You do it. I do it. We all do it.
(Do what, exactly?)
When we go to a search engine, such as Google, and we enter choice keywords,
we usually only visit the websites with links on the first few SERPS (search engine result pages).
Why? Because
we instinctively regard those sites as better – enriched with
quality information
relevant to our search queries and hopefully coming from a
reputable source.
The sites on the first SERP for a given search query are, more often than not, there because search engines such as Google have crawled them, deemed them authentic and informative based on keywords and other important criteria, and indexed them accordingly.
When it comes down to impressing the search engines, you should always keep these three letters in mind:
S.E.O. Search
Engine
Optimization.
SEO is a
complex practice with myriad methods and stipulations; simply put: it is
not a one-time deal. You can't optimize a site overnight; you won't see results from your SEO campaigns overnight; you can't expect to keep your coveted spot on page one of the SERPs if you don't perform SEO rigorously and consistently.
Are you taking the time to consider the SEO of your site? Take a look at these
four simple but significant areas of your site to see if you're eon the right track:
1) Create Valuable Content. The actual on-page content of your website is a great place to start experimenting with SEO. Take time to go through each paragraph on each page, making sure that you implement plenty of keywords and key phrases that relevant to your site. Do this without keyword stuffing – get the point across without being overly redundant or obviously spamming.
2) Craft Custom URLs. Take a moment to go through your entire site and review the URL for every page. Are they all unique? Are they featuring valuable keywords? For example: a blog on your website with the URL http://mysite.com/blog/238767 provides no insight to search engines. But a blog with the URL http://mysite.com/blog/tips-about-SEO tells search engines that that page relates to search engine optimization.
3) Create Informative Titles Tags. Go through your site and take notice of the titles that appear for each page at the top of the browser. That text is known as the title tag for each page, and it is incredibly useful to search engines when they crawl your site. If you notice that multiple pages of your site have the same or very similar title tags, then you're seriously missing out on an SEO freebie. Create title tags that accurately reflect the content of each page so that search engines and site visitors know what to expect.
4) Compliment with Alt attributes. Alt attributes refer to the little descriptions that appear on your site when a browser mousse over an image or anchor text. Just as with your title tags, you should take advantage of this opportunity to include descriptive keywords in your alt attributes- this not only aids search engines as they crawl your content, it allows persons with old versions of Internet browser or even vision disabilities to understand what the image conveys.
Did you pass the 4 step SEO test? If you feel that you've got a handle on these areas of your site, and that you're optimizing them to your advantage, good for you! If you've got some doubts, I truly encourage you to continue your research about search engine optimization or contact us today for some
more information on SEO.