This is a guest post by Ne0Â

Well I was asked if I wanted to do a guest post for PoorSEM and since I don’t like writing I gave it a second thought. But after hearing how much it paid I had to agree! (LOL it’s free - sort of…read on)

So since the site is about doing SEM w/o a lot of money I figured I’d touch on a few things that used to work and what is working now.

Back in the glory days of lame algorithm’s all you needed was a few keywords in your title tag and 50k of them in your meta keywords tag. Since that doesn’t work anymore… maybe we should find some Search Engine Marketing that does work.

First things first, I tell all my clients that On-Site Optimization is about 10% of the battle - 89% is Off-site Optimization and the last 1% is just plain dumb luck! So you have little to nothing to spend on your sites SEM campaign. Where to start?

In the not too distant past submitting your site to a list of free directories was a good way to build some IBL’s (In Bound Links) Now, not so much… That being said, the shift is heading towards SMO Social Media Optimization. Remember that Content is King and linking is Queen.

So what if your not a great writer? DO A PODCAST! I don’t like writing, I don’t use proper punctuation… and a lot of times after I write something up I’m really not happy with it. However I can speak and I like to do our podcast which does bring in lots of traffic!

So here’s a quick checklist most are free:

*Tell everyone you know about your site and ASK for links.

*Offer to write articles for your competitors w/ a link back to the author.

*Submit your site to some free directories (not such a big deal now but it all helps a little bit - be sure NOT TO submit to link farms)

*Participate in a forum that niche specific (if you sell blue widgets - type in “blue widgets forum” in Google) sign up be a productive member of that community and you will prosper from time spent!

*Start a blog and start answering your most common questions (kind of like a FAQ - but it’s a running conversation w/ your clients / patron’s)

*Add AdSense to your site to bulk up your budget for your SEM campaign (most people don’t like doing this but, HEY, we all have to start somewhere right?)

*Spend wisely - often times buying an ebook that promises to increase your traffic 4,000% isn’t worth the paper it’s not written on!

*Buy links - yes I said it… find your vertical partners - do a whois search and contact the webmaster… work something out… you may not have to buy a link, maybe rake leaves for them for a link

*Go to your local organizations, speak on your subject matter (then ask for a LINK)

*Write regular articles - if you can’t write well, this is where you use your budget wisely… find a good writer - pay them to write for you - OR…

*Ask people to do guest posts on your blog (for a link - this is my payoff for this article)

*Post up in Craigslist - test those results in your analytics package.

*Depending on your budget - do some PPC when your starting out.

*Get some link bait and run a StumbleUpon campaign at .05 a visit.

There’s lots of things that you can do to bolster your traffic and conversions - not all of the above will work for every site. The most important aspect to this entire process is COMMON SENSE! My Dad always said “Common Sense isn’t that common” Your either born with it or you weren’t -
so if you fit into the second category… hire someone that fits into the first

Hope that wasn’t too boring and for lots of other GREAT ideas… be sure to check out SEO 101 on Webmaster Radio.fm

Guest post by David Brown / AKA NeO