1. Keep up with and Adapt to the newest and changing trends in SEO.

2. Code makes a difference: the cleaner the code the easier it will be for spiders to access and read the page.

3. Use Meta Title Tags and make each page have unique titles. The titles should match some of the content on the page.

4. Have areas for content to be displayed on every page. This is important because spiders need content to see what the page is about. Images can’t be read.

5. Page Names should be thought out. Name the pages using a keyword that describes what that page is about.

6. Navigation and Structure are important because you want the site to be accessible not only for humans to navigate through but spiders as well.

7. Keep content fresh. Search engines love new content so try ti update the content as often as possible.

8. Avoid Flash, it can’t be read easily by search engine spiders.

By incorporating just a few of these tips into your next design you will be ahead of the curve. By marrying web design and optimization you have a step up on your competition.

• Test Different Meta descriptions. This is one of the easiest ways to increase traffic even without increasing rankings. Obtaining a first page ranking for a given keyword is just one step to getting more traffic because there are still nine other organic competitors on that page. So take the time to test different marketing messages within the Meta description to improve your organic click through rate.  For starters, make sure descriptions are relevant to page content and ensure competitive differentiators such as price and quality is included. So start testing those Meta descriptions because you better believe your competitors are doing it.
• Run PPC on branded keywords. Coupling organic visibility with paid search visibility has been proven to improve click through rates within both spaces. Consistent messaging and prominent display improves trust among searchers – especially for those that might not yet be familiar with your brand – thus increasing their likelihood to click.
• Manage site links. Check to make sure these are displayed in an ideal manner. If non-relevant site links are being displayed over more useful ones (About Us vs. Make an Appointment, for example) then log into your Google Webmaster Tools account and block the site links that are not adding any value.
• Utilize new content. Google loves new, freshly updated content. Try to write an article or blog post as often as you can so that Google sees your website is updating often. This will cause Google to visit your site more often and possibly help you gain more trust.
• Take advantage of real time search. Now that Google is integrating dynamic streams of real time content into their search results, much of which comes from Twitter, this represents a huge opportunity for additional traffic.  Use relevant keywords in your tweets so that these will rank in real time search results and you can gain additional (albeit short lived) search engine visibility.

These tips should be in addition to your normal optimization techniques. Just remember that there are quite a few tactics that can be used in conjunction to SEO that will help to gain additional traffic. If you take advantage of all opportunities, large and small, you should see a lift in new visitors.

There are two key components to monitoring your competition online, analyzing back links and the development of marketing intelligence. We are gonna look at both and how we can use them to build links for SEO.

Analyzing Backlinks
When looking at a competitors back links, I’m looking for two things: the anchor text used and where it sits. Of the four components of link popularity (link quantity, quality, anchor text and relevance) they are the two strongest elements to affect rank.

Anchor text, the clickable part of the link you see, is a ranking indicator. It tells both humans and search bots what’s coming next.

How sites link to you has an impact on your traffic from those links, because it describes your site to potential visitors. In addition, anchor text influences the queries your site ranks for in the search results. If your competitors are ranking well for a certain phrase, look at the anchor text in their back links and ask:

- Do you see the phrase listed?
- Are the links sitting on topically relevant pages that have been indexed?
- Are those anchors sitting in content areas?
If the anchor text phrase is listed multiple times in your competitors back links, you’ll need to exceed that number to rank ahead most likely.

Marketing Intelligence
Marketing intelligence is the collection and analysis of competitive information within a market. The goal of this is to help with decision making, keeping an eye on competitors, opportunities and threats.

Competitors place tons of information on their sites as a way to add content, attract customers and the media. One cush section is the news/media area which holds the company’s press releases. I set alerts to these media pages and when a change happens, I’m notified. I’ll track the press release taking note of where it was sent and to whom. If a journalist or blogger talks about the release I’m notified and take note for future linking building.

If we rely on back links alone to provide the bulk of our competitive information, we may miss opportunities to build competitive links. Look at everything your competitor has – back links, website, job postings, blogs, advertisements etc., as an opportunity to build links.

1. Avoid that really long domain name - Although this is considered to be common knowledge you would be surprised to see how many businesses use websites that are a mouthful. You want a domain name that’s short and easy to remember.
2. The perception of being small - Even if you are a small company running your business out of your basement, you don’t need to let potential customers know that. Compare your website and offerings to that of your larger competitors.
3. Professional Web Design - I know the first thing you think of is cost, but you would be surprised at how many options are out there that can provide you with a well designed website that looks professional. Remember it’s all about first impressions.
4. Same Ol Website - What will cause a customer to come back to you and buy from you again if everythings is always the same. Change content, pictures, or even incoporate a blog.
5. Initiatives of the week, month - Creating weekly or monthly sales, newsletters or emails can be a great thing to keep cusotmers interested in what you have to offer. The probelem that can occur is that if this is not kept up then you get a bad impression on your business. Be sure you have the resources to accomplish this!

With that said here are 7 ways a small business can jump on the social media scene without using alot of resources.

1. Start a blog. Blogging is old news to many, but it’s still a great way to open up a dialogue with your customers, and that connection is the reason social marketing exists. WordPress is free, open source software—so the price is right. The time investment is completely up to you, but this truism applies: The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out. Still, it’s okay—and I’d even say it’s recommended—to start slowly and increase your time investment as you get comfortable with using a blog.

2. Comment on other blogs. Blogging is about creating and joining conversations, and that includes reading what others in your industry are saying and joining the discussion on other blogs. It’s free, and again, the time investment is up to you. You’ll be able to supply your name and URL when leaving a comment, and there’s no debate that intelligent comments on other blogs helps build traffic to yours.

3. Get active at Yahoo Answers. If you’re a service-based small business, you already know that your expertise is your No. 1 marketing tool. Yahoo Answers is a great way to share your knowledge with people who are looking for it—a direct connection with potential customers. I spend about 1-2 hours a week answering SEO and marketing questions there, and that small investment of time never fails to bring more traffic to my blog. Never.

4. Make and share videos. Good video cameras are cheap these days, and a short video needs little editing/production. Even if you do decide to add some sizzle to a video, the required software won’t break the bank. How-to videos are an obvious choice. “Tour” videos—tours of your business, restaurant, the homes you build or sell, etc. are also a good idea. In addition to using them on your own Web site or blog, YouTube is an obvious sharing destination. Local search is also embracing video: CitySearch recently announced that local video ads will be added to its listings, and YellowPages.com is also pursuing video opportunities.

5. Take and share photos. I’m a longtime believer in using Flickr as a marketing tool. The time and cost investment is minimal. And thanks to Flickr’s incredibly active photo groups, you can share photos of your products with people who are interested.

6. Try StumbleUpon. Of all the discovery-type of social sites (Digg, Reddit, Netscape, etc.), I believe StumbleUpon requires the lowest time investment. Joining groups related to your industry and adding friends from those groups can be done quickly. Once you do that, as you add pages to StumbleUpon—including your own great content—other users will “stumble upon” what you’ve added. As those visitors give it the “thumbs up”, your content is then shown to even more users. Unlike Digg or del.icio.us, you don’t need to spend several months building up a great user profile. StumbleUpon was the No. 1 referrer to my blog in 2006, and that’s without spending a lot of time working it. I should note that the main benefit of StumbleUpon will be traffic, more so than links, sales, etc. So rather than hope it becomes a direct source of revenue or higher rankings, you should hope that it increases awareness, blog readership, feed subscribers, and the like.

7. Join groups & mailing lists. Social marketing is about finding your customers where they are. There’s a good chance at least some of your customers are using Yahoo Groups or Google Groups to share interests. Much like the Flickr examples above, there are probably groups/lists that are highly related to the products or services you offer. And much like the Yahoo Answers suggestion, being able to help others in this community setting can be a great marketing tool.

If you adopt some of the strategies above you will be well on your way.