Top 5 Search Engine Optimization Tips
1. Find Your Baseline
You can't tell if your efforts are improving your site's rank in the search engines if you don't know where your starting point is! Sign up for Google's web stat software: http://www.google.com/analytics. You will need a Google account, but it's worth setting up for the free analysis software! To implement the code, you will need to copy the simple script provided to you by Google and embed it in each web site file (html, php, asp, etc) that you want to track. You can then view the number of visitors (returning and new), number of page views, how viewers navigated through your site, which pages are most popular, where visitors typically decided to leave during their visit, and much more. You can also create multiple versions of your pages with different keywords embedded to test various search phrases and determine the best way to reach your audience.
2. Name Your Files After Queries
Filenames like c.htm, aa1122.htm, or 1_a.php might make complete sense to you, but they don't make much sense to a search engine that's indexing them! Name your files based on their topic or the query for which you want your page to be returned. For example, if your page is about the services your business offers, you should name the file accordingly: advertising_services.htm, legal_representation_services.php, tax_preparation_services.asp, etc.
3. Create Headers and Links!
Headers: Increase Relevancy to Search Queries
Just having headlines for your content isn't enough. You actually have to use the <h1>, <h2>, and <h3> tags in your content. Use a single <h1> tag for the main header of your page and use other header tags for subheaders within your page. Make sure those header tags encompass the types of statements your customers might be using as search queries. A header of "Our Services" won't help you out much. On the other hand, a header titled "Best Tax Preparation Services in Rockford, Illinois" might provide you with a few extra leads. What would you search for if you were looking for a site that provided your services or products? Use those search phrases in your web page's headers whenever possible.
Links: Increase Relevancy to Search Queries
Another key feature that most search engines analyze are <a href=""> tags or hyperlinks. The search engines look at the text phrases that are being used as links and place greater importance on those phrases if they relate to a customer's web search. So, if you have a page on your site that lists all of your services, you should consider making each service a link to another page on your site. For example, if you offer cleaning services, you might choose to link each sub-service offered to a separate page which describes each service in more detail:
<a href="window_cleaning_services.htm">Window Cleaning Services</a>
<a href="laundry_services.htm">Laundry Services</a>
<a href="lawn_mowing_services.htm">Lawn Mowing Services</a>
Linking key phrases, or words, places greater importance on their relevancy to the searches your potential customers make on search engines. In other words, if your linked words/phrases match a search phrase, they appear more relevant to the search engine and are ranked higher.
4. Image Alt Tags are Important to SEO
If your web site is image-heavy, make sure you're making use of the 'alt' tag. Search engines can't index images. They don't know what those images contain, even if the images have text in them. For that reason, and for accessbility reasons too, you should always include ALTernative descriptions for your images. For example, is much more relevant to the search query of "benefits of search engine optimization" than simply having the image on your page without an alt tag.
5. Content is Key to Optimizing Your Web Site for Search Engines
The most important factor in ranking may possibly be how popular your site is compared to similar resources. For that reason, it's important that you have comprised your site of content that people would actually want to share with others. People won't provide a link to your site and share your content unless there's some value add or something worth passing along. Content worthy of sharing might include things like discount coupons, how-to/instructional documentation, free templates, inspirational stories/quotations/photos, etc. Typically, the more people who link to your site, the higher your site will appear in the ranked search results for a related query. So, don't make it all about what you can do for others or the features of your products. Instead, provide some how-to information on best practices for using your products. Instead of only telling your customers why you're the best in your industry, you should also offer tips on how to avoid choosing the wrong service provider in your industry. Teach your customers something new. Don't just make your pitch. Even if they don't necessarily buy from you, they're more apt to share that information with other potential buyers. With that 'share' comes a sense of credibility and stamp of approval... not just for the search engines, but for the sharer's social network, too.
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