Oct
11

Search Engine Optimization Primer for Maximimum Results

Search Engine Optimization Primer for Maximimum Results

Search Engine Optimization Primer

Although the concept of search engine optimization — the process of making a site and its content highly relevant for both search engines and searchers — can be somewhat complex, there are a number of basic techniques you can use to improve your organic search results. Keep in mind these methods when trying to achieve top rankings for your Web site as part of a niche marketing plan:

Add Meta tags. Meta tags are simple lines of code at the top of your Web page that tell search engines about your page. Include a title tag, keyword tag, description tag, and robots tag on each page.
Try to get your web pages stored in Google’s index. Google Index Pages represent the number of web pages on your website that have been stored in the Google database. The more pages that are stored in Google’s database, the more visibility your website has.
Readability Level of Web Site Content. The readability level of content on your website measures the level of education necessary to read and have an understanding of the web page content. The content should be simple enough so that your target audience can understand it.
Make sure that you have a site map and it is up-to-date. A site map is a easy way of informing search engines of the information they need to trawl your Web site. There are plenty of free software packages on the Web that can help you generate a site map. Once you create one, submit it to Google and Yahoo. The results will be worth your efforts.
All navigation should be in HTML. Some websites have navigational items in the form of JavaScript. Even though navigation technically still works in this format, it’s not able to be optimized. If  your navigation is in HTML and place keywords in your links, all your links will count more to the search engines.

Note: Do not use an underscore in links as they prohibit crawling by search engines.

Use Flash content sparingly. Some webmasters like to use Flash because of the presentation, but if your focus is on search results, you’ll want to use it minimally, and only after your site has been reviewed with basic search engine optimization in mind.

Note: If you use Flash images be sure to tags tohose images in HTML with ALT tags.

Place keywords in your page content. Search engines scan your Web site and Web pages for keywords. Shoot for a keyword density of between two and eight percent. Google likes your page to be at the lower end of this scale and Yahoo at the upper end.

Submit your Web site to search engine directories. It’s always a good idea to let large search engine directories know that you’re out there. Submit your Web site URL to directories like Google, Yahoo, and the Open Directory Project (dmoz.org).

Create links to your Web site. Create one-way links to your site using articles or forum posts. Having links to your website from authorized resources on the Internet helps you rank higher in search engines because these links indicate your website is trustworthy.
Sign Up Forms. A simple subscription form indicates to Google that this site is not SPAM because the form shows that you care about users.

Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Good optimization takes time. People expect to see results immediately. You may very well see improvements in a short period, but reaching the No. 1 position takes time. Be patient.

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