Four SEO elements to hone in on

Search engine optimization can be a complex task, especially considering how often Google changes its search engine algorithm – what can be a sound SEO strategy one day may be frowned upon the next. Most recently, Google's Panda update severely punished businesses that engaged in article marketing – posting generic articles on third-party aggregates to generate incoming links.

Fortunately, small business owners can minimize the impact of these algorithm changes by focusing their efforts on elements of SEO that have been consistent all along. As SearchEngineWatch notes, by aligning optimization strategies with Google's implicit motivations, entrepreneurs can ensure their small business websites aren't negatively affected by algorithm changes.

1. On-site SEO

On-site SEO has changed very little since Google was first launched more than a decade ago. Business owners should leverage relevant keywords in their website's title, meta description and headline tags, as well as sporadically in on-page content. Google has traditionally taken a hard stand against keyword stuffing – overusing specific terms to gain better search engine positioning – but outside of that, there is little companies can do wrong here.

If entrepreneurs are still uncertain about SEO rules, they should check out Google's Webmaster SEO Guide, which provides businesses with guidelines to ensure their pages aren't blacklisted.

2. Strive for high-quality links

What made Google so different from other search engines when it launched was that it also determined rankings based on the number and quality of incoming links. The search engine still places an emphasis on links from high-quality websites – if an entrepreneur generates an incoming link from a major media website, they will appear higher on the results page.

"Continue building your inbound links through white hat content syndication and promotions," SearchEngineWatch explains. "Create unique content that others will want to reference and link to. Build relationships with other web writers, so they are aware of your content."

3. User experience

Google also favors sites that provide better user experiences. As previously mentioned, one of the reasons keyword stuffing is not allowed is because it makes web content read poorly. Google evaluates websites for other user performance indicators as well – for example, pages with quick load times have better SEO than slower ones.

Entrepreneurs should do all they can to ensure their websites are both easy-to-use and conserve bandwidth usage. This can be achieved by minimizing Flash elements. Companies should also limit using large images or music in the background of their pages.

4. New content

Websites are indexed every so often and those with fresh streams of content will be ranked higher in Google. Updated website content, whether it's newly added products and pages or recently published blogs, will show that a website is still active and push it above other homepages that feature old content.

"Keep creating new content as well as updating existing content. Link to it internally from indexed pages as well as syndicate it on social media," advises the media outlet. "Register your site and submit a sitemap to Google. If you have a news site, register to be on the Google News Index."

According to comScore, Google accounted for nearly two-thirds of American searches in August (64.8 percent), so it's crucial that small business owners optimize their website for at least that portal. What SEO strategies have you benefitted the most from in the past? What approaches do you still use today? 

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