Ten Beginner’s Search Engine Optimization Tips
I’ve been reading some books and articles on search engine optimization and I wanted to post some of the tips that I have gleened from these resources:
1. Use standards compliant, accessible XHTML or HTML code. Avoid using presentation tags/styling within the XHTML/HTML files. Presentation should be controlled with an external CSS file.
2. Concentrate on getting your site listed in the following search systems:
- http://www.google.com
- http://www.yahoo.com
- http://www.askjeeves.com
- http://www.dmoz.org
- http://search.msn.com
You can learn more about getting listed at these sites @ Search Engine Watch’s article Major Search Engines and Directories.
3. Brainstorm for a list of keywords for your site before you start building the site and writing the content. Keywords are used by search engines to index your site. Keywords should be used in the title, pages names, content, headings, links, alt and title tags, and meta tags. Important keywords should be at the top of the page, in the title, and the heading tags. Keywords can also be bolded or italicized, or added to bulleted lists. Tools like Google’s AdWord’s Keyword Tool can be useful for brainstorming keywords for your site’s content. Look at your competition’s keywords, use singular and plural forms of the words and you may want to use obvious spelling mistakes in your keywords.
4. Get people to link to your site. When sites that are already indexed link to your site, your site will be spidered by the search engines and indexed as well. When someone links to your site ask them to use “keywords” in their links. Text links should be descriptive and contain keywords; avoid using links like “click here”. Search engines use the text in links for indexing, text links are very important. Comment in blogs, leaving your URL when requested.
5. Content is king when it comes to search engine placement. Focus on writing excellent content. A page that relies on images or Flash may not index well. If you are using images, use keywords in the alt tags to describe the image.
6. If you are building a site for a local business be sure to use geographic keywords to identify where your business is located For example, “bay area” “conta costa county”, “california”, “pleasant hill”, “east bay”, etc. are all keywords that I use for the web design class site.
7. If you are setting up a blog, use Technorati ta
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January 10th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
In item #10 you say:
My log files show most of the recent search engine hits are from a search for “nixon minus brain equals bush”. Now what does that tell me?
January 24th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Great list of resources. I thought I’d add that my article, Do-It-Yourself Search Engine Optimization is a nice complement to help your readers.
Thanks for the great information and resources you offer. I’m a big fan. Oh, gosh, I sound like a comment spammer.
But honestly, really good work. Keep up the “standards”.
January 24th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
Oh, Robin, I forgot to mention that I have a new post that will be awesome for your students. It’s about finding story ideas and content for blogging, something I know of serious interest to you and your students.
January 25th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Thank you Lorelle! You’re always such a wealth of information.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Just a brief comment on this point:
“6. If you are building a site for a local business be sure to use geographic keywords to identify where your business is located For example, “bay area” “conta costa county”, “california”, “pleasant hill”, “east bay”, etc. are all keywords that I use for the web design class site”
This really does help.
Most small businesses have local competition of only 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 pages for very important keywords in their industry.
By adding the names of all of the towns in your area scattered thruout your pages can quickly help you to get to page 1 and 2 of the search engines.
I recently have done this with a colon hydrotherapist…and she said the phone won’t stop ringing!
If you haven’t tried it yet– I would recommend it.
frank
Atlanta Search Engine Optimization
SEO Atlanta