The 7 Points of Do-It-Yourself SEO

Ever felt intimidated at the convoluted, jargon-ridden information about Internet marketing for small businesses available on the Net? Ever been horrified by the huge fees the experts charge, putting search engine optimization beyond your own means? Ever thought: What exactly is search engine optimization anyway, and can I do it myself?

The answer is: Yes, you can! The basics of search engine optimisation in applied web marketing are simple. It's all to do with the keyword content of your text copy, and can be summarised in seven points.

1. Register a good domain name which reflects what your site is about. Even if you are an established business, don't register www.FredJones.com if you make widgets. Rather, you want to register something like www.BestWidgets.com because that would inspire confidence in people looking for quality widgets who would not necessarily have heard of Fred Jones the widget-maker.

2. Name your page URLs based on reasons similar to the above for your web promotion, except now you can be more specific. Search engines like to know what your page is about. Name a page after a product (BigYellowWidgets.htm) or a service or action (Buy-Widgets-by-Post.htm) on one of the sales pages.

3. The text in the title tag is crucial in letting search engines know what each page is about. Put your important keywords in your title tags, using both the singular and plural versions (people will search for both) and make these tags different and specific for each page. For example, "Widgets and After Sales Widget Services". Whatever you do, don't call the home page "Index", but treat it almost as a mini-description.

4. The other tags (at the top of the html page) between the two "HEAD" tags are not as important as the title tag, but the description tag is still used by some search engines in displaying what you would like web users to see when they scroll down a page of search results. Some search engines don't use the description tag at all; others, like Google, sometimes use part of it together with part of the main body text surrounding prominent keywords on your page. So you may as well treat the description tag seriously; make it brief (about 25 to 30 words) and as comprehensive as possible in the short space allowed. Make sure you have your popular keywords included within your description tag. The ALT tag is used for a very short description of an image or graphic file, and is what is displayed if you allow your mouse pointer to hover above a graphic. These days it is not considered important for search engines. The COMMENT tag is never displayed on the body page, and is used by coders and designers as an instruction or reminder to themselves about what that section of html coding should be doing; in the past, some webmasters in their quest for website promotion and search engine ranking used to stuff keywords in the comments tags, but now it is generally acknowledged that the main search engines pay little or no attention to these.

5. Keyword density. Each search engine has its own preference as to how many times a keyword phrase appears on the page in order to signify the relevance of that keyword phrase (in other words, in order to help the search engine understand what the page is about). Around 5 to 8 per cent is a rough guide as to the optimal level. Don't overdo it, otherwise it will be seen as spam or keyword-stuffing. Also use your keywords in the headings tags H1 and H2. There is an H3 tag as well, but it is doubtful whether search engines bother with that, as it is perceived as less prominent on the page, therefore less relevant to what the page is about.

6. Don't forget good linking in your website marketing. Search engines will judge the importance of your web pages to some extent on the number and quality of incoming links from other sites. Ask other webmasters with sites on similar themes to yours for a link, in exchange for a link back. These sites should not be in competition with yours, but should be similarly themed. You may occasionally be asked by other webmasters if they can link to your site. If this is so then have a look at their site; make sure that their site is relevant, that it has at least some Page Rank, and that it just "feels" good, and has no nasty surprises like redirects or unexpected popups. You don't want to be associated with a "bad neighborhood"!

7. Make sure that important keywords are included in the anchor text within inbound links from other sites. This is crucial to search engines when they try to figure out the relevance and importance of your pages. The inbound link from the other site should take the form of something like this (I'm using normal brackets instead of angle brackets so as not to use compromising html): (A HREF="http://www.Yoursite.com")your important keywords included here(/A). You should definitely avoid something like (A HREF="http://www.Yoursite.com")click here(/A), which tells search engines nothing except that your site is about "click here". Be careful!

Gordon Goodfellow is an Internet marketing consultant and practitioner He lives and Works in London, UK, and has helped companies in many industry sectors with clients worldwide. His main site, http://www.applied-web-marketing.com is an introductory resource on Internet marketing for small businesses.

---

Are Your Keywords Making Money for You?

I built my website, it's perfect. My chosen subject of... Read More

The Latest Craze: Local Search, 7 Steps to Being #1 in Your Local Market

Anyone would agree that it is much easier to be... Read More

Finding the Right SEO Company

I often talk to people who have lost faith in... Read More

New Site and Sandbox: How to Get Rid of It

You have put lot of sweat in making your site.... Read More

Your Top Search Rankings at Yahoo & MSN Search are Worthless

It seems I now do this rant every single year... Read More

See How The New Kicked Up Google Sitemap Can Get You Indexed Faster and Ranked Higher!

Does Creating a Google Site Map and Telling Google About... Read More

How To Boost Your Keyword Density On Your Web Site To Gain Top Positions At The Search Engines

Let's talk about what keyword density is and how to... Read More

Search Engine Optimization Tips For 2005 - Part Two

Welcome to the second part of our series of articles... Read More

Use Keyword Articles for Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is very important for your online business... Read More

How To Measure Search Engine Marketing ROI

According to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), advertisers... Read More

Why Do You Want to Link With A Home Business And Affiliate Website?

No, it's not a general question for all and sundry.... Read More

Keyword Optimization - How To Achieve It

The most important thing you can do for your business... Read More

How To Avoid The 3 Biggest Title Tag Mistakes With Search Engines

Your title tag is the most important 3 to 12... Read More

The Search Doesnt End at Your Homepage

In a recent report for a new client, I wrote:... Read More

How To Find Good Keywords

Good keywords are frequently searched for (high demand) but not... Read More

Website Ranking With an Internet Marketing Specialist

On the internet, competition is stronger than ever. There was... Read More

Why You Need a SEO Maintenance Plan

A search engine optimization maintenance service plan will ensure that... Read More

Google, Yahoo!, Pandoras Box And The Lottery

In the fall of 1990, the musical group Snap had... Read More

The Reality of Search Engine Submissions

Over the last few months, search engine submissions have changed... Read More

To Understand the Success of Website Ranking

Time is a factorTo obtain positive results is not very... Read More

SEO: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

I seem to have created quite a stir, on a... Read More

The Easiest Way to Your Google Sitemap

Google Sitemaps is a new tool for website owners and... Read More

Googles Next Big Move

November 2003 might go down in history as the month... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Ongoing Monitoring of Results (part 9/10)

In the Guide, you have, so far, learnt how to... Read More

10 Ways to Tackle Keyword Research and Selection

You need to be extremely careful with keyword research so... Read More

Promoting Home Business: Tips to Increase Web Site Sales

You've selected an appropriate Online Business Opportunity. That is not... Read More

Buying Textlinks: The Latest SEO Craze

With search engine algorithms changing seemingly daily, the quest to... Read More

Black Hat SEO and the Sneaky Redirect

Are shades of grey SEO really Black Hat SEO?Black hat... Read More

Attack Smaller Searches To Get The Big Ones!

Searching online can not only be fun, but you sometimes... Read More

Why SEO (as we know it) is Doomed to Failure and How You Can Avoid the Trap

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become one of the biggest... Read More

Possibly The Biggest Misconception About Ranking Well In The Search Engines

Onpage search engine optimization are things that you can change... Read More

Get Better Search Engine Rankings with RSS

RSS is the latest craze in online publishing. But what... Read More

The Mystery of the Magical Keyword Density Formula

Keyword density. When it comes to SEO copywriting, this has... Read More