10 Things I Know About… SEO
By Linda Sevier
Special to the InfoKwik Blog
07/05/10
Linda Sevier is founder and owner of the Northborough-based Internet marketing firm Pagetender LLC.
10. THE BASICS
The goal of SEO, or search engine optimization, is to tell Google and other search engines what your website is about.
9. DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Keyword research is the foundation of SEO. Select keyword phrases related to your business that will have a decent number of monthly searches.
8. KEEP IT SIMPLE
Optimizing a web page with a single keyword phrase will give you the best results.
7. ENTICING TITLE
The page title, which is displayed the top of your browser, is very important. To be most effective, put your keyword phrase at the beginning and make it 70 characters or less.
6. BE SPECIFIC
The heading for your page (known as H1 in HTML code) should include a keyword phrase, not something generic like “About Us.”
5. PRIORITIZE
Search engines consider words that are in sub-headings, in bold, or in a bulleted list as more important than just plain text.
4. THINK LINKS
No one searches for generic phrases like “Click here.” Use descriptive keywords as anchor text when you create a link.
3. DESCRIBE IMAGES
Image descriptions (also called “alt attributes”) should include keyword phrases if possible. Be sure to describe the image for those with visual impairment.
2. NO TRICKS
Adding a bunch of keywords in the meta keyword field of your HTML won’t help. The search engines don’t look at the keyword field. It is for your reference only.
1. BANG FOR THE BUCK
Good SEO is more effective and less expensive than buying pay-per-click advertising.