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Search Engine Optimization: Tips and Techniques
You may have agonized over choosing an easy to remember and search engine friendly domain name (see our article on Choosing The Right Domain Name) but unfortunately you can't just stop there, help potential visitors find your site by working on your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Titles and Tags
Titles: Every page needs a search engine friendly title, this will allow search engines to work out exactly what your site has to offer, e.g. your site is www.newbestsuper.com and sells car parts the page title should be something like 'newbestsuper car parts' rather than just 'newbestsuper'. Search engines on the title tags so only use the h1 tags once per page to avoid confusion, all sub-headings should be in in h2, bold or strong as these are also recognized.
Meta Tags: Meta Tags are codes that operate in the background of your site to tell search engines what your
keywords and content descriptions are. Search engines don't relay on Meta Tags alone anymore as they can also scanning content but
they are still important to get right. Every page needs to have;
Content is key
Content: the more text based content your site contains the more it can be read and ranked by search engines, this will lead to more viewers being able to find you and the info you have to offer. However don't be tempted to provide all your text within one page as this will be unappealing, instead provide multiple pages of quality content. It should also be noted that search engines cannot read graphics or java script, so whilst some limited use of these may add to your page design don't over do it.Keywords within content: as mentioned search engines now scan content rather than just the meta tags, so to help improve searchability you should include your most important keywords within your text at regular intervals e.g. 3 or 5 times per 100 words, and try to include these keywords within every pages title.
Link popularity
As a basic rule the more external links to your site there are the better your ranking will be. There are many good schemes available that supply a submission service where your site will be linked from multiple directories very quickly, but if you have the time and energy you can achieve similar results for free. For example:Make a free submission to DMOZ.org: this is the largest human edited directory on the web and whilst it can take anything from 2 weeks to 2 months for any improvement in the number of external links to your site appearing it is still a very worthwhile organization to be involved with.
Make submissions to other free directories: a good list of such directories can be downloaded from info.vilesilencer.com, but a simple Google search will also reveal many more so would should choose the ones that are right for your website. Click here for an example Google search.
Reciprocal links: don't be afraid to put links to external sites on your page (in return for links back to you) provided the external site is relevant and well ranked you can expect to increase traffic and hopefully provide more info to your viewers. Download the handy Google toolbar to check the page ranking of the site you intend to share links with (obviously the higher the better, but if you are new to this and have no page ranking don't be too fussy).
Forums: by joining relevant forums and discussing your chosen subject matter you can show off your 'expert' knowledge and help other users find useful information whilst at the same time leaving links back to your own site. The best way to link back from a forum is to include your link in your signature, for example after you have finished your post sign off 'Joe Bloggs from www.newsuperbest.com - car parts directory'.
Keywords in links: as in the example above, remember to include key words in your external links, this makes them more search engine friendly.
Social Book Marking
Don't underestimate the power of the Social Book Marking sites: these sites allow a community of users to recommend or rate your site and if you have new, useful or funny content you can see an amazing increase in the number of hits. To get on board sign up and submit your site, the biggest players are definitely del.icio.us, digg, Reddit and Netscape.StumbleUpon: It's an idea that's grown out of the book marking sites and the joy of finding new content you didn't even know you wanted! StumbleUpon allows users to give sites a thumbs up or a thumbs down, the more a site is rated the more it will appear when people are 'stumbling' / channel flicking their way through the internet. For more info and to get yourself signed up see StumbleUpon.
Get networking: Social networking has transformed the way people are 'finding' each other on the web, let it transform the way it lets people find your site. Start a Myspace, Facebook and yahoo group account in the name of your site and use these to discuss your topic and promote yourself. There are also many forums out there, so find one related to your sites subject matter and get involved, always remember to include a link to your site in every post you make (though don't use the forums just to promote yourself, get involved in discussions and you'll find you have a much better hit increase).
Hopefully this has given you some ideas on how to increaser the flow of traffic to your site, if you have any question or suggestions please feel free to contact me at info@better-hosting.com