The goal of SEO is to maximize the traffic of quality visitors to a Web site and to do it as quickly as possible. Because most site owners are in a rush to gain rankings, they tend to overlook the very basics and just blindly start optimizing without any type of plan. This is unproductive and usually increases the amount of time required to do SEO. Sadly, many Web site owners spend more time planning out their vacations, than they do the Web sites that should be paying for them.

The first key to planning a Web site is to get rid of the old fashioned concept of a “home page.” This archaic view held that there was a main page on your site that housed most of the action and then visitors would navigate to additional pages for more refined information. This concept is still very popular, because it seems to makes sense to us. Just like our homes, visitors are welcomed through a main front door and then taken to areas of additional action. Sadly, Google doesn’t play that way and you’ll never be competitive believing it.

Instead of thinking of your Web site as a home with a single front door, imagine it is a giant mall with thousands of entrances and exits. Visitors come in front doors, side doors, stage doors, delivery doors, individual store entrances and perhaps even helicopter pads. If you want to maximize your SEO, you must start building every page as an entrance page. Looking at pages in this manner, will geometrically multiply the effectiveness of your SEO and bring many more new visitors.

Ask yourself, what is the main goal for each of your Web site pages? Create one key action you’d like every visitor to that page to take. Below is a list of key actions many webmasters want visitors to initiate. Take a moment to define the key actions of your webpages.

• Purchase a product
• Become a loyal return visitor
• Fill out an email sign-up form
• View a specific page on the site
• Comment on your blog
• “Like” you on Facebook or “follow you” on Twitter
• Post a review
• Drive to your retail store
• Contribute to your political campaign
• Call your company for more information
• Become a member of your community
• Become better educated about an important issue
• Find the information for which they were looking
• View your Google AdSense ads or other advertisements

This is a guest post to the Graphics Unleashed Blog by Doug Dickson. Doug Dickson is President and Chief Energizing Officer of Print Source One, one of the Arizona’s leading printing companies. His clientele includes all of America’s largest financial and insurance companies, celebrities, as well as top professionals in the medical, plastic surgery dental and orthodontic specialties. Mr. Dickson is well known for his ability to analyze Web sites and help them achieve front page listings in Google, a process known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). He is an industry expert and has been recognized by Google as a Certified Adwords Partner.