Search and Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via ‘natural’ (‘organic’ or ‘algorithmic’) search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it ‘ranks,’ the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. (from Wikipedia).
Definition: Web Search Strategies in Plain English by Common Craft.
Communities: Google’s Search Engine Optimization Forum
Networks: The SEO Network (Ning); Search Engine Optimization (Ning); NTEN’s SEO & Google AdWords Affinity Group (free).
Consultants: Read the series Creating an SEO Strategy from CivicActions; search for consultants on SEOPros
Organisations: Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization
Blogs: Search Engine Roundtable blog; SEO Marketing World blog; Google Webmaster Central blog.
Tools: Google Analytics; 10 Free Analytics Tools reviewed by ReadWriteWeb.
Data sources: Google’s Webmaster Guidelines; Yahoo! Search Content Quality Guidelines
Publications: Get to the Top on Google by David Viney; Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin; Search Engine Optimization for Dummies by Peter Kent;The Secrets of Search Engine Optimization: How to Get to the Top of Google by Mike Stepney and Nick Maynard.
10 Search Engine Optimisation tips
By Lucy Langdon, Search Marketer at Distilled
Distilled are a vibrant online marketing company who specialise in online reputation management, search engine marketing and website design. www.distilled.co.uk
- Your website needs to be read both by visitors and by the search engines. Speak in your visitors’ language, keep things simple, and you’re well on your way to making your site search engine friendly as well.
- It’s really important to check you’re using the same keywords as your potential visitors. Otherwise, how else will they find you? Use tools like SEObook’s keyword suggestion tool to make sure you’ve got your finger on the pulse.
- Title tags are very important for SEO. They appear in the bar of your browser and on the search engine results page. There are three basic rules: each page should have a unique title tag; each title tag should naturally include the keyword/s for its page; the title tag should be fewer than 65 characters.
- Like title tags, header tags tell your visitors and the search engines what’s important on each particular page. Again, three rules: put your most competitive keyword for the page in an h1 tag; only have one h1 tag per page; put your other keyword/s in h2, h3, h4 etc tags.
- There are no golden rules about how many times to use your keywords in on page copy. If you write naturally for your visitors, the copy should naturally appeal to the search engines as well.
- Visitors and search engines need to be able to find their way around your website. Make sure the navigation is straightforward; links should be prominent and, if possible, they should use the keyword of the page they are pointing to.
- Search engines need to know they can trust your site and that their users will appreciate finding you. One of the ways they do this is by looking at that sites link to yours – it’s a bit like a recommendation or endorsement. Think about how and where you can get some natural links from around the web.
- Google is the main player when it comes to search engines. If the traffic it sends to your site is important to you, you should play by its rules. They are lots of ‘guidelines’. Here are the two most important: Don’t pay for links and don’t cloak content (show different con tent to users and search engines).
- Visitors and search engines alike have a relatively short attention span. Be concise. Try and put all your most important information close to the top of each page.
- There is a lot to learn about SEO. Seomoz.org is a great repository of accurate information and will keep you up to date on all the industry news.
