Do It Yourself SEO: Ten Search Engine Optimization Tips (Part 1)
Using a professional search engine optimization service can sometimes be expensive. However, if your budget is tight and you have a basic understanding of web page construction it is possible to optimize your own website without hiring an SEO specialist. For those who would like to give it a try, here are ten “Do it yourself” search engine optimization tips:
1. Think about SEO right from the start
Many people plan, design and build their websites without giving any thought as to whether their site is search engine friendly or whether it will be capable of attracting traffic in organic search engine results. At the last minute, after most of the site has been built, they try to optimize their site, not realizing that this work should have done throughout the planning and building process.
It is far better to think about search engine optimization at the very beginning of the process. For example, if it is at all possible, choose a domain name that will allow you to include your most important keyword or search term in your URL. If you are selling bicycles then you would do well have to a domain name like www.xyzbicycles.com . And don’t stop with the domain name; include your keywords in your file names as well. For example, a sub-page of this hypothetical site might be www.xyzbicycles.com/road-bikes.html
2. Design your site with both search engines and users in mind
Your site should be easy for your human readers to understand, but it should also be easy for search engine robots as well. If you want to see what a search engine robot will “see” then view your site in a notepad document or use the html view of the popular web editing programs.
If you have used gif images to render your headlines or other important text, then this text will not be picked up by the search engine robots. In addition, if you have designed a site that is entirely in a flash format, you will not be providing the search engine spiders with much “food,” or searchable text.
Furthermore, if you have long strings of java script and complex style instructions in the head section of your html page it is better to put the java script in an external file and the style instructions in a separate CSS (cascading style sheet) file, in order to give prominence to the actual text of your web page.
3. Write individual title tags for each and every page of your website
From the standpoint of search engine optimization, the single most important sentence on any web page is the title tag. The title tag gives the search engine a good indication as to what your page is all about. Incorporate your main keywords or search phrases into your title tag, and keep them at the very front of the sentence. These keywords are more important than your company name (unless it is Coca Cola!). So our XYZ Bicycle Company might have a title tag that looks like this Bicycles: Racing Bikes, Mountain Bikes, Road Bikes, Bicycle Accessories from XYZ Bicycles.
The title tags of each of the sub-pages of the site should reflect the main content of those pages. Never use the same title tag for all the pages of the site.
4. Write a concise description tag for each of your web pages
Just as the title tag is the most important sentence or phrase on any page, the description tag is the most important paragraph on any page. Summarize the gist of your page in two or three pages, again incorporating the keywords and search phrases for which you think people will use when searching for your site. A description tag for the home page of the XYZ Bicycle Company could look like this: “The EXZ Bicycle Company manufactures mountain bikes, racing bicycles, road bikes and bicycle accessories. Our bicycles are distributed and sold around the world. “
5. Put your keywords into headers and headlines on your page
Your human readers and search engines alike need prominent headlines in order to understand what your page is all about. While a human reader only needs to see the headline in a large bold text, search engines distinguish the headlines, which they regard as important indicators of the page, by noting which phrases are encased in header tags such as , , , etc. H1 is considered most important and your first headline should be labeled with this tag. If the header tags make your copy look too big, then you can change the size of the headers by creating style instructions that will render the headlines into sizes that are consistent with the look and feel of your site.
In part two of this series I will give the remaining five tips for do-it-yourself search engine optimization.
Donald Nelson
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/do-it-yourself-seo-ten-search-engine-optimization-tips-part-1-80688.html
Organic Search Engine Optimization ~ The Basics
All About Search Engine Optimization
With all the talk about organic search engine optimization and how important it is to promoting a web site, some web masters are deluded into thinking that they have no hope of competing without the help of a search engine optimization professional. With no money to spend, these web masters just bemoan their helplessness and learn to live with the fact that their web sites will always be at the bottom of search engine results.
While paying an organic search engine optimization professional may indeed give a web site an enormous boost in page ranking, this does not mean that there is no other option left to the web master with no funds to hire one. There are lots of things in web site building and design that are commonly neglected when these details could have made a big difference in search engine rankings.
Begin at the basics of Search Engine Optimization : file naming and page title
The web site is a mine of opportunity to improve page ranking. A web master may not neglect to include keywords in the meta-tags and in the web content but has due consideration been given to the other elements of the web site?
One case in point is file naming. When the web site names the web site’s home page, for example, it is usually the case that the name chosen is “home.html.” Right there is one opportunity wasted. This name could have been turned into “pets-home.html” instead and thus would have included the keyword “pets” which would be more relevant to a web site dedicated to pets. The web designer could then have incorporated a keyword in the file name of each web page that makes up the whole web site, and the site’s relevance could have risen with it.
Another organic search engine optimization opportunity that’s often wasted is an untitled page. This is usually a mistake that’s been committed unwittingly and occurs due to forgetfulness and negligence on the part of the web designer. It is important to give a title to every page in the web site, and the more the page is relevant to keyword queries then the better the page title is.
Enhance and improve: keywords, hyperlinks and images
Even someone with little training in organic search engine optimization knows that the use of relevant keywords throughout the web pages will improve the overall search engine rank of the web site. However, some web masters merely include the keywords without trying to maximize their impact.
Keywords could have been turned into anchor texts that in turn direct the readers to other pages in your web site or to other sections of the same page. Doing so would have increased the effectiveness of your keywords and could have increased the ranking of your other web pages.
The navigation bar is also another means to improving page rank when it incorporates text links at the bottom that contain your keywords. Even navigation bars with images instead of texts should incorporate keyword text links underneath.
The images on the navigation bar and the graphics for web design purposes themselves could also incorporate alternative text descriptions that are composed of relevant keywords and can be seen by search engines.
Be accurate: relevant Search Engine Optimization keywords
If keywords are important to search engine optimization efforts, then it is even more important to make sure that the keywords that are being emphasized all over the web site are truly and actually relevant. There is a need to know what keywords most web-surfers use in relation to the web site’s business or service field. Being off the mark on this is a certain way to get bottom rank in organic search engine optimization results.
-Organic Search Engine Optimization ~ The Basics-
Santa Barbara SEO and Web Design Workshop
Santa Barbara SEO and Web Design Workshop
Event on 2011-03-31 17:30:00
Join us for an hour filled with interesting conversations about online business. Each week we discuss new ways to increase web site traffic. With over 81% of consumers making purchase decisions online, web sites are no longer optional. If you have a good product or service, then driving traffic to your site is a matter of SEO. Taylor Reaume, The Search Engine Pros Founder, will discuss SEO and Web marketing and spark conversations amongst the attendees.
Meeting time is 5:30pm – 6:30 pm every Thursday at the Eagle Inn, Santa Barbara, CA.
WHAT: Educational workshop about SEO and Web Marketing
WHEN: Thursdays 5:30-6:30 ADD OUTLOOK REMINDER
WHERE: Eagle Inn 232 Natoma Ave Santa Barbara, CA 93101
WHO: Taylor Reaume & The Search Engine Pros 800-605-4988
http://www.thesearchenginepros.com/
“What’s In It For Me?”
1. Learn how to get leads from Google!
2. Do you enjoy meeting Local Business Owners?
3. Want to learn web marketing secrets?
4. Interested in discussing e-Marketing Ideas?
5. Are you seeking tips for growing your business?
6. Internet Marketing Strategies ‘EXPOSED’
7. Learn How To Generate Leads From Your Site
8. Curious About How To Spy On Your Competition?
http://www.thesearchenginepros.com
TESTIMONIAL:
“I really enjoyed attending this meetup. What an amazing amount of free advice. I highly recommend it to anyone with a web site who wishes to learn how to do your own search engine optimization. I also met a couple prospects in town for my own business!”
-David Anderson
Focus On Planet Earth
About Us: The Search Engine Pros.com offers affordable search engine optimization services in Santa Barbara, CA
Description: Ethical, economical and effective search engine optimization firm in Santa Barbara, CA. specializing in affordable search engine optimization packages that brings natural rankings in the organic search engine results. Our specialists also provide free seo classes and tutorials on seo optimisation, copyrighting,international seo strategy, and much more.
This free meetup group is primarily aimed at small business owners located in Santa Barbara wishing to learn more about “How To Market Your Business On The Web”. We will analyze your web site live in front of the group, and give you free advice, suggestions as to how you can maximize your potential for high rankings on Google.
Our team is comprised of an all star cast of forward thinking web-o-prenuers. We help people with websites who don’t have a strong presence online. Our business focus is generating more traffic for your web site.
Topics Of Discussion include:
• Corporate SEO
• Article Packages
• Social Bookmarking
• SEO Ala Carte Pricing
• All Inclusive SEO
• Local Search & SEO Packages
• Video Marketing
• Blog Creation
• Blog Commenting
• Blog Reviews
• Forum Posting
• Multilingual SEO
• Joomla E-commerce
• Web directory submission
• Keyword research
• Website management and marketing
• Website Marketing Strategies
• Search Engine Optimization
• SEO friendly simple CMS
• Real Estate Web Marketing!
• Press Release Distribution
We look forward to seeing you at our free Santa Barbara SEO workshop this Thursday in Santa Barbara! Come get some invaluable tips and learn how to increase your web site traffic.
Please call 800.605.4988 or email us taylor at thesearchenginepros.com
at Eagle Inn
232 Natoma Avenue
Santa Barbara, United States