Only 10 percent people go to page two of a search engine,Moreover, it is estimated that while 43 percent click on the top three links, only 16 percent go further, making it imperative for a company to get in the top three on page one. That’s where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes to play.
SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines. With Google commanding nearly 2/3 of all Internet searches – SEO trends are determined mostly by what works or not for Google. Search engine optimization is useless if you don't know what you're trying to optimize: in this article we share with you the do’s and don’ts of SEO.
1. Choose the right keywords
Keywords are critical in turning searches into leads; therefore it’s crucial to accurately select them. Many companies futilely endeavor to get a top placement by using broad keywords. Not only does this fail in generating traffic given that users rarely search for broad terms but it also lowers SERP (Search Engine Result Page) ranking. Google calculates the number of times users didn’t choose a listing and the number of times they returned to the search results to choose a different website.
Various keyword-research tools help in the selecting the best terms for SEO. The free Google AdWords Keyword Tool and SEO Book Keyword Suggestion help you gauge how frequently keywords are searched and how competitive a keyword is. Besides employing organic or free techniques, many companies invest resources to find the best keywords. Sponsored Ads and paying for high end design and usability are common SEO practices.
2. Original website content
Distribution of keywords on a page is as important as their selection. When the entire context of a page is about a particular subject, chances at getting noticed by search engines increases. Therefore, optimizing each page for a particular keyword (and its synonyms) increases the relevance of a page.
Another SEO tip is using keywords in the page's HTML title tag. Search engines emphasize on title tags when determining a page's relevancy to a query. Ideally, the title tag and the Meta description should be 65 and 250 characters respectively, including spaces and punctuation.
A well-written, unique and correctly spelled content matters most in SEO. Although Google auto-corrects search words, typos can translate into huge losses in ecommerce sites like eBay where no one bids for ‘Tiffanny’ bracelets. According to Tanuj Nigam, Co-Founder and Director of Bindaas Bargain.com, India’s first daily deal e-shop, “Keywords need to be free of spelling errors, except in cases where the incorrect form of a words is more popular than its standard version.
For example, Genealogy, Tattoo and Britney Spears are largely misspelled as Geneology, Tatoo and Britany Spears. In such cases, it’s wiser to include both the spellings as keywords.
3. Search engine friendly website with linkable content
An easily navigable website allows Google to index all its pages thereby improving its search results. Implementing a valid HTML code and a sitemap using static text links (hyperlinks) facilitate crawling. So does minimizing the file size of all attachments, pictures, and videos.
Another aspect of SEO is linkable content. These include external (within different websites) and internal (from one page to another within a website) links. Both are highly valued by Google and improve a site’s search result ranking. Internal links have anchor text which should accurately reflect the content of the target page. Instead of words like ‘Hint’ or ‘Click Here’; two to three keywords should be used as link text.
Don’ts: Apart from the must-do’s, a lot in SEO is dependent upon what not to do. With BMW Germany being spammed by Google for implementing Black Hat techniques, SEO experts are increasingly conscious of avoiding any SEO trick that Google considers unethical or illegal.
• Stuffing Keywords: An effective usage of keywords enable search engines to discover your site but an overuse can cause them to ignore you.
• Unnatural Link Building: - Link Farms
One of the Black Hat techniques is when websites try to get a large number of back links using various spam techniques. Once caught, Google blacklists such sites, banning them from its search results.
• Plagiarism: Duplicate content is a huge challenge for SEO. Often search engines fail to discriminate between original and copied versions. This causes problems with Supplemental Results in Google.
• Avoid Frames: These cause website accessibility and usability problems and make a site uncrawlable.
As countless websites inundate the internet, SEO helps companies connect with their target audience. As search engine algorithms become more complex, the race for top ranks is heating up. Those who stay committed to the process are the ones who will stay ahead in the quest to be number one.
Showing posts with label seo tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seo tips. Show all posts
09 March 2011
05 March 2010
SEO Tips
Frankly, the biggest search engine optimization mistake you can make is not doing any SEO at all. It's amazíng how many people believe "if you build it, they will come." Marketing coaching makes one thing clear. Just putting a site up on the Internet won't get you the traffic you want or need. By the same token, building a site and then thinking about SEO after the fact is a bad plan too. SEO needs to be at the heart of your Web plans from day one, and it's a job that isn't ever "finished."
Learn What's Bad For SEO And Don't Do It
If you take a drawing class, one of the first things you'll learn is that it's easier to look at the negative space than at the object itself. That means that as a beginner, you have a better shot at recreating the funky-looking space between the apple and the pear than drawing the fruit the first time you pick up a pencil. And you don't get so discouraged when your results aren't perfect. That's a good concept to carry into online marketing.
Learn What's Bad For SEO And Don't Do It
If you take a drawing class, one of the first things you'll learn is that it's easier to look at the negative space than at the object itself. That means that as a beginner, you have a better shot at recreating the funky-looking space between the apple and the pear than drawing the fruit the first time you pick up a pencil. And you don't get so discouraged when your results aren't perfect. That's a good concept to carry into online marketing.
Sometimes learning everything that can go wrong is a better place to start than trying to do everything right. Do-it-yourself, affordable SEO is too expensive at any cost if you're constantly shooting yourself in the foot. Some of the biggest mistakes novices make are really the easiest ones to avoid!
Bad Navigation And No Sitemap
It doesn't take a marketing coach to know that the entire point of "search engine optimization" on a site is to get that site crawled by the search engines. If you use images -- or worse -- Flash or javascript to design your navigation, the search engines will ignore you. (Also, any page that doesn't have an incoming link won't be crawled.)
Not having a sitemap is just as bad. Many website owners don't think they need a sitemap because people don't use them. It's not about people! Search engines love sitemaps. They literally crawl all over sitemaps. Even if you have to maintain the sitemap manually, have one and link to it on every page of your site.
Poorly Constructed Title Tags And URLs
There's nothing wrong with building your website, but pay attention to what your software is doing. Many site building packages and content management systems repeat the same title tag on every single page. Good programs of marketing coaching teach you that the title tag is probably the single most-important SEO element of any page. The title tag must fit the content of the page itself.
But, don't pay attention to the title tag and ignore the URL. This is especially a problem in content management systems and shopping carts. The URLs are full of numbers and letters. You need to be including your keywords in your URLs so the search engines pick up on them. Don't waste the invaluable potential in either the title tag or the URL.
Bad Navigation And No Sitemap
It doesn't take a marketing coach to know that the entire point of "search engine optimization" on a site is to get that site crawled by the search engines. If you use images -- or worse -- Flash or javascript to design your navigation, the search engines will ignore you. (Also, any page that doesn't have an incoming link won't be crawled.)
Not having a sitemap is just as bad. Many website owners don't think they need a sitemap because people don't use them. It's not about people! Search engines love sitemaps. They literally crawl all over sitemaps. Even if you have to maintain the sitemap manually, have one and link to it on every page of your site.
Poorly Constructed Title Tags And URLs
There's nothing wrong with building your website, but pay attention to what your software is doing. Many site building packages and content management systems repeat the same title tag on every single page. Good programs of marketing coaching teach you that the title tag is probably the single most-important SEO element of any page. The title tag must fit the content of the page itself.
But, don't pay attention to the title tag and ignore the URL. This is especially a problem in content management systems and shopping carts. The URLs are full of numbers and letters. You need to be including your keywords in your URLs so the search engines pick up on them. Don't waste the invaluable potential in either the title tag or the URL.
Banning A Search Engine By Accident
It's not unusual for a novice site owner to mess up their robots.txt file. The file exists in your site's root directory to talk to search engine spiders. You can tell them not to crawl pages or sections or send other individual instructions. Since the file is just plain text and is so easy to create, site owners wade in without really understanding what they're doing. If you're not careful, you can ban the search engines from your site altogether. Use Yahoo SiteExplorer or Google SiteMaps to make sure that your site can indeed be crawled.
It's not unusual for a novice site owner to mess up their robots.txt file. The file exists in your site's root directory to talk to search engine spiders. You can tell them not to crawl pages or sections or send other individual instructions. Since the file is just plain text and is so easy to create, site owners wade in without really understanding what they're doing. If you're not careful, you can ban the search engines from your site altogether. Use Yahoo SiteExplorer or Google SiteMaps to make sure that your site can indeed be crawled.
Using anchor text like "click here" or "next" is a waste. When you are cultivating incoming links or creating links inside your site, use useful, descriptive anchor text. You don't want to repeat the same phrase over and over again. Get two or three relevant, keyword-rich pieces of anchor text and also use your company name. Empty phrases are just that -- empty.
Doing accurate keyword research is fundamental to successful marketing. It's a huge topic in its own right, but you basically want to concentrate on phrases that are not overly general or that have too much competition. Good marketing coaches will spend a lot of time on keyword selection and you should too. Put that chore right up at the top of your SEO "to do" list.
In reading all the tips available on marketing coaching, you'll find that most articles and courses focus on the things website owners should do. It's also important to look at what you shouldn't do. A poorly constructed site that fails to make good use of readable navigation, workable behind-the-scenes code, solid naming structures, and relevant anchor text will have a tough time online. Consider the fundamentals of basic SEO from the planning stage of your site to maximize your results and get the traffic you want.
Still confused? contact Scream Media today for free no obligation SEO quote
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