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SEO (Search Engine Optimization)


SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Here is a summary of some points that will help in your SEO efforts.


Keywords and Keyword Phrases


Sources for Keywords and Keyword Phrases


  1. Personal knowledge of the subject.
  2. Research the subject - some places are web sites, books, magazines, newsletters, and other publications.
  3. Brainstorm with family, friends, co-workers, etc.
  4. Competition - check the competition – use the search engines and find websites that you will be competing against. Read through the text of the web sites and collect prospective keywords and keyword phrases. View the HTML code and get words and phrases from the keywords meta tags in the heading.
  5. Use online 'search term suggestion tools' and other tools.
  6. Think of keywords and keyword phrases that a user would use in a search engine to find your subject.
  7. Consider singular, plural, and misspellings of the keywords.


Notes about Keyword Placement


  1. <title> tag
    The Title tag is the single most important tag to put keywords in. It should begin with the most important search keyword or keyword phrase users will enter to find your site. It is more important than the content. Many search engines look for Keywords here. Search engines also display the Title tag in its listing of the web site. Generally the Title tag should not exceed 80 characters. Use 50-80 characters.
  2. Heading <h1> tag - use keywords in the heading early in the page.
  3. URLs - name your pages with the keywords separated by hyphens.
  4. Place keywords higher up in the text of the web page - try to insert them in the first paragraph of the page.
  5. The Home Page is the most important page for your keywords. The home page should contain the greatest concentration of keywords and keyword phrases.
  6. The larger the font size is, the more important the keyword becomes.
  7. Each web page on your site should have its own unique title tag, whose keywords reflect that page's specific content.


Domain Names


  • When creating a domain name, try to create one with your top keywords or keyword phrases. Delimit each word with a hyphen.


Link Popularity and Link Reputation


Link Popularity
How many external sites link to your web page or web site.

Link Reputation
How popular the external sites are that link to your web page or web site, and how relevant those external links are to your content on your web page or website.

  1. Link popularity and link reputation counts as much, if not more, that other optimization tactics.
  2. Get your web sites listed on as many relevant sites as possible to increase your link popularity and link reputation. Avoid directories that are just link farms.
  3. Place keywords in the inbound links to your website.
  4. Make use of internal links on the web site.
  5. Consider making a site map page with text links to everything in your web site You can submit this page to search engines to help them locate pages within your web site.
  6. The more popular the site that links to you, the higher the ranking you achieve with the search engines.


Content


Good quality content is information that your visitors will find helpful and is relevant to their needs. The content should be of value to your visitors and to your company, and should meet the needs and requirements of your target audience. Good quality content means useful, well crafted text that your human website visitors want to read. A good quantity of useful content is better than a small amount. Search engines love large quantities of quality content. Keep website fresh and up to date. Add new content when appropriate. Newer content is often seen as more relevant.


Some Suggestions from Google


  1. Have other high quality relevant sites link to yours.
  2. Submit a sitemap as part of Google Webmaster Tools.
  3. Submit sites to relevant directories like ODP, Yahoo, and Industry specific sites.
  4. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link. Have a clear hierarchy with text links.
  5. Have a sitemap for users with links that point to the important parts of your site.
  6. Have site include keywords in the content/text.
  7. Make sure that the TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and accurate.
  8. Use a text browser like Lynx to view the site. If Lynx has problems viewing it, search engine spiders will have trouble crawling the site.
  9. Make sure the Web Server supports the ‘If Modified Since’ HTTP Header.
  10. Have keywords on the home page.
  11. Provide high quality content on your pages, especially your home page. This is the single most important thing to do.
  12. Think about the words users would type to find your pages and include those words on your site.
  13. Consider creating static copies of dynamic pages.
  14. Don’t fill your page with lists of keywords.
  15. The best way to ensure that your site returns for your preferred keywords is to include them on your pages.


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