Search Engine Optimization Basics
There are a lot of different techniques that can be used to promote a website - some of these fall into the category of SEO, others are better described as Search Marketing and others are a combination of both. It should also be noted that the major search engines are constantly updating their algorithms (which is how they sort and categorize all the websites on the internet) - so some techniques which may work well today may not be as effective tomorrow.
Yet despite the number of different ways of optimising a site and the constant changes with the search engines, there are still a few basic things you can do which (if done well) can help improve the performance of your website.
Check your Page Titles and Link Text
The Page Title is the text you see in the top-left corner of your browser window. This text helps tell the search engines what your web page is about. You would not believe how many websites out there contain the Page Title “Untilted Document” or “Page 1″. We are a design forum and blog so our Page Title says “Designs Advice - web and graphic design advice from creative professionals”.
When you link to other pages within your website (whether that be via a menu along the top, bottom or side of your page) or if you are linking in the body text, make sure you use appropriate wording for the link. A link to this post should read - SEO / SEM Basics because that’s what this page is about - but a lot of people tend to put links that say - click here … this tells the search engines nothing about what that page is going to be about.
Provide quality content
Providing your visitors with great content will be rewarded by the major search engines. Don’t try and stuff your page full of keywords thinking it will help because all it will do is make it harder for humans to read - and they’re the ones who you want to buy your product.
Ways to make your content easier to follow involve using headings, lists and if there’s an important point, put it in bold. Keep the formatting consistent on all pages. The more unique information you have about your products or services, the more authoritive your site will appear and this will not only look good to your clients but will help the search engines as well.
Keep your content up-to-date
For some websites you won’t need to change information frequently, but if at all possible try and keep the site active. If your website is a great resource that always has up-to-date industry specific news or monthly promotions or incentives, your previous customers will be more likely to come back. It also tells the search engines that your website is active and the more it is updated, the more regularly the search engines will check-back to ensure they are displaying the most accurate information.
Inbound Links from other sites
Once you’ve made the above changes / improvements to your site the next (and most important) thing to start doing is building inbound links to your website.
The search engines treat inbound links from other websites as ‘votes’. The more votes you have, the more popular your site will seem and subsequently the higher you will appear in the search results - but votes do vary in strength, so it’s not just a numbers game. A link from a website that is highly relevant and considered as an authority in your industry is far more powerful than a link from some random website.
Building-up good quality links is the key to success in the search engines.
Tags: search engine, sem, SEO
Loading ...
