Best Practices for Search Engine Optimization

 

As with any business, strategic marketing practices help define the company's growth and revenue potential.  For an online business, search engine optimization is the primary marketing tool to attract higher numbers of customers to its web site.  Being on the first page of search engine results is a primary concern for best practices regarding search engine optimization.  With properly optimized marketing strategies, a web site can increase traffic and customers directly from searched keywords without paying for clicked links and affiliate advertising.

 

Finding the best strategies is often the job of a professional, but following best SEO practices can be done even by a small business with little marketing dollars.  Some of the popular mechanics behind SEO are simple text based inserts for web pages.  While developing a web application, a developer can keep SEO practices included for maximum results upon launch of the site.

 

The highest potential for profitability, SEO anchors your site into the fabric of the Net and when you hit the rankings you're looking for, it's 100% profit.

Research Keywords and Phrases

Research is the first step for SEO implementation.  Searching Google, Yahoo, or any other popular search engine will give the researcher hints to what certain keywords users are entering.  Implementing proper SEO related strategies starts with the terms and keywords that people use to find a solution or product.  Finding the most popular keywords related to the company's products and services is step one to a great SEO strategy.

 

Once keywords have been assessed, web content needs to have its writing focused on the keywords found to be popular within the company's niche.  This doesn't mean that poor writing with numerous keyword inserts are acceptable.  The page should have relevant, keyword rich content that focuses directly on the product.  Search engines try to evaluate page content to make sure it is relevant to the keywords to bring the most informational results to its users.

Where to Insert Keywords

Targeted keywords should be placed in certain areas of a web site and its associated pages.  First, page titles (the verbiage that is presented in the header of the browser when you read a web page) should have the keywords included.  Page titles with product focus as the main verbiage will be shown in the search result page to potential customers which draws them to click the page link.  Search engines also index these pages at higher ranks.

 

H1 headers are the large, prominent verbiage located within a web page to bring out points of interest to the reader.  Search engines index web pages with keywords associated with the user's search criteria that are located within H1 headers.  When creating web page content, insert keyword rich titles within H1 headers for higher ranking and proper SEO.

Links and Images Should Use Keywords

When developing page links, inserting SEO friendly keywords will boost search engine ranking.  Search engines spider and index links to create options for their link results that are presented to users.  Links should have keywords that point to other keyword rich articles within the same domain web site to increase search engine indexing.

 

Image verbiage is another great way to increase search engine indexing.  Images provide alternate text that shows when the image link is broken or unavailable.  Search engines find images within a web page and index the alternative text within its results.

Site Maps

A search engine's goal is to find the exact results for its search users.  Site maps are simple pages with a directory structure to all the pages a site has to offer.  They are normally plain text, and they give a user a quick overview of web pages and their corresponding titles.  They are one of the main SEO best practices to boost search engine optimization.

Meta Descriptions and Keywords

Meta tags are often forgotten when developing and launching a web site.  Meta tags have been a part of important web page coding for many years.  Meta tags have long been a way for search engines to find web pages that relate to user search requests.  There are two tags related to meta tags.  One is the meta tag keywords.  This tag contains the relevant keywords that match the page's content.  Second, the meta tag also has a description.  The description should contain a short overview for the reader to quickly read and know the relevance of the page before clicking on the link.

Keyword Rich Articles

 

Users searching for product and services are often looking for informational content to help them decide which avenue to take for service.  Article directories contain content that give users a way to read articles written by authors that give advice and help users find the necessary information.  SEO techniques include article submissions that inform users on products and services along with a link that sends them to the company web page.  This strategy is widely used and great for search engine ranking.  With strong, keyword targeted articles listed on the web, a search engine will find the topic along with the company web site link and consider it one of the top results for a certain search.

Javascript

Most web pages include javascript for some of the little intricacies of user interaction.  The problem with javascript located on the content web page is that spiders need to sift through all the code to find the proper content.  This can lower a page ranking.  Keep javascript files separate and off the main content page.  It allows search engine spiders to pinpoint the exact content to index.

 

Keeping search engine optimization as a prime concern and focus for current and future web sites will bring in more revenue and traffic for any web site.  Keyword optimization is not a difficult task, but its tedious nature can make some web site owners accidentally skip the important steps.  Missing important SEO basics may not stop the launch of a web site, but it can inhibit traffic.  The aesthetic personality of a web site is important, but to maintain the best search engine ranking, make sure to implement the best content possible.   The difference between a keyword rich, SEO strategic web site and one without any SEO marketing can mean the difference of thousands of visitors per day.

 

 

Google just released this 22-page Document about SEO Best Practice —Enjoy!