SEO: Making Your Page Work

[blu.raven11]

SEO: Making Your Page Work

So how do you harness this incredible tool to make your own page's ROI higher? By understanding the search engines and how they work, and by taking steps to ensure your page is optimized for best usability by these engines.

First, search engines use text-based algorithms. They send out miniprograms regularly called search engine spiders, robots, or web crawlers that catalog the data contained in web pages – data in the form of text – and use that to determine where to place a page in search engine returns on keywords.

So when your potential customer types in "butterfly handkerchief," the placement and frequency of your keyword phrase "butterfly handkerchief" is one of the main things a search engine pays attention to when deciding where to rank your page. If you are the only "butterfly handkerchief" site that is clearly demonstrating you offer these by placing the keyword phrase in the header, metatags, and text of your page, then you'll get first ranking. If Billy Bob's Hankies does a better job of this, he will get top ranking, bumping you down.

But that's not all the search engines look for.

**i hope it can help**
blu.raven11

[Jim Hutchinson]

That is a good start for on-page optimization. While doing the on-page optimizing, keep in mind the order in which the heading tags are listed.

There should only be one primary header tag (H1) on the page and it should be at the top. The H1 tag defines the major topic of that page and should include the primary keyword or key phrase.

Going down the page you can define sub-headings to further separate the sections. The H2 tag will start the sub-sections. Below those are the H3 tags to further categorize the sections.

The search engines also take into account which words or phrases are highlighted with bold (<strong>), italics (<i>), or emphasized (<em>) tags. Those tags show which words or phrases are more important than the rest of the content.

You page should be outlined as follows;
H1 - Primary heading
H2 - Secondary heading
H3 to H6 - Sub-headings
Bold, Italics, Emphasized - tags that support and reinforce the headings.

The META tags should be written to support the page content, with the keywords listed in order of importance. Example, I would put the keywords listed in the heading tags first, followed by the supporting keywords and phrases.

The META description is used by search engines to give an overview of your page when a good description is not available. For instance, if your navigation menu is the first thing the search engine sees, it will use that as the description in the search results. However, with a well-written META description, search engines will use that instead.

The META title should also include the content of the H1 heading tag, along with the name of your website. That helps brand your site and keep the primary keywords in the search engine results.

Who would like to add to this list?

Jim Hutchinson

[BradleyD.Haslam]

SURE!
I'll add my 2 shillings

The first and most important thing
a search engine is going to look at is
your page title. (after the url, but later 4 that)

Your page title and description should be
the first things to consider. After a theme.

Every page starts with an idea.
That idea has a theme within it.
That theme is how you start your research.
Right?

First, you find out if your idea can be monotized,
if it's within an active market. (people making money)
Then you find your "slot" in that market.
Your "slot" is your "keyword neighborhood".
And that is what you base your
description and title on.

THEN, while building your pages,
each exploits an area of your niegborhood.
And the same optimizing points are applied to EVERY page.

Remember, your not competing against sites.
Your competing against pages.

Each page has a set of keywords it's targeting.
Each needs to have the exact keyword in the title,
the description, the <H1> tag, and sprinkled throughout the page.
Along with different variations of your keyword phrase.
And your set of related words. (lsi words)
Then, when ever you link to that page,
you use the keywords in the anchor text.
Instead of "home" or the like.

On page factors need to be part of page design.
It's not something you "do" to a page after it's built.
That's making a whole seperate process out of it.
And there for, making more work for you in your mind.

Things like images.
Right when you put them in your page,
WHY NOT name them accordingly?
WHY NOT insert the <alt> tag right then.
WHY would you add it to a list of things that
you will have to remember to do later?

Lots more can be added.
So, who's next?

Brad.

P.S.
http://itsallabouttraffic.com/recommends/SEO-MadeEasy.pdf

[dudley]

great seo tips. by the way, that for the SEO-Made-Easy. thanks a lot, im a beginner in seo

[catherinel]

Ditto what Bradley has to say - you're not competing against sites, you're competing against pages.

I launched my plumbing site sometime in March. I checked today and only one of my keyphrases is not listed at the top, or on the first page of Google, it is listed on page 2. All I will do is simply add another page for those keyphrases, to get it indexed quickly on the first page of Google.

Next I will add more content using keyphrases I found on Wordtracker for additional pages. If you're not familiar with Wordtracker, I signed up for it on this website last year, and it has been worth every penny.

You might not think there would be much competition for plumbing on the internet, but there is a hell of a lot, and my biggest competition has been national franchises, and directories, but I was ranking at the top of Google for most of my keyphrases within three weeks.

Here are my pointers. Use keyphrases, not keywords - and make sure they're the ones that your customers will be using.

Content comes first: Make sure your keyphrases are in the content of your webpage (but not more than 10% or Google will consider it spammy).

Make sure your keyphrases are in your headers, as Bradley explained.

Next in importance is title - your keyphrase needs to be in the page title.

Your meta description should contain your keyphrase, but it should also appeal to those who might visit your site, as this is what they will see on Google.

Don't spend too much time on meta keywords and if you do use them, don't use more than six. Some people don't bother using them at all, and they're not necessary for getting ranked by Google, although they may be useful for some search engines. You may see that a lot of your competitors are using a ridiculous amount of meta keywords, but they're probably only doing this because everyone else is.

There are heaps of great keyphrases out there, so once you're at the top of Google for your first few - just keep adding more and more content.

One last thing I forgot to mention - add a blog to your site, and link keyphrases from your blog back to pages from your site.

[jadvd]

The leading search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, use crawlers to find pages for their algorithmic search results. Pages that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted because they are found automatically. Some search engines, notably Yahoo!, operate a paid submission service that guarantee crawling for either a set fee or cost per click. Such programs usually guarantee inclusion in the database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search results.

[mrrb]

Just remember that you are writing your pages for your potential user not just for the search engines. The keywords have to make sense when used in the content so that your customer will keep coming back for more information. Keyword stuffing will only drive them away.

MRRB

[Jim Hutchinson]