Search Engine Optimization
Tutorial
What follows is a brief
tutorial on the search
engine optimization (SEO)
process. Feel free to use
these techniques to improve
your website's search
engine rankings.
Step 1. Conduct Keyword
Analysis
The first step in SEO
is focusing on your target
audience. What are they
entering in the search
engines? How are they finding
your competition? List
out the words and phrases
that you think people would
use to find your company.
Next use WordTracker (www.WordTracker.com)
and research these phrases
you are after (it'll cost
you a few bucks). You can
follow the suggestions
it provides to find additional
words and phrases to include
in your list. The key is
to identify phrases that people
are actually searching
on. Remember you can
target plurals and misspellings
as well.
Step 2. Create
Your Readable,
Keyworded Web Pages
On the web, content is
king. So the best way to
help the search engines
understand what your site
is about is to write a
lot of content discussing
your topic. Create your
pages keeping in mind the
phrases from your Keyword
Analysis. Include these
phrases in the text of
the pages, but don't just
throw them everywhere.
The text should be easily
readable and useful to
your audience. This is
the key. If you create
useful pages, people will
come. By the way, do NOT
make text into graphics
and add them to your pages.
Search engine spiders cannot
read your graphics as if
they were text.
Step 3. Create
your Meta Tags
Meta tags are not as important
as they used to be, but
they are still something
you should spend time on.
The most important tag
is the TITLE meta tag.
This tag describes what
the page is about. Include
the keyword or phrase you
are targeting for that
page in the tag. The meta
KEYWORDS should include
keywords associated with
your page, but this tag
is not as important as
times past. The meta DESCRIPTION
tag is important and should
include text that contains
the keywords you are optimizing
that page around.
Step 4. Set up
a Linking
Campaign (increasing
inbound links)
Google loves seeing lots
of sites pointing to another
site in the same topic.
So you should try to get
as many other websites
to link to your website
as possible. Even better
is if the other sites are
in the same arena (for
example, all Florida tourism
websites). The more outside
sites link to your site,
the more search engines
will think you have something
valuable to say on the
topic and rank you higher
than your competition.
And try to include the
targeted key phrases you
identified in your Keyword
Analysis in the actual
links on the other sites.
This helps too.
Step 5. Register
your Site with the
Search Engines and
Directories
Go to Google, AOL, MSN
and all the other "add-a-URL-free" search
engines and add your site.
Do it by hand to be sure
all the information is
correct. If you think Yahoo
will help, cough up the
$299 and you will be added
to their Directory.
Step 6. Play the
Waiting Game
Having your site appear
and rise up in the search
engine rankings can take
time. Sometimes a few months
or longer. But soon, if
you have taken the advice
above, your keyword-targeted
web pages will start
climbing the charts
Step 7. Adjust
as Needed
Eventually all search
engine rankings will slip
(your competition will
be trying to get those
top spots so it's inevitable).
But you can stay up there
with a little ongoing work.
Keep working on getting
other sites to link to
you (inbound
links) and continue
to offer fresh, USEFUL
content to your audience.
The bottom line is: if
you offer people a site
that they can use and enjoy,
they will link to you and
visit you often. And the
side effect of that? Higher
search engine rankings.
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