10 Steps for Improving Your SEO
Search Engine Optimisation has become the marketing manager's obsession as more marketing collatoral is published on the Web. The vast majority of Web users reach the information they want through a search engine and many only read the first few results, so it's vital that your entry is the one that comes top of the list.
There are a number of simple things you can do to acheive this.
- Define your SEO niche. Designate three keywords to concentrate on at the most. Analyse competitors' sites to define the Key Efficiency Indicator index (KEI), which compares the daily searches with the number of competing Web pages to identify which keywords are the most effective at bumping your site to the top of search engine results.
- Fine-tune your page title. Good content shows in the title. Make sure the title explains clearly and compellingly the nature of the content to which it links.
- Implement keywords in the URL. Adding your keywords to your URL will improve search engine friendliness.
- Regularly update hidden meta tags. Web pundits may declare meta tags dead and buried, but it only takes a few seconds and if nothing else, it serves the purpose of tidying up the page.
- Page copy should reflect your choice of keywords. Each of your keyword combinations should be repeated on average five to 10 times on a page.
- Keywords behind images. Alternate tags are the little pop-ups which show text when hovering over an image with your mouse. Your SEO will improve greatly if you make sure that these pictures have tags on them.
- Turn your keywords into hotlinks. All your links should contain keywords in plain English: "click here" links should be avoided at all cost.
- Submit your site to search engines. It's good SEO to submit your site to the popular search engines which will send their bots to visit and index your links and pages.
- Use Web 2.0 to boost your positioning. Website optimisation can take several months of work. On the other hand, social media links are more dynamic, and can sometimes be indexed in a day. A good mix of the two is a good idea.
- Just keep trying. SEO work shouldn't stop with step nine. Results won't show immediately, priming the pump a few times is required.
A few simple tools I recommend:
You can also view a slideshare file of my advice.
(Pic:pdbreencc2.0)