Achieving High SEO Search Engine
Ranking
Very few topics have inspired as many tangents, as much false
information . . . incurred as much abuse as search engine optimization.
With the few shreds of information search engines reveal about their
actual methodologies, optimizers struggle to get that extra edge over
the competition, armed with esoteric theories of keyword density,
precise meta-tag length, optimal internal linking, and just about any
other detail that a search engine might happen to factor into its
rankings. Before you find yourself scrambling to create ten more
content-less pages to avert that worst than death curse of decreased PageRank, try to take a look at the big picture. Barring design factors
that may not be search engine friendly, a strong foundation based on
four factors will give your site good success. These factors are the
holy grail of optimization:
1. Get relevant links to your site anchored to keyword rich text.
2. Write focused body text that targets specific keyphrases or that is
focused on a specific topic (This occurs naturally when someone is
communicating useful information. This can be a problem because a lot of
businesses don’t have anything useful to say. Be detailed. Be helpful.
This can naturally accomplish what automatic text generators try to
accomplish through keyword density and keyword proximity calculations).
3. Write concise titles focused on useful keyphrases.
4. Be patient. You may not be using the best strategies, but you’re
using strategies that work over time. Continue to get links and create
more content.
Find the Words
Before you can write good, keyphrase-focused body text or titles, you
need to find the phrases users search. For good keyword suggestion
tools, search Google with (surprise, surprise) “keyword suggestion
tool.” Digitalpoint.com has an excellent tool that compares Wordtracker
and Overture keyword results. Judge from the search volume how
competitive each word is (not even close to the best method, but it’ll
have to due). Be specific. Pick words with large search volume and
search with geographic terms if you serve only a specific area. From the
list of keyphrases, start thinking about the topics you’ll want to
target. Find a few phrases for each page in your site. Remember to focus
on phrases and not separate words – make sure these phrases appear in
your body text.
Titles
HTML titles go between the title tags in your site’s code. Write short
titles that use one or two keyphrases. Don’t use the name of your
company unless you are trying to brand the name. Include location if you
target certain areas, and make sure your pages repeat this location
information in the text. Your body text should be written to fit the
phrases in your title.
Body Text and Navigation
Be specific about what you are talking about. In your navigation don’t
use generic linking text like “home” or “about us.” Use specific
phrases. Instead of “home” use the name or category of your main
service/product, and make it obvious from the context that this is your
main page. Instead of “about us” use a phrase like “A (main
product/service) Company.” This communicates more information to the
user and includes a keyphrase. Where appropriate, make the same type of
substitutions in the body text. Use variations of nouns and verbs,
including plurals and different conjugations.
If you can, use the heading tags (h1, h2, etc.) to write text titles.
Try to communicate as much as you can in text – search engines don’t see
the text in images, or fancy media like Flash. Alt tags are useful, but
search engines don’t put as much weight on them as visible text. In
general, whatever has a greater chance to be seen by the user is going
to get greater weight from the search engines (Except for those things
produced by JavaScript, or Flash, or written into an image – use common
sense).
Build Links
It is remarkably easy to get your site indexed by the search engines –
just submit to some of the many free directories. To find some of these
directories search for “free directory list” in Google. Be careful to
read submission guidelines, and be very careful about what you submit to
large directories like DMOZ. Generally, titles should not be a list of
keywords. Most directories only want your homepage and the “official
title” (somewhat ambiguous term) of your site with a short description.
Descriptions should be factual, and they should be written in complete
sentences or meaningful phrases. Some optimization companies will rip
you off by charging you money to submit your site to the major search
engines – this is a waste of time. Start building links, and the search
engines will find your site naturally, submitting makes no difference in
your rankings.
It is important to get links from sites that are related to yours. Write
webmasters requesting a link, find niche sites that offer free
submissions, write articles for sites that allow you to put down a
signature link, or post comments in forums that allow you to put down
your signature.
If you exchange links, be careful who you trade with. Get listed
wherever you want without fear of penalty from the search engines, but
be careful who you link to. Your site can get penalized for linking into
bad neighborhoods spamming the search engines.
It Never Ends
Expand your site and continue to tell people about its content. It’s an
ongoing process. The older your site gets, the more credibility it can
gain with the search engines. Keep your content fresh. Check the search
engines to see what they have indexed (search site:www.domain.com). Be
patient and keep up with search engine changes
Ranking
Very few topics have inspired as many tangents, as much false
information . . . incurred as much abuse as search engine optimization.
With the few shreds of information search engines reveal about their
actual methodologies, optimizers struggle to get that extra edge over
the competition, armed with esoteric theories of keyword density,
precise meta-tag length, optimal internal linking, and just about any
other detail that a search engine might happen to factor into its
rankings. Before you find yourself scrambling to create ten more
content-less pages to avert that worst than death curse of decreased PageRank, try to take a look at the big picture. Barring design factors
that may not be search engine friendly, a strong foundation based on
four factors will give your site good success. These factors are the
holy grail of optimization:
1. Get relevant links to your site anchored to keyword rich text.
2. Write focused body text that targets specific keyphrases or that is
focused on a specific topic (This occurs naturally when someone is
communicating useful information. This can be a problem because a lot of
businesses don’t have anything useful to say. Be detailed. Be helpful.
This can naturally accomplish what automatic text generators try to
accomplish through keyword density and keyword proximity calculations).
3. Write concise titles focused on useful keyphrases.
4. Be patient. You may not be using the best strategies, but you’re
using strategies that work over time. Continue to get links and create
more content.
Find the Words
Before you can write good, keyphrase-focused body text or titles, you
need to find the phrases users search. For good keyword suggestion
tools, search Google with (surprise, surprise) “keyword suggestion
tool.” Digitalpoint.com has an excellent tool that compares Wordtracker
and Overture keyword results. Judge from the search volume how
competitive each word is (not even close to the best method, but it’ll
have to due). Be specific. Pick words with large search volume and
search with geographic terms if you serve only a specific area. From the
list of keyphrases, start thinking about the topics you’ll want to
target. Find a few phrases for each page in your site. Remember to focus
on phrases and not separate words – make sure these phrases appear in
your body text.
Titles
HTML titles go between the title tags in your site’s code. Write short
titles that use one or two keyphrases. Don’t use the name of your
company unless you are trying to brand the name. Include location if you
target certain areas, and make sure your pages repeat this location
information in the text. Your body text should be written to fit the
phrases in your title.
Body Text and Navigation
Be specific about what you are talking about. In your navigation don’t
use generic linking text like “home” or “about us.” Use specific
phrases. Instead of “home” use the name or category of your main
service/product, and make it obvious from the context that this is your
main page. Instead of “about us” use a phrase like “A (main
product/service) Company.” This communicates more information to the
user and includes a keyphrase. Where appropriate, make the same type of
substitutions in the body text. Use variations of nouns and verbs,
including plurals and different conjugations.
If you can, use the heading tags (h1, h2, etc.) to write text titles.
Try to communicate as much as you can in text – search engines don’t see
the text in images, or fancy media like Flash. Alt tags are useful, but
search engines don’t put as much weight on them as visible text. In
general, whatever has a greater chance to be seen by the user is going
to get greater weight from the search engines (Except for those things
produced by JavaScript, or Flash, or written into an image – use common
sense).
Build Links
It is remarkably easy to get your site indexed by the search engines –
just submit to some of the many free directories. To find some of these
directories search for “free directory list” in Google. Be careful to
read submission guidelines, and be very careful about what you submit to
large directories like DMOZ. Generally, titles should not be a list of
keywords. Most directories only want your homepage and the “official
title” (somewhat ambiguous term) of your site with a short description.
Descriptions should be factual, and they should be written in complete
sentences or meaningful phrases. Some optimization companies will rip
you off by charging you money to submit your site to the major search
engines – this is a waste of time. Start building links, and the search
engines will find your site naturally, submitting makes no difference in
your rankings.
It is important to get links from sites that are related to yours. Write
webmasters requesting a link, find niche sites that offer free
submissions, write articles for sites that allow you to put down a
signature link, or post comments in forums that allow you to put down
your signature.
If you exchange links, be careful who you trade with. Get listed
wherever you want without fear of penalty from the search engines, but
be careful who you link to. Your site can get penalized for linking into
bad neighborhoods spamming the search engines.
It Never Ends
Expand your site and continue to tell people about its content. It’s an
ongoing process. The older your site gets, the more credibility it can
gain with the search engines. Keep your content fresh. Check the search
engines to see what they have indexed (search site:www.domain.com). Be
patient and keep up with search engine changes
The advent of social media has brought a host of changes to the SEO industry, and online marketing as a whole. You would be hard-pressed to find a business with a decent online presence that does not have a Twitter account connected to their website, and at least one way to find that account.
