of day or night they are searching. Your SEO-optimized website keeps you open for business 24/7/365.

You can learn more about SEO and how it can help your home-based travel business succeed by viewing the training I did recently during my OSSN Webinar. Just go to the Webinar archives page at OSSN.com and click on the link "How to Build Your Travel Web Site." And, if you have any questions about how to put SEO to work for your site, you can send those questions to me at info@2gomedia.travel!

Sarah Egan-Mooney is senior vice president of operations and sales at 2Go Media. You can reach her at the email link shown above, or check her site at www.2GoMedia.travel.

(Credit: 2Go Media)