SEO Basics for the Marketing and Internet Challenged

Marketing depends on being seen and generating an “I need it” response in those who do the seeing. The internet means that the game has changed. Big book sellers are a classic example of this dichotomy. With the advent of the internet, the transfer of information and words was streamlined and simplified. With the evolution of the e-reading platform, the very idea of a book underwent a mutation. Big corporate booksellers still valued retail floor space and gave no thought to these rogue upstart concepts. People weren’t going to buy a book they couldn’t see, and if the book wasn’t in a store how could it be seen?

Competent search engines with advanced algorithms were the final blow to standard business in this scenario, and then SEO started to really become a ‘thing’ to be thinking about – getting noticed was about page ranking and search engine results pages. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is essentially the game whereby companies restructure and present the information on their web pages, as well as employing off-site techniques, in such a way as to maximize how close to first they will appear when subjected to preset search parameters used by search engines. It’s a game of who can come in first, because the closer to first a company’s listing appears, the more visits that site will receive. Further to understanding what affects SEO, here are ten simple aspects to consider when using a website creation service.

Keywords

Search engines use little algorithms to survey the text on a site, period. If it’s not in words then it won’t be seen and that’s not helpful for getting your site noticed by a search engine. Keywords need to be relevant to your site, and they need to be appropriately used. Keywords in titles and page headers are particularly effective.

Internal Linking

When designing a site, remember how you felt when you visited that site that was almost impossible to find anything on. You don’t want to do that. Your site should be as simple to navigate as the local convenience store. Two clicks should take you to just about anywhere you want to get. Ideally, linking from the main page directly to all sub-pages using a one way link will be one of the most effective means of achieving this, and, with all that well executed and visually appealing internal linking, all of your pages will be highlighted for what they contain when search engines catalog those pages.

Use a Navigation Sitemap

As a follow up to the internal linking concept, providing visitors with a navigation sidebar or even a comprehensive sitemap component allowing them to link directly to any single page from anywhere on the site will allow the whole of the site to be cataloged and detailed. The smoother this process is, the better it shows up on the search engine pages.

Use Simple English in Naming Things

In building a site, some people are obsessive about adhering to an internally consistent but realistically unreadable hierarchy. While it may make sense to the site owner to use such a structure for naming and structuring the website, search engines are literal, and a page dedicated to selling bulk packs of aqua colored nail polish that is referenced in it’s heading as /NP/AQ665/B12 will be cataloged as such, with no reference to nail polish let alone any of the other relevant details. Indexing the same page as /nailpolish/aqua-shade665/bulkpack12 will catalog the page with all those juicy words front and centre so that a search for bulk packs of aquamarine nail polish will return the page directly.

Avoid the Glamorous Flash

Videos are not text, and search engines scour databases full of text in understanding and cataloguing the websites available on the internet. All embedded videos need to have the alternative text filled out accurately, or the videos may as well be invisible as far as any search engine is concerned. If the page requires video, then at the very least add enough useful text around the frame to make the page visible to the search engine.

Likewise with Images

Search engine spiders can’t see images the way we do. Everything a search engine sees is reduced to binary, and text as binary at least makes sense to a search engine. Embedding images should have the advantage of both being on a page full of text and of having an input field for ‘alternative text’, which will allow the search engine to catalog the image alongside others details.

Content is King

Content is king and current content will rule over all others. Knowing what happened last week in sports is fine, and accurate information is valuable, but knowing what happened this evening in the playoff game is more relevant, and having that information current on a website will generate much more interest than historical details. As the saying goes, fresh content draws readers, and readers are revenue.

Knowledge is Power

All the effort in the world won’t make any difference if you are unable to monitor the changes and improvements. Tools like the Google toolbar or Alexa (another toolbar) will allow you to monitor your Google search results and track visitors, backlinks, and where your visitors came from to find you. With knowledge, you can adjust and adapt to maximize the results of your efforts.

SEO does not have to be nearly as complicated as many think it is. While it is true that there are much more extensive SEO oriented changes that can be undertaken, these short simple tips will help you get started on the right track.