What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Generally speaking, SEO is a process (some call it a science or an art) of optimizing a website to get better rankings in search engines, such as Yahoo or Google.
Well, that's a mouthful. I was taught in grade school never to use the word as part of the definition.
So, I'll try again. If I wanted to achieve better rankings in a search engine, there are things I can do to improve my website, so that a search engine would find it a more suitable answer to a search query.
Hmm, still sounds technical.
Suppose I run a company called "All-Weather Windows" and I want to be listed on the front page of Google or Yahoo when my potential customer searches for "local window replacement". The process of getting my site to that front page, THAT is Search Engine Optimization. How is it done? It depends on what you are selling.
(Don't you just hate non-answers like that?)
Fortunately, there are some fundamentals that ALL websites can implement immediately to move up in the search engine result pages, also known as SERPs.
1. First and foremost, don't try to cheat the system. This is known as black hat SEO or spamdexing. Any results you get from cheating will be temporary. Spend the time to get it right and the rewards will be long-term.
2. Keywords. More appropriately, keyword phrases, lay the groundwork for any SEO work. If you know your market, keywords will come fairly naturally. You can also look at your web logs to see what people are searching for when they reach your site, then expand on that. Don't skimp on the Keyword Research, it's an essential part of improving SEO ranks.
Keyword Tools. Here is a place where I should really discuss the best tools for researching profitable keywords. I'll get to it.
3. Page Titles. Google says this is one of the most important elements on a web page. The page title is the part in HTML between the
"<title> </title>"tags, which are in the
"<head>"section of the HTML. You can view this in any web page by right-clicking on the page and choosing 'View Source'. (Choose 'View Page Source' in Firefox.) NOTE: Most blogging platform create page titles automatically. If you use a WYSIWYG editor, make sure you name the page appropriately - some editors default the title to the filename. That's BAD for SEO!
The title should be relevant and very specific to the content on the page, and it should be unique. Be sure to use the page's main keyword phrase appropriately within the title too.
Going back to my Window example, a decent title for my page might be "Local Window Replacement at Home or Office - Just A Click Away."
The first 66 characters will display in the Google results pages. Here's a Big Red Flag: Keep your titles to 66 characters or less.
4. Use Friendly URLs. Basically, be sure to rewrite any urls that use dynamic parameters. In other words, this url:
http://www.mypretendwindowsite.com/articles/articles.php?articleID=2456is MUCH better written as:
http://www.mypretendwindowsite.com/articles/local-window-replacement-today.htmIt's easier to read, and search engines will rank this version better. Besides that, paying customers are far more likely to click on the second url.
5. Avoid mixing www. and non-www. versions of urls in your website. Stick to one or the other. Google sees this page:
http://mypretendwindowsite.com/aboutus.htmas being a different page than
http://www.mypretendwindowsite.com/aboutus.htmThis CAN get you in trouble with duplicate content issues on Google.
You can edit your .htaccess file you and solve this problem. MAKE A BACKUP COPY FIRST BEFORE YOU TOUCH .htacess! (If you are not comfortable editing this file, don't do it. If you don't understand what is at risk by messing this file up, don't do it.) Here is a search on how to edit .htaccess for this issue
Well, there you have it - 5 quick and easy things anyone can do today to help improve your SEO rankings.