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There are two ways to do SEO: white hat and black hat. White hat SEO is the legitimate optimization of a website for maximum rankings in search engines. Black hat SEO will get you banned, if you are caught, from the likes of Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines. Below are tips and techniques that will keep you on the right side of the line and ensure that your SEO strategy works.

Use Reddit for Keyword Research

Keywords should be the foundation of any good SEO strategy and the best places to find keywords are places where people post a lot of information. Reddit has millions of people who talk about almost every topic you can imagine, which means the site is literally riddled with keywords. Simply search for one keyword and let that guide you through subreddits that you can scan for other keywords. Pay particularly close attention to subreddits that follow Q&A formats.

Optimize Title Tags

Every page must have a title and it should be unique, but there is more to a great title than just being unique. The title should be 70 characters or less in length. It should also include both product- and service-related keywords. Make sure that the title is informative and intriguing and that it mentions your company’s brand name if possible.

Benefit-Focused Content Creation

Benefit-Focused Content Creation (BFCC) refers to creating content that specifically answers questions. Instead of posting top 100 lists or the latest celebrity gossip, you focus instead on generating the outcomes that your audience is looking for. You want to address specific questions that you know your users are asking by providing specific answers. Any time you post something, consider what the content will do for your consumer? Content is king, after all.

Search Wikipedia for Link Building Opportunities

When reading Wikipedia, you may come across “dead links.” These dead links are a gold mine because they give you opportunities to make connections. Here is how it works:

.   Search for a keyword and the term “dead link” in Google by typing site: wikipedia.org[keyword] + “dead link.”

.   Visit the page in the results that is relevant to your site (your content) and use ctrl + f to search for “dead link” on the page.

.   When you find the dead link search for backlinks to other domains using a link analysis tool.

.   Use the backlinks and referring domains to set up as many link partnerships as you can.

Search for “Best of” Blog Listings

“Best of” blog listings are nothing more than compilations of the best blogs about a given topic. What makes them useful is the fact that they give you loads of places to start looking for links and relationships. Use the blogs in “best of” lists to promote content or build long-term relationships that are mutually beneficial.

Keywords in Navigation

Google’s algorithm ignores anchor text that is past the first link. That means that sub-menus and pages linked to from menus are often ignored. To improve your SEO, make sure that your navigation anchors are keyword-rich.

Guest Posts

Guest posting is a great way to connect with other people and to provide a little content in exchange for a link back to your site. The goals are two-fold. You want to make connections to the people and companies in your industry and you want to cultivate high-quality backlinks.

Use Social Media

Google and Bing have both indicated that “social signals,” such as link shares and brand mentions, are important to natural search engine rankings. That means that you must keep a profile on sites like Twitter and Facebook ant that you must post regularly. The recommendation is that you spend twenty minutes posting to social networks each day.

Keep Going

The tips and techniques above are just the start. Some of them tell you what good SEO practices are and some give you guidance for putting good SEO into place. SEO can be time-consuming, but doing it well can make all of the difference for your website. Plan to spend as much time building links and tweaking your SEO strategy as you did building the site itself.