1.) Create a site with valuable content and useful products or services.
2.) Use your primary and secondary keywords in the first 25 words of your site's content and try to use them throughout your site.
3.) Research the right keywords to reach your target market and then use them in your content.
4.) Use your keywords in the right places on your page; title, meta tags, headers and of course in the body of your pages.
5.) Keep your site design user-friendly so that your visitors can find what they are looking for on your site.
6.) Submit every page on your site to the major search engines and directories, not just your home page. If you don't have time to do this, hire someone to do it for you. Make sure this is done manually because you must not use automated submission services.
7.) Keep up with the changes in the algorithms used by search engines and fine tune your web pages accordingly to keep your search engine rankings high. Use available online tools to track the performance of your website.
8.) Keep an eye on your competition to see what they are doing with their site design, content, functionality and use of keywords.
9.) Make use of the log files and reports provided by your web hosting company. You can analyze this data to find out where your visitors are coming from and the links and keywords they used to find you.
10.) Give your visitors something to remember you by, for instance you can offer newsletters, reports, coupons and the like.
11.) Show off your expertise and become known as an expert in your field by writing articles and submitting them to directories as well as posting them on your own site.
12.) If you are selling products on your website, make payment and shipping easy for your customers.
13.) When in doubt, hire a professional. It's a lot cheaper than having a site which goes unvisited.
In conclusion, don't think of your website as a static thing; make it a dynamic, ever changing place. Think if it like you would a physical retail outlet and do the same things you would do in a bricks and mortar establishment to attract and retain customers.
