Search Engine Optimization Ideas that Work

THINGS TO DO

After selecting your keywords, tags, description, etc. what else can you do to optimize your web site?

(1) Do a search for sites similar to yours using some site related keywords. Select a few of the top results in the search. Analyze their keywords and tags by selecting "view" in the drop down menu of your browser and then click on "source". There you will see what they've done to get such good placement.

(2) Using a keyword tool to see how your products or services are searched for and use those terms to describe what you sell. If done correctly, matching popular search terms with your goods or services will get you great search engine placement.

(3) Check all your links to make sure they work. Dead links are bad news for both search engines and converting traffic into sales.

(4) Submit to directories like DMOZ, Yahoo Business Directory, etc. Some charge a fee but their inclusion is a key factor in getting search engines to list you.

(5) Create a sitemap and submit it to the search engines. This ensures that no pages of your site will be missed when they crawl your site. There are free programs that can create the sitemap for you.

(6) If you write articles, be sure to publish them on your own site. Their keyword rich content increases your chances of being in their search engine results.

(7) Educate yourself through trade specific newsletters that discuss proper and effective SEO. They are an invaluable source for new ideas.

THINGS TO AVOID

(8) Don't use words like "of", "the", etc. in your keywords. Those are called "stop" words and not considered search engine friendly.

(9) Avoid using tables within your site whenever possible. While pleasing to the eye, search engines can't read them and they won't follow the text links or recognize the content.

(10) Make your content keyword rich, but don't go too far. Keyword "stuffing" can easily be detected and you'll loose valuable search engine placement or even be excluded.

(11) Linking campaigns are important. One way links are best but reciprocal links are acceptable as long as they are with similar sites. Try to link to sites with a page rank of 3 or better. Avoid 3 way links, web rings and links to sites that have nothing in common with yours.

Proper search engine optimization techniques are a large part of any web site's success. There are many companies available to do this for you but if you are on a small budget, using these search engine optimization ideas will reap big benefits.