1. What Is Search Engine Optimization?

Ask ten different people what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is and you
may receive ten different answers. For the purposes of this guide, SEO will
be defined as the process of making changes to your site to make it more
accessible to search engines and the people that arrive at your site from
the search engines.

Search engine optimization is not about tricking the search engines. It
is about understanding what elements search engines look for on a page to
help determine the relevance of the page to a search term. By understanding
what page elements the search engines take into consideration, and making
adjustments to better present your page, you can improve your rank for a
search term.

Search engines use programs called "spiders" or "crawlers" that visit the
pages of your Web site and index the information on those pages. This
includes the content that your visitors see when viewing your page and some
of code used to build your page.

Taking search engine optimization into consideration before you build
your site is the best approach. Fortunately, search engine optimization can
also be performed after a site is built, but it will require making changes
to your site.

It is important to understand that it will likely take more than a month
before you see the results of your work. This is due to the fact that it
takes time for the search engines to update their databases.

A basic overview of the content and basic code that the spiders or
crawlers will look for on a page is covered here. The information provided
is not specifically geared toward one search engine. Instead it takes a more
general approach that will work well with most, if not all, search engines.

Each section starts with a brief description of the page element covered.
You will then be provided with sources for further information including:

 

  • Recommended Articles
    These are articles that do a good job explaining the key concepts of the
    topic discussed. Each articles is linked with the option to open it in a
    new window.

     

  • Check the Article Archives
    Search Engine Guide provides a directory of thousands of search engine
    articles from experts across the Internet. This section will provide a
    link to the relevant category covering the page element being covered. The
    articles are arranged by date with the newest articles first. This will
    allow you to get the most up to date information and then do further
    research on older articles.

     

  • Recommended Forum Threads
    These are pointers to specific threads in search engine discussion forums
    that cover the page element being discussed.

     

  • Books and Reports
    In some case, there are books and reports that are available that cover
    the page element being discussed. For those that wish to have further
    research material, we provide links to sources that provide the books and
    reports.

 

2. Domain Names

Having keywords in your domain is not a major consideration. For example,
having a domain such as www.keyword-keyword-keyword.com isn’t going to do
much, if anything.

If keywords in your domain naturally make sense and would make it more
memorable to your visitors, then don’t be afraid to use keywords in your
domain name. If you already have a domain name, don’t worry about switching
just because it isn’t packed with keywords.

Don’t purchase multiple domains with the idea of having multiple copies
of your Web site to get multiple listings in the search engines. This will
likely result in a penalty from the search engines.

To learn more about Domain Names:

Recommended Articles:


  • Attacking the Search Engines
    – There’s no need for an additional
    domain. If you have additional products or services, simply add pages to
    your existing site. Every page is a gateway to the rest, and they can all
    rank highly if properly optimized.

     


  • Multiple Domain Names Pointing to One Site
    – I have heard through the
    grapevine that if you buy many domain names and point them back to your
    home page, when the search engines find this out they will shut you off.
    Is that true at all?

     


  • Keyword-Rich Domain Names
    – The myth of using keyword-rich domains for
    SEO purposes has been perpetuated for way too long, and quite frankly I’m
    tired of seeing it written about as if it’s an all-important SEO factor.

Check the Article Archives:


  • More Articles About Domain Names
    – Check the Search Engine News
    Archives for articles about domain names and the impact they can have on
    your rankings. The articles are arranged by date with the newest articles
    first. This will allow you to get the most up to date information and then
    do further research on older articles.

Recommended Forum Threads:

 

3. The Title Tag

The title tag for each page of your site is very important. If you look
at the code of a web page, you will find it in the head section and it will
look something like the following:

<head>
<title>Your Page Title Here</title>
<meta name="Description" content="Your Description">
<meta name="Keywords" content="Your Keywords">
</head>
 

Your title should include your keywords or keyphrases and help describe
your site, or the specific page, in a concise manor. When people are viewing
a list of search results, they typically will scan down the list. Make sure
your title tells them what your site, or the page, is about.

For the title, your keyphrases are more important than your company name,
unless your company name is a well known brand.

Repeating keywords and keyphrases over and over is likely to be penalized
and looks terrible in the search results.

To learn more about the Title Tag:

Recommended Articles:


  • Search Engine Optimization Basics Part 2 – Title Tags
    – Not only is
    the structure and content of the Title tag used by the search engines when
    calculating your webpage’s relevance, but it is also displayed in most
    search engine results pages. It therefore needs to be carefully
    constructed in such a way that it influences your website’s position in
    the SERP, but is also attractive enough to encourage a surfer to click on
    your link.

Check the Article Archives:


  • More Articles About The Title Tag
    – Check the Search Engine News
    Archives for articles about the Title Tag. The articles are arranged by
    date with the newest articles first. This will allow you to get the most
    up to date information and then do further research on older articles.

Recommended Forum Threads:

 

4. Meta Description and Meta Keyword Tags

These tags are also in the head section of the code of a web page and are
not seen by the visitors of your site unless they happen to look at your
source code. If you look at the code of a web page, the Meta Tags will look
something like the following:

<head>
<title>Your Page Title Here</title>
<meta name="Description" content="Your Description">
<meta name="Keywords" content="Your Keywords">
</head>

Of the two, the Meta Description is the most important. In fact, many
experts will advise that it isn’t even necessary to bother with the Meta
Keywords tag because most search engines ignore it.

For your home page, your Meta Description Tag should briefly explain what
your site is about. Each page of your site should also have a Meta
Description Tag that explains what that specific page is about. Keep it
short and to the point.

To learn more about Meta Description and Meta Keyword Tags:

Recommended Articles:


  • Search Engine Optimization Basics Part 3 – Meta Tags
    – As part of the
    continued series ‘Getting Back To Search Engine Optimization Basics’, Andy
    Beal takes a closer look at Meta description and Meta keywords tags. Do
    you still need them and what benefits do they bring?

     


  • What Exactly are META tags?
    – You probably know that META tags are
    important for search engine optimization and that they need to be included
    on your Web site. But what exactly do they do? What is their purpose and
    how exactly do the search engines interact with them?

     


  • No Meta Keyword Tags
    – Unfortunately, once Meta tags became spam
    magnets, we SEOs started telling people to only use words that were
    already on the page and no others. From what I discovered, that advice was
    actually wrong — and in fact, probably useless!

Check the Article Archives:


  • More Articles About Meta Description and Meta Keyword Tags
    – Check the
    Search Engine News Archives for articles about Meta Description and Meta
    Keyword Tags. The articles are arranged by date with the newest articles
    first. This will allow you to get the most up to date information and then
    do further research on older articles.

Recommended Forum Threads:

Read the complete article at searchengineguide.com . .