Search Engine Optimization
Unlike what some
search engine optimization companies would have you believe, optimizing
your web site for the search engines is not that hard. The following
guidelines may not get you the first position in the results for your
keyword phrase, but it should put you within the first or second page.
That's excellent,
considering that for some competitive keywords, there are literally
millions of results.
Keywords
Make a list of
keywords that your customer will use to search for your site. For a site
about online businesses, the list would look something like: online,
business, home-based, opportunity, etc.
From the keywords,
you can form keyword phrases like online business, or business
opportunity. These phrases are what you expect your customer to type
into the search engine, and what you are going to optimize your site
for.
Domain Name
You can consider
including your keywords into your domain name, like
ExcellentOnlineBusiness.com.
Meta Tags
The meta tags of
interest here are the "title", "description" and "keyword" tags. For the
"title" and "description" tag, make sure you include your key phrase.
The "keyword" tag is not so useful and search engines largely ignore it,
preferring to decide for themselves. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to
include a "keyword" tag with all your keywords.
Web Page
Include your
keyword phrase as close to the top of the page as possible. And don't
forget to repeat it a couple of times.
Graphics
If you have any
graphics on your page, include an "alt" tag and see if you can fit your
keyword phrase as part of the text of the "alt" tag.
Directories and File Names
Don't just name
your directories and html files with a, b, c, etc. Give them
descriptive names like business, online, etc. Helps you in your search
engine rankings, and makes your web site easier to maintain later.
