In order to improve website traffic, it is a good idea to take the time and effort to explore some of the ways to increase website search engine rankings. The most important thing is to create the website with interesting and desirable products, services and/or content.

1. Keywords

One tactic is to place primary and secondary keywords in the first paragraph of articles and information, and then to spread them evenly throughout the remainder of a web page. But it is also important to pay mind to the optimal keyword density, which ranges from 3 to 5 percent. Exceeding that could relegate your website to the spam pile of the major search engines. Once there, it is extremely difficult to revert the situation.

2. Market Research

Perform market research to find target keywords to attract the most ideal customers. Put the keywords in the meta-tags, title, headings and sub-headings. It has also been found that keywords in bold text such as headings and sub-headings can help with search engine indexing, and therefore overall ranking.

3. Employ a Simple Website Design

It is a good idea to keep the website design simple. In this way, customers will be able to easily navigate between the web pages to find what they are looking for. If a website is too complicated or has too much flash, potential customers can get frustrated and then will not want to continue to find information, or buy products or services. Also, try not to clutter the web page with too many flashing advertisements or banners. If the website sells products, ensure that payment and shipping methods are simple. It is essential to have as simple a checkout process as possible, for the smoothest customer experience. Customers will be more likely to return to an easy to navigate website.

4. Search Engine Submission

Submitting web pages to popular search engines can be an effective method to increase web traffic. It is better to manually submit websites rather than use automated services, since some employ spam and scam tactics that search engines have policies against.

Be aware of search engine news such as that offered by SEOmoz, which offers valuable tips and information about how to increase website rankings. There are many online tools and utilities to keep track of how a website is performing. Be sure to take advantage and use them. Write and submit articles for the website to article banks to demonstrate your industry expertise and to be perceived as an expert. If you follow search engine and basic SEO mandates, the valuable content you offer will affect algorithms so that they change normally and naturally.

5. Study Competitor Web Sites

Take a look at top competitors and highly ranked websites. See what is being done in terms of website design, content, keywords and navigation. The web hosting company you use should have available reports and logs to see where web visitors come from. Do an analysis of visitor location and incoming sources to see what the search engines or links from other sites are and what keywords are being used to find your website. Make sure potential customers can navigate their visit simply and provide many easy ways to remember the website from newsletters, coupons, offers and free reports.

6. Ensure the Website is Properly Maintained

If you don't have time to properly maintain a website, try to hire professionals to handle the details effectively. The money spent on maintenance could be well worth the cost that a lack of visitors, traffic and less sales will ultimately cost.

Consider your website to be an ever evolving, dynamic sales tool - to be designed and monitored just as a traditional business relies upon customer relationships and new prospects.