How Do You Get Started in SEO?
02/28/10
Search engine optimization is the process of making your web site irresistible to search engines. Search engines use algorithms to decide how relevant and important a page is, using factors like the page's content, URL, meta tages, site history, and inbound links. How well the page does determines how prominently it is featured in the search engine results when a browser searches for a given keyword. A page that ranks well according to appropriate principles is called "SEO friendly." The average reader does not look past the first couple of pages of search results, often not even past the top two or three results, so appearing in the top ten or twenty results for your site's keywords is essential for getting traffic to your site.
How do you use SEO to rise higher in the search results? First, you select the keywords to target. Everyone would love to rank high in the search results for a general term, such as "coffee," but the competition makes that almost impossible. The more specific the keyword, the lower the competition, and the easier it is to rank well. "Roasted coffee" is a better keyword, but "roasted coffee beans" is even more specific, and "roasted Blue Mountain coffee beans" is superb. If competition is high enough, you may need to add even more terms to the keyword phrase, such as "roasted Blue Mountain coffee beans Boston."
Once you know which keywords you want your site to target, optimize each page to target a single keyword apiece. The keyword should appear in the page's title, description meta tag, and file name. (Ignore the keyword meta tag, which was so heavily abused that it is now irrelevant to SEO.) The keyword should also appear in any anchor text on links pointing to the page, and should appear in the body of the page a certain number of times. The optimum number of times a keyword should be repeated in the body of the page is one of the more delicate parts of good SEO; search engines alter their algorithms frequently to weed out spam, so one month the most SEO friendly keyword weight is 12%, then it drops to 8%, then the next year the percentage is down to 3%. Read reliable SEO forums and keep up to date on the latest SEO developments to know how often to mention a keyword in each of your web pages.
When you are done with the page content, consider your page design. Is the content of your site at the top of each HTML page, or do search engine spiders have to wade through unfriendly walls of code to find the body of the page? If so, is there a way to move the code so it appears after the content? Are pages linked with Javascript and Flash, or do you have plain HTML links to and from each page? Have you implemented a spider friendly sitemap?
As you can see, making your site SEO friendly is not an abstruse, magical process. It is simply a matter of creating search engine friendly content that readers enjoy, and adding a few minor enhancements that are visible only to spiders. Read search engine blogs and spend some time on reliable forums, and soon you will know everything you need to make your site SEO friendly.