Search Engine Optimisation Guide
How to Search Engine Optimise (SEO) your Web Site
As we all know, Google is forever modifying their search algorithm to help improve user experience and create a cleaner infrastructure.
Search engine optimisation begins even before writing your site. It starts by selecting a very focused topic for your site, and choosing the right domain name. You must then select the right keywords for each of your individual pages (keywords, or search expressions, are what you expect users will type in to find your page).
After that, site design can begin and, with it, Search Engine Optimisation. Search Engine Optimisation involves optimising your page text for your selected keywords and making your web page design responsive to search engines. This usually translates into using your keywords a number of times in your web page text, and building a site that offers easy navigation, plenty of text, and easy access to the web site's pages by following links from the key pages.
You think very cautiously about your keywords, your wording, your titles and links when you create a Web Page, also when writing with an Internet audience in mind, you�re always certain to optimise your content for best effect with the search engines. SEO is something you want to use on every single page. Here are five methods to optimise pages for your Web site.
Search engine optimisation is something you want to think about on every single page of your site, not just the main content pages. All pages should be search-engine friendly and optimised to draw in the most people. You want to draw traffic to your site from every single page. Otherwise, what are those pages even doing on your web site?
Five different methods to Optimise Pages
Search Engine Optimisation is done for one reason � to be noticed by the search engines! You want your site to show up in the results when your preferred keywords are typed into search engines, and you want your site to come into view high up on that list to get the best possible results. If you�re serious about SEO, don�t confine your efforts to online articles and blog posts alone. All the pages on your site should feature keywords that help bring in traffic.
- Content and Keywords
Narrative Content. You should always have an opening paragraph which describes what the piece of content is about. This description should contain one or more of the keywords in the subsequent piece of content. This is both good writing and good SEO, giving readers a way to find out quickly what they�re about to read.
There�s another reason to include narrative content (keyword-rich opening section), however, that has everything to do with the way the search engines see your content. Often, this first section will be displayed on search engine results pages. This is what the user will see when they make the decision to visit your site -- so make it stand out.
The narrative content should be visible on all the pages of your site which feature links to the content your site displays. Whether the user is looking at a list of blogs or choosing between articles, be sure these keyword-rich sections tie up with the titles, both on main content pages and in on-site search results. This improves the page with a multitude of keywords even as it makes it easy for users to find just what they want. You won�t have to create new content to make these pages more SEO-friendly, because you�ve already got keyword-rich opening sections which will do the work for you.
- Keyword-loaded Navigation
Even when your links are short, the navigation of your site can be keyword-focused as well. Suppose your site offers content on Fortune Cookie Writing. Think about keywords related with this topic as you decide how to write your site.
In this example, you may include links to sections named Sign Up to Be a Fortune Cookie Writer, How to Write Fortune Cookies and Fortune Cookie Writing 101. All of these phrases are rich in keywords and still descriptive enough to drive traffic in the right direction. Include the keywords in your navigation at all times, and you�ve found a very simple way to keep pages optimised for the search engines.
- Descriptions and more
Descriptions. It�s likely that your site is rich in words, pictures and graphics that help capture the eye and the attention of your visitors. It is important not to forget to optimise even these for the search engines by including descriptions for your pictures that are high in your chosen keywords.
Describe the image with a thought of optimisation and you can�t go wrong. Descriptions may seem like a tiny little thing, but every bit helps when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation. Every little thing helps enhance the web site with the search engines, forging your page higher up on the list of results.
- META Tags
Don�t overlook META tags at any time. Make sure that every page on your site is there to be seen by the users. This includes using META tags on every single page of your Web site.
META tags include a code that makes the page itself accessible for search engine scans, keywords that describe the content on the page and a short description that users will see when the page is displayed on search engine results.
Be sure that every page of your site is optimised with the best META tags available. Include words and expressions that are displayed on the page, a description which also includes these keywords and make sure that every page is constructed to be read by the search engines. Never ignore your META when Search Engine Optimisation is your target.
- Headers
Page headers are particularly important. Every page of your site should have a keyword-focused title (Fortune Cookie Writing as a Career, using the example from above). The page title will also be scanned by the search engines, along with everything else on the page. Like everything else on the page, this, too, should be optimised with the thought of search engines.
Use SEO Everywhere
There are more than these ways to optimise pages, but keeping this in mind will help you to create more focused, more search engine-friendly web pages. Remember that Search Engine Optimisation applies to every aspect of every page on your site, and remember to always keep the focus on your main keyword phrases whenever you add anything new.
SEO can be applied to page and content descriptions, META tags, navigation and everything else that you want to feature online -- and it should be applied to all of the above. When you use SEO everywhere on your site, you increase the chances that traffic (via the search engines) will find your site�and why else would you have one, if not to get visitors?
