How to get your web site higher in the list of search engine results
Nudging your way up the search engine list is a multi-million dollar industry in itself. I am sure you have already found a plethora of information on the subject already.
At the very least:
- Keep the information on your site relevant
Include lots of hot topic kind of stuff. I believe including automated news feeds are an easy way to accomplish this. Opening a Google business account is free and gives you access to "webmaster tools". One tool allows you to search thru lists of most searched keywords. Which reminds me: don't be afraid to keep repeating hot topic keywords and phrases; like "...the Omaha mall massacre has shoppers shaken ... many see the Omaha mall shooting as a wake up call ... struggle to recover from the shooting at the mall in Omaha ...".
- Bombard your pages with information
Talk about everything you can think of that is relevant to each page. Include sidebars, side notes, footnotes; use any opportunity to provide new information. However, avoid vague or irrelevant discussion. Make each discussion seem like the most important one on the page. And don't say the same thing the same way in different places. They will just be ignored or, even worse, avoided.
- Keep it fresh
It should be updated weekly at the least. Try to update every last discussion, including descriptions, explanations, etc. Even if you have someone to help you that does nothing more than rephrase and restate information that normally wouldn't change, try to keep all of the information changing. By the way, replacing a word here or there does not work anymore. Entire sentences have to be redone. One idea is to type up 5 or more versions of the same discussions ahead of time. Then, rotate the versions each week.
At the very most, hire a company to promote the web site. You can spend very little to very much on this. And, assuming you only consider reputable companies, you will get what you pay for.