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Posts Tagged ‘search engine optimization’

SEO: On-page Optimization

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

There are two main types of search engine optimization – on-page and off-page. Perhaps on-page is the easier of these two aspects of search engine optimization. It relates to the web page components – the words, and what importance is given to the words on the page.

“What a web page is about” – is the first thing search engines want to know. Search engine robots (or “bots”) do not have the ability to read images or things like java script. So they look at the word elements. They look for various clues within the on the page to find out the important words.

First of all they look for the title of the page (the words within the <title> and </title> tags) as the main clue. Next they look for header tags (<H1> and <H2>, etc.) to see if there are any words between them. They also pay attention to the URL of the page itself (the web page address). As the same word is noticed in the title tags, the header tags and the URL it is easy to guess what the page is about.

At that time they also check to see whether the same words are contained in the body text of the page and how often. The different combination of these words and their frequency on the page, will determine firstly what the page is about, and secondly how important that page is against all other pages about the same thing (your competing pages).

Top SEO Mistakes Made by Designers and Developers (2)

Friday, May 7th, 2010

1. “Click Here” Link Anchor Text

“Click here” or “Learn more” can be seen a lot as the linking text. This is okay as you want to be ranked high for “Click Here”. But if your goal is to tell the search engine that your page is worth ranking for a topic, than use that topic/keyword in your link anchor text. It’s much more relevant to say “learn more about keyword topic”.

Notice: Don’t use the same anchor text everywhere on your website. This can also be taken as search engine spam.

2. Empty Image Alt Attribute

It is essential to describe your image in the alt attribute. It is the alt attribute that describes the image to a blind web user. As search engines are not able to see images, your alt attribute is a factor illustrating what your page is relevant for.

Hint: Appropriate description of your images can rank in the image search results.

3. Unfriendly URLs

Nearly all blog platforms include a friendly URL feature built-in, however, not every blogger is taking advantage of this. Both the audience and the search engines like friendly URL. The URL is also an essential spot where your keywords should appear.

There are some benefits with using friendly URLs:

•    visitors are able to see where is their current location within your website
•    easy to memorize direct links to a certain page on your website
•    This is also a very good search engine optimization technique as Google “understands” your website more accurate and gives a better search results.

SEO Essentials

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Search Engine Optimization is a rather complicated process that requires great experience and knowledge. Many key factors may develop a site’s web presence. The usage of keywords is one of the most important factors that help the search engines to decide which websites are relevant.

When analyzing web content search engines do not understand full sentences and paragraphs. Usually they look for certain phrases and words within larger blocks of text. It is valuable to place keywords in areas of prominence. For instance, include important phrases in the first sentence of the first paragraph, and continue including the same throughout the page’s content. Be sure that every page within your site includes your target key phrases. Search engines only seek out textual content. And much of ranking is based on prominent usage of keywords.

The importance of your target search terms is ultimately decided by their placement and repetition. The more conspicuous place to put your keywords is in the Tag. Hence it becomes extremely important to include your most valuable keywords in your website’s title. You must input your target phrases organically, so that they do not appear artificial. Using your keywords in a natural, descriptive manner is the best way to increase relevance of a site’s title.

Placing the phrases within your site’s title is as important as tagging your most valuable keywords. Search engines will certainly look at what text is included in your title when determining the overall relevance of your website. Remember, use your very best keywords in the most prominent part of the website: the title.

Benefits of Blogs for SEO

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Blogs are website content management systems with additional functionality like comments, trackbacks and RSS. Blogs is a policy that benefits from optimization.

Here are search engine optimization benefits of having a blog.

1. Fresh content – Both readers and search engines reward fresh content with repeat visits. Fresh content is an indicative feature of a popular web site.

2. Structured content – Category features in blog software allow the accumulation of content according to themes. Try to create content that is easier for search engines to understand and you’ll have enhanced chances of ranking well on those topics.

3. Extra benefits of a blog:

Blog & RSS Directories –Blog and corresponding RSS can bring extra benefits for your site.

4. Crawlable URLs – Most blog software offers simple URL structure, making it quite easy for search engine spiders to find and crawl blog content.

5. Inbound link magnet – One of the chief benefits; blogs link freely to each other –more than web sites do. Blogs are also an important source of many posts to social news and social media web sites.

6. Active community – Features like comments and trackbacks in blog software promote interaction. An active blog community creates the kinds of signals from other sites that search engines tend to reward in the rankings.

7. Non-Search traffic – The greatest benefit of having an active blog has little to do with improving your search engine rankings.  The best thing about blogs is that they allow you to generate substantial amounts of traffic through RSS and links that are not related to search engines.

Key Elements All Websites Should Have (1)

Friday, April 30th, 2010

A lot of details should be considered before designing and developing a website. As you’ve completed the planning stage of your website, plan the next steps beginning from User Interface Design to Content Creation and to actual Development. There are also some points concerning Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well.

Here are some elements that should always be included on any website.

1. Fine Visual Design

It does not mean that every website needs an incredible visual design. Usually all you need is a clean and simple design. First impressions are decisive. Although a good web design alone will never keep someone on your site, an eye-catching design will at least attract visitors.

2. Thoughtful User Interface

The foundation of any good functional website is the user interface. While designing a site, you’ll need to bear in mind your average user – that is who your ideal customer is.It works well if you create an image of your ideal visitor and have it in mind when planning out the website design. Make sure that on your site you offer everything that they would want to find.

3. Primary Navigation above the Fold

To have an easy to navigate website ensure that the primary means of navigation are kept above the fold. Elements that need to be included here are your logo, linking back to your home page, as well as links to the main sections of your site.

4. Repeat Navigation in the Footer

If you use images (or flash) for your main navigation, offer a duplicate set of navigation links in your footer. Even if you use text links at the top, the repetition is still helpful. Often times the footer will link to additional information as well.

An Introduction to basic Website Structure

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Optimizing the basic website structure greatly increases the possibility that search engines will successfully locate and index your content. Search engine ranking algorithms analyze numerous on-site factors when determining where web page ranks for particular search terms. Some of these factors include your website content, your domain name, your website structure, your navigational linking structure and the accessibility of all your pages, also your credibility. There are a lot of ways to optimize these factors – starting with choosing reliable web hosting, choosing an appropriate domain name, optimizing your site for all web browsers, creating a logical site structure and navigational menus, generating a sitemap, up to creating an “About us” and “Privacy Policy” pages.

On-site factors are essential for the process of search engine optimization or SEO. A well-optimized design and structure help to improve the overall performance of your website, help users to navigate it, and allow search engines to find and index all your content.

During the process of website design or website redesign, just ask yourself a couple of questions:

  • Does my website appeal to visitors?
  • Is it search engine friendly?

Once you answer these important questions you can build every page as a balance between the needs of search engines and the experience of the user.

SEO and Social Media Benefits

Monday, April 26th, 2010

At present company marketers are more eager to improve performance with fewer resources and shift marketing budgets from traditional to digital tactics like SEO and social media. There are important benefits from combining search engine optimization and social media marketing tactics ranging from increased social network discovery via search to the ability to attract links for improved SEO.

Creating the most out of combining SEO insights with social media marketing tactics can be completed with a network that identifies your audience, the goals you are eager to reach  likewise a strategy that sets the stage for the tactics you will use to realize your game plan.

From a marketing perspective, you can take a serious view of the benefits of SEO and social media two different ways.

First, putting into operation a social media marketing program without optimizing content is leaving money on the table. Useful social content, such as blog, video, images, audio, that cannot be discovered via search is a lost opportunity to reach your audience.

There is a great amount of cross linking within posts, a basic blog template optimization effort using keywords and other minor modifications can substantially improve search traffic for any site – without any compromise in content quality or user experience.

Media sharing and social interactions amongst social network participants create the sort of content that can improve a brand’s visibility within search results through profiles, videos, blog.

Second, implementing SEO programs without making use of the content distribution and linking benefits of social web participation makes link building for SEO an ascending battle. The nature of the social web promotes participation: sharing, voting, commenting and linking. General social content gets exposure, traffic and can result in a substantial number of relevant inbound links.

BENEFITS OF BLOGS FOR SEO

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Blogs are website content management systems with additional functionality like comments, trackbacks and RSS. Blogs is a policy that benefits from optimization.

Here are search engine optimization benefits of having a blog.

1.   Fresh content – Both readers and search engines reward fresh content with repeat visits. Fresh content is an indicative feature of a popular web site.

2.   Structured content – Category features in blog software allow the accumulation of content according to themes. Try to create content that is easier for search engines to understand and you’ll have enhanced chances of ranking well on those topics.

3.    Crawlable URLs – Most blog software offers simple URL structure, making it quite easy for search engine spiders to find and crawl blog content.

4.   Inbound link magnet – One of the chief benefits; blogs link freely to each other –more than web sites do. Blogs are also an important source of many posts to social news and social media web sites.

5.    Active community – Features like comments and trackbacks in blog software promote interaction. An active blog community creates the kinds of signals from other sites that search engines tend to reward in the rankings.

6.   Non-Search traffic – The greatest benefit of having an active blog has little to do with improving your search engine rankings.  The best thing about blogs is that they allow you to generate substantial amounts of traffic through RSS and links that are not related to search engines.

7.    Extra benefits of a blog:
Blog & RSS Directories –Blog and corresponding RSS can bring extra benefits for your site.

Website Redesign: What Should You Consider Before? (4)

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

1. Will you use a content management system (CMS)?

Website owners now prefer to use a CMS, so that the website can easily be updated without a web designer. A CMS may be a good, time-saving decision which alleviates the website update issues.

2. What can be done for SEO (search engine optimization)?

One of the most essential aspects of website resign is SEO-friendliness. Try to outline what can be done for SEO. Spend some time on deciding what SEO improvements your website needs.

3. What keywords and phrases are being targeted?

Before redesigning your website, choose exactly what should be used in titles, headers, anchor text, alt tags, etc. Don’t simply consider the search terms; make sure that these are the most effective terms to go after.

4. What pages are currently drawing traffic?

If there are pages on the website that are currently doing very well with search engines, then you should avoid making major changes to the content of those pages, otherwise you may kill your high rankings.

5. What pages currently have inbound links?

If there are pages that currently have inbound links, then you should use the same URL structure to ensure that any changes do not negatively affect these links.

6. Why will your visitors come back?

Creating the first solid impression is not enough for your website’s success. Try to determine what will keep visitors coming.

Why SEO Needs Careful Attention?

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Search engine optimization is not just a bygone approach. Everything changes very quickly and so does your online marketing approach. SEO is a long term strategy, which requires many tweaks down the way. Here are some causes why you need to really keep a careful eye on your search engine marketing efforts:

Quick Changing: Nowadays link exchanges are not a productive source of link building. The industry is constantly changing and the search engines have to do up their efforts a bit. You should keep alert when these changes happen.

New Portals: Following the online industry one can notice that new portals and new social websites appear all the time.

Behavior prototypes: The environment around us is making people change their purchase and behavior prototypes. Shopping and searching is not the same as a year ago. Search engines are changing by seconds, and if you don’t follow carefully your search engine optimization techniques you might get left behind. SEO is not something that is done casually any longer. It is either all or nothing when it comes to correct search engine marketing efforts.

Search engine marketing needs a careful eye. Whether you need daily, weekly or monthly activities depends on what type of industry you are in.