Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is vital to the implementation of your online marketing plan. While this is a part of the 5 one-time things you must do to get your plan started successfully, it must also be monitored and updated, so that your local business results and your natural search results remain ranked near or at the top.

Local Business Results

Local business results will impact not only the traffic to your website, but also the phone at your place of business. Because your phone number is listed in the local business results you will find that once your business is successfully located at the top of these results your phone will ring much more often.

Submit your business to the three major local business results sites. Monitor and update listings regularly to the secure top spots. Make sure that your listings are search engine optimised.

The three sites you must be on are:

Google - the most important one as it owns 2/3 of online traffic

Yahoo - also very important

MSN/Bing - growing in importance, but not as prominent as Google and Yahoo

These local business results each pick up on select keywords and use different location modifiers when ranking listings. However, most listings include address, phone number, directions to your physical address, website and customer reviews. The ones with the best reviews containing targeted keywords, in addition to location modifiers will find their way to the top of the search results.

In order to be listed in the top 10 search results, follow these 7 tips:

1. Optimise every aspect of your listing with strategic keywords.

2. Get reviews from your clients.

3. Obtain backlinks from local online directories.

4. Strategically choose the areas you want optimised even establishing different addresses and phone numbers for other areas.

5. Get listed in about 4 to 5 categories related to your business for your business results listing.

6. Place coupons with the listing to increase conversion rates.

7. Use YouTube Videos and photographs with your keyword in the title.

Track the changes you make, so that you can keep the listing as relevant as possible. It will also help you monitor what works and what doesn't. Be patient, it sometimes takes 3-4 weeks to see your listing appear.

Natural Results

Natural results are also referred to as organic results as they are generated by the search engines themselves and are not paid for. Typically placed below local searches with the map and paid searches, many people consider them the most valid type of search results.

It is possible to get a variety of listings in the natural results. Anything that has relevant content on it, especially if it has been search engine optimised, can be included in natural results.

Search engine rankings can include:

• your main website

• social media content

• articles

• press releases

• other Web2.0 content

• landing pages videos

• social bookmarks

• directory listings

• blog posts

Keyword research is vital to the successful ranking of your website and more in the natural results of search engines. Therefore this step is not to be overlooked. The relevancy of your content is very important to placement.

Other ranking factors which impact where your content will show up in ranking include:

Content congruency/consistency

Keywords used in page links

Keywords in the content

Backlinks

Links pointing back to your site/content

Google Page Rank

In fact, good relevant content with keywords and enough backlinks will be sure to make it to the top of many categories within a given period of time. Get links to your site from local directories, article marketing, Web 2.0, blogs, social bookmarks, and video marketing. The more backlinks you have to your site, the more successful it will be in ranking.