Techniques To Help You Master Search Engine Optimization
Content written by-Poulsen Howell
Search engine optimization (also known as SEO) is a critical part of running any website that is looking to generate more traffic. It is also considered an art that is difficult to master because there are so many different search engines using different search algorithms that you have to account for. However, there are tips and tricks that can help make search engine optimization easier to understand and use. This article aims to share some of these.
Make use of inbound, external links to optimize search engine results. Link to people you know and request them to link to you, as well. Make use of other pages by writing good quality comments and in the review section, as well. Encourage others to visit your site. Linking to other sites can result in the traffic you desire and encourage better placement in real-time searches.
When you are first starting a website, avoid using sub-domains. Google treats sub-domains as their own site for purposes of assigning them PageRank. Directories from the main site, however, have the same PageRank as the parent site. This means, for instance, that mysite.com/store will have the same PageRank as mysite.com, but store.mysite.com won't.
You need to get more visitors to your website and keep them there to increase your page rank. Increasingly, evidence shows that the time a viewer spends looking at a website (per Quantcast scores and other measures)increases the page ranking. This influences the PageRank of a site. One useful way to keep visitors hanging around longer is to offer discussion groups and forums.
Keywords are the backbone of search engine optimization. Keywords, when written, should be italicized, underlined, and bold when possible. Check into the backlinks of those you consider competitors. Copy their backlinks creatively. You need backlinks pointing at your site as much as possible. Get backlinks from sites that have the same theme as yours.
Take advantage of free code validation programs on the web. You do not want your site to be coded incorrectly, but paying to have it checked could be expensive. Luckily, there are several coding sites available free of charge, to ensure that your website will appear exactly how you want it to, every time.
When you want to optimize for the search engines, you need to determine what your site's inefficiencies are. By defining these and proceeding to repair or fine tune them, you can optimize the overall performance of your site.
Show your consumer why they need your products. This may seem obvious, but many people don't realize why your products could make their lives easier! Use video, blogs, step-by-step instructions, and live demonstrations. Make it clear to them that your product is necessary to help them in their daily lives.
If you're using YouTube videos as part of your SEO marketing strategy, make sure to include them on other sites as well. Metacafe is another excellent resource for entertaining and informative videos which can boost viewership for your own video. The more people attracted to viewing your video, the more likely you are to increase the traffic to your website.
ALWAYS include integrated marketing agency and title tags on images and links! digital web agency can use keywords in these tags, but make sure that the keywords you use truly apply to the image or the site being linked to. Also, don't use the same keywords on all the images or links - mix them up so they're used 2-3 times each.
Figure out what .gov, .edu, and .us websites are linking to and provide it! Link juice from these websites will raise your page ranking substantially. So you have to think of content that they would want their readers visiting.
A good rule of thumb to follow for ultimate search engine optimization is to never change or retire a page URL without providing a 301 redirect to the updated page. The infamous 404 page not found error, is the worst page that can be displayed for your site, so avoid this by implementing a 301 redirect.
If you have to have less attractive pages on your website, such as user profiles, then bury those links. You can place the links into JavaScript so that search engines will ignore them. You don't want them indexed because this can spread out your link juice and lower your general page rank.
In descriptions of images, mention that it is an image. People often search for keywords plus the word picture or image. Let search engines know that your site provides images related to the search term. Search engines have a harder time indexing images, so the more information provided, the more likely you are to be included in the search results.
One thing to avoid when dealing with search engine optimization is block quotes. Though it hasn't been officially proven, it is widely believed that most search engines ignore any text included in block quote tags. This means that any tags in block quotes will not be included in search engine results.
A great tip for bringing more traffic to your site using search engines is to be sure you keep your website fresh with new content and pages on a regular basis. The reason for this is because you need to keep your audience engaged with your site. Keywords are important, but you need recommendations from your audience in the form of links in order to drive your site up in the search engine rankings.
The optimum length for a title tag with regards to optimal search engine optimization is usually between 6 and 12 words. If you use less you run the risk of having a page that seems to generic and having more than 12 words will render your title tag too long.
Make sure that each page on your site has a keyword focused, unique Title tag. Because your business name matters, have it there but at the end unless it is a keyword. This is because the title is the first item searchers will find when looking at search engine results. Also, when indexing, search engine spiders do give title tags some importance.
While effective use of search engine optimization can be difficult and at times seem elusive, it does not mean it is completely out of your reach. Hopefully, this article has proven that it is something that you can master and use effectively. When search engine optimization is properly employed, your website will start to see unbelievable amounts of traffic!
