5 Helpful SEO Tips

SEO. Search Engine Optimization.

Sure. You've heard or read these words before. After all, it is a big buzzword around the Web these days. Or maybe you haven't.

If you haven't and you publish a promotional Web site, read on. If you've heard the terms "SEO" and "Search Engine Optimization" and are still a little unclear, read on.

SEO: What Is It?
Anyone who publishes a Web site and would like it to be found should be concerned with SEO and optimizing their site. OK, here's the answer to the big question of "What it it?"

Search Engine Optimization is a way of making your Web site more "friendly" to the major search engines of the Internet. Yes, we're talking Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. These engines (and others) periodically spider all Web sites. That is, they send a "crawler" out to analyze the content of each Web site. Page titles, meta tags, tabs, copy, and pictures all play in to how sites are indexed.

Then, when somebody searches for something (the words they use are called "keywords"), the most relevant sites to those keywords, as deemed by the spiders, are the first to appear. One thing to know is, search engines periodically change the way the rank relevancy. As people understand how to get higher rankings, many resort to underhanded tactics. Hence, the engines change their algorithms to throw off people doing things to artificially raise their rank.

Paid Placement vs. Organic Search Results
Know the difference between paid placement and organic search results. Paid placement results are highlighted links at the top of the page, usually in a blue field. Google AdWords that populate your left navigation column or certain fields within a page are also examples of paid placement.

Organic search results are what naturally appear on the page after the engine runs a search. The closer you are to the top on Page 1, they better your site is optimized. A site with good SEO, compared to its competition, is at a distinct advantage.

5 SEO Tips
Even though search engines change analytics from time to time, here are some tips that you can pretty much count on to help you.

• Put you most important search term, or terms, in your domain
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  The engines have always put the domain name as the top trigger for search relevancy. No matter how you slice it, if what people are searching for is in your domain, the engines will rank you higher than those that don't.
• Put other important search terms in your tabs
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  The second most important thing engines look for are tab titles. Use other search terms in your tabs. You may even have to repeat your main search term. Think about your inventory or what you offer. Break up the content to include as many relevant terms as you can.
• Add relevant informational articles to your site
• 
  Informational articles are a great way to add keywords and boost the relevancy of your site. You're reading one right now. Do, however, make sure the keyword density is around 4-7% of the total content for each distinct phrase or keyword. These days, anyone can easily pick out content obviously written to add keywords. No one wants to read stilted, redundant copy like, "You'll find all the semi-sweet chocolate you need for all your semi-sweet chocolate recipes to make semi-sweet chocolate desserts."
• Resist ANY temptation to use artificial means (Black hat tactics) to boost rank
• 
  Some sites will try to hide text, create false pages or redirects, or use cloaking to raise rank. This is often referred to as a Black Hat tactic. Don't do it. The search engines will eventually figure you out, and your site could disappear from results until the problem is fixed, or could get banned entirely.
• Keep Flash animations and sound to a minimum
• 
  At this point, pretty much everyone knows to not use frames in your design (Remember 1996?). Now the truth about Flash is coming out, too. While Flash presentations look cool during concepting, they don't help you get found. Music and sound effects don't help much either, and it's annoying to hear a "bling" or "whoosh" any time a link is moused over. Just stick to the facts, people, and we'll get along fine.

  If you need assistance with SEO copywriting or ensuring your site is properly optimized, please contact me via http://www.hotcopywriter.com with an outline of your site, goals, and positioning. I can arrange a helpful package on nearly any budget.