One of the simplest SEO techniques anyone can use should be fairly obvious. Pay attention to how people find your website and then give them more of the same. There’s no easier way to build additional traffic to a website than to offer related material to what’s already bringing them in. Your log files hold keys to what your visitors really want.
Keep returning until the well runs dry
Once you notice people hitting your website based on a certain search phrase, use the knowledge to build ancillary support for the terms. Add more pages about what they’re looking for, and extend your archive in that direction. When you stop getting new results, then you’re free to quit. The well has run dry and you can move on.
Find additional keywords to mine
Once you’ve exhausted some of the obvious log file related words, move on to more keyword development. Google provides a handy keyword tool that can help you find more concepts easily.
Test the waters by going for a few long-tail phrases and see what the cat drags in. For bloggers, look at this task as a writing exercise. If you start to drive new traffic to your website, you can again expand on what people are searching for by adding more pages.
The circle continues again, until that well runs dry. When it does.
Find another well
Never be complacent because you’ve managed to get some traffic from Google. They handle 70% of the searches on the Internet, so you better believe they can always send you more people.
Another simple way to research keywords is to enter the beginnings of a phrase in the Google search form. They will “auto suggest” more variations that are presumably derived from actual terms people are entering.
Build on these terms by writing new compositions. Watch what variations people search for, and continue to build ancillary terms.
This approach isn’t for everyone, but for search engine marketers who enjoy writing, it’s an easy way to find new sources of traffic. For bloggers, this method should be fun and profitable.
Remember, the Internet is huge and there’s always new sources of traffic. Don’t be alarmed when one well dries up, with careful effort you can replace that one with much more valuable ones.