Search Engine Optimization ^(SEO)

How do I optimize my web sites for search engines?

Here are 20 general rules to follow to build well searched and indexed web sites.

1. Create META keywords. Keep your META keywords short (128 characters max, or 10 words).
   <meta name="Keywords" content="John, Schuster, freelance, contract, professional, web, designer, graphic, design, Chicago, Illinois, HTML, CSS," />

2. Create a one sentence description for each page to use in the META description field.
   <meta name="Description" content="John Schuster is a freelance and contract professional web designer working in and around Chicago Illinois." />

3. Use keywords in the title of the page.
4. Use keywords in the first paragraph.
5. Use keywords in H3 type size or larger headings
   
6. Use keywords in bold
7. Use keywords in Italic
8. Use keywords in _subscript    or    ^superscript.
   
9. Use keywords in the URL (directory name, filename, sub domain, or domain name).
10. Use keywords in image filenames and alternative text tags (alt) throughout the page.
11. Use keywords in In hypertext links on the page.
12. Use valid HTML.
13. Keep pages below 100 kb.
14. Use HTML for links. Java script and Flash can't be indexed by search engines.
15. Add more web pages to your site. Bigger sites are higher ranked in most cases.
16. Avoid using frames on your site.
17. Google likes content. Use paragraphs and complete sentences with keywords in them.
18. Get your site listed on Internet directories and list sites.
    (dmoz, business, yahoo)
19. Update your website often. Google compares your current site to the last time it indexed it. If nothing has changed, it knows it doesn't have to re-index as frequently.
20. Be sure to actually submit your site to google or be linked to by a site that is!

If any of these rules sound confusing, it is because they are used to select the best results based on the searched terms. Therefore, the only reliable way to boost your web site's search ranking is to constantly add quality content to your site. To build traffic you must build a better web site than that of your competitors. There are NO secrets to search engine optimization, but there is a better way to do it.

Search engine technologies are being updated constantly for the purpose of finding the best results based on what the majority of people are searching for.  There are many techniques that worked in achieving a high ranking in the past , but the rules are constantly changing and getting more challenging.

See Also:

What your web site analytics can tell you
Through analysis of the traffic flow to and through your web site, you can learn which products and services create the most interest for your visitors.

Chicago Web Designer Blog (Updated Daily)
I post the latest news, web design and marketing articles here.

John Schuster
Chicago, IL 60616
Cell: 630-476-1545
last edited Monday, November 30, 2009 2:09 PM