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| 06 | 2007 |
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| Search Engine Optimization: Getting Ranked |
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In Part 1 of the Search Engine Optimization series, we defined the differences between organic and paid search results and reviewed the importance of having a high ranking in both categories. In Part 2, we provide you with a list of do’s and don’ts to de-mystify search engine optimization, move you up the rank of results, and insure that you don’t land in the SEO penalty box.
Do’s
1. Optimize the keyword density on each page of your site. This means selecting a keyword or phrase and using it in varying ways throughout that page. The trick is to use keywords or phrases that your customers would use on a search engine to find you. At the same time, you want to select keywords that are not so contested that it does little to improve your rank. Make sure your average keyword density is between 3 and 7 percent. This means that if you have 500 words in your main page content area, around 25 of them should be variations of your keyword or phrase. Less than that and your rank won’t benefit, but more than that and engines begin to suspect you’re a spamming site.
2. Include keywords in every place possible: put them in your title, metatags, file names, 301 redirect page, 404 (page can’t be found) page, style sheet, javascript, alt and title tags of images.
3. If your navigation is composed of images, be sure to include a text version elsewhere on the page – usually in the footer.
4. Popularity counts! In the world of search engines popularity is important and is determined by how much traffic you get. Use press release sites, social bookmarking, and other “natural” methods to drive traffic to your website. Having other high ranking sites link to your site also helps your rank, particularly government and university websites.
5. Include internal links between the pages of your website. This shows a search engine that your pages are connected and also gives you an opportunity to implement more keywords.
6. Include a sitemap on your website. Either create your own, or utilize a site map utility offered by one of the search engines. But don’t do both – having two sitemaps would be considered duplication and would get you penalized by some engines.
7. Make your website W3C compliant. There’s no proof that this will help your rankings, but some researchers believe that engines such as Google may include it in their algorithms.
8. Keep your content fresh. Search engines monitor how often your website is updated. Plus, the more frequently your content is updated, the more frequently your website will be spidered, which means more opportunities for a higher rank. If you don’t have the time or staff to keep it constantly updated, use RSS feeds to insure you always have new content.
9. If possible, use guerilla marketing tactics such as forums and blogs to generate relevant content and increase your keyword density. While they’re good for SEO, there are other risks to using these features. For more information read “Can Your Business Benefit from Web 2.0 Technologies?”
10. Submit your website to the search engines. Yes, most of them will find you when their spiders crawl the internet, but some won’t. And some may require payment to submit your site. Others, like DMOZ, require you to submit your site for approval because all submissions are individually reviewed. So make sure you submit to all the top level sites.
11. Do your research. There are a million sites, including the search engines themselves, that are dedicated to helping you determine the popularity of keywords. Using these will help you determine words and phrases to improve your site’s keyword density. In addition, learn how people are currently finding your site. This can generally be done via your hosting company by simply requesting access to web stats.
12. Give it time. Many search engine algorithms give credibility and higher rankings to older sites.
Don’ts
1. Search engines frown on sites with a multi-level hierarchy – keep all your pages accessible via no more than 2-3 clicks.
2. Don’t use Flash. Or, at the very least, keep it minimal. Most of the websites out there simply don’t need to be developed as full Flash sites. Research goes back and forth about SEO and the use of Flash on websites, and nearly every article (even those advocating it) acknowledge that although engines are always “getting better” about trying to spider Flash sites, they simply aren’t there yet. If you demand it, or already have a Flash site, build an HTML alternative or break up the site into smaller Flash sections to allow for some HTML to be utilized and to provide at least a small working area for optimization.
3. Do not duplicate content. Some engines penalize you for duplicating. If you have web pages containing virtually the same content, be sure to change it or determine if the secondary page is really necessary.
4. Do not use link farms. All your content must be relevant to the nature of your website. Those affiliating themselves with link farms may be penalized or even blacklisted. This includes having links going to or coming from your site that are connecting your site to spamming websites.
5. Try to refrain from using dynamic file names. An example of this would be: http://www.yourdomain.com/index.php?results=books&plname=&id=01287 . Try to substitute file names containing keywords such as: http://www.yourdomain.com/search_engine_optimization_books/ whenever possible. Engines are getting better at spidering dynamic links, but until they’ve perfected it, try to use alternatives.
6. Do not have broken links or errors on your website.
7. Don’t over saturate your site with keywords and phrases. Search engines are cautious when it comes to link farms and spamming sites and have implemented criteria into their algorithms to red flag sites that have qualities they’ve deemed as potential threats. These include overuse of outgoing links, extremely high density of keyword or phrase use, irrelevant or not enough content.
8. Don’t weigh your site down with heavy graphics or files that take longer than 8 seconds to load (and even 8 seconds can feel like an eternity to some of us). Your visitors will leave, in turn reducing your site popularity and therefore your rank.
The task of creating a website that is optimized without too much or too little of those magic ingredients that earn prize rankings in the organic search results, may seem daunting or confusing. But, ultimately the trick is to maintain balance and relevancy. From the perspective of a website owner, search engines may seem like guarded gates trying to keep solicitors out. But, from the perspective of the searcher, the search engine companies are really just trying to find a balance themselves – between providing the most relevant results while keeping the spammers at bay. By keeping this in mind and focusing on the needs of your own visitors, you can make small adjustments to approve your rank and relevancy without turning your site into a giant keyword list.
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About The Brookfield Group
The Brookfield Group has become a leader in IT, ISP, ASP and web solutions by providing next level technology solutions managed by experts who give you peace of mind without the tech-talk. The company's services are customized to fit any enterprise-size businesses and include: IT project management; hosting solutions and maintenance; systems security and patches; telecommunications services, server and desktop setup, repair and applications; network infrastructure design; audio visual products; surveillance and security solutions; as well as a variety of other software, hardware, services and accessories. Located in Carmel, Indiana, more information about The Brookfield Group products and services is available at www.thebrookfieldgroup.com or by calling 317.524.6000.
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