Ever felt intimidated at the convoluted, jargon-ridden information about Internet marketing for small businesses available on the Net? Ever been horrified by the huge fees the experts charge, putting search engine optimization beyond your own means? Ever thought: What exactly is search engine optimization anyway, and can I do it myself?

The answer is: Yes, you can! The basics of search engine optimisation in applied web marketing are simple. It’s all to do with the keyword content of your text copy, and can be summarised in seven points.

1. Register a good domain name which reflects what your site is about. Even if you are an established business, don’t register www.FredJones.com if you make widgets. Rather, you want to register something like www.BestWidgets.com because that would inspire confidence in people looking for quality widgets who would not necessarily have heard of Fred Jones the widget-maker.

2. Name your page URLs based on reasons similar to the above for your web promotion, except now you can be more specific. Search engines like to know what your page is about. Name a page after a product (BigYellowWidgets.htm) or a service or action (Buy-Widgets-by-Post.htm) on one of the sales pages.

3. The text in the title tag is crucial in letting search engines know what each page is about. Put your important keywords in your title tags, using both the singular and plural versions (people will search for both) and make these tags different and specific for each page. For example, “Widgets and After Sales Widget Services”. Whatever you do, don’t call the home page “Index”, but treat it almost as a mini-description.

4. The other tags (at the top of the html page) between the two “HEAD” tags are not as important as the title tag, but the description tag is still used by some search engines in displaying what you would like web users to see when they scroll down a page of search results. Some search engines don’t use the description tag at all; others, like Google, sometimes use part of it together with part of the main body text surrounding prominent keywords on your page. So you may as well treat the description tag seriously; make it brief (about 25 to 30 words) and as comprehensive as possible in the short space allowed. Make sure you have your popular keywords included within your description tag. The ALT tag is used for a very short description of an image or graphic file, and is what is displayed if you allow your mouse pointer to hover above a graphic. These days it is not considered important for search engines. The COMMENT tag is never displayed on the body page, and is used by coders and designers as an instruction or reminder to themselves about what that section of html coding should be doing; in the past, some webmasters in their quest for website promotion and search engine ranking used to stuff keywords in the comments tags, but now it is generally acknowledged that the main search engines pay little or no attention to these.

5. Keyword density. Each search engine has its own preference as to how many times a keyword phrase appears on the page in order to signify the relevance of that keyword phrase (in other words, in order to help the search engine understand what the page is about). Around 5 to 8 per cent is a rough guide as to the optimal level. Don’t overdo it, otherwise it will be seen as spam or keyword-stuffing. Also use your keywords in the headings tags H1 and H2. There is an H3 tag as well, but it is doubtful whether search engines bother with that, as it is perceived as less prominent on the page, therefore less relevant to what the page is about.

6. Don’t forget good linking in your website marketing. Search engines will judge the importance of your web pages to some extent on the number and quality of incoming links from other sites. Ask other webmasters with sites on similar themes to yours for a link, in exchange for a link back. These sites should not be in competition with yours, but should be similarly themed. You may occasionally be asked by other webmasters if they can link to your site. If this is so then have a look at their site; make sure that their site is relevant, that it has at least some Page Rank, and that it just “feels” good, and has no nasty surprises like redirects or unexpected popups. You don’t want to be associated with a “bad neighborhood”!

7. Make sure that important keywords are included in the anchor text within inbound links from other sites. This is crucial to search engines when they try to figure out the relevance and importance of your pages. The inbound link from the other site should take the form of something like this (I’m using normal brackets instead of angle brackets so as not to use compromising html): (A HREF=”http://www.Yoursite.com”) your important keywords included here(/A). You should definitely avoid something like (A HREF=”http://www.Yoursite.com”)click here(/A), which tells search engines nothing except that your site is about “click here”. Be careful!

Gordon Goodfellow is an Internet marketing consultant and practitioner. He lives and Works in London, UK, and has helped companies in many industry sectors with clients worldwide. To get your free search engine optimization course visit www.Applied-Web-Marketing.com , which is an introductory resource on applied web marketing for small businesses.

Source: High Quality Article Database - 365Articles.com

 Why links count - The power of links
When we first design a website we tend to think about the obvious, you know the index page, the contact us page, or even the pricing page. Some designers will have a very long page of text, so is this a good thing? Well according to some experts this is a bad thing! A page with too much text is bad for the ranking of your website, I would of thought this would have been good for the search engine spider, this must be good spider food. If you think about it more then you can see why this is bad,....

 Create Your Own Ezine Traffic Machine For Your Blog
How would you like to reach millions of people with your products and service for free?That is exactly what occurs when you start writing articles and submitting them to hundreds of ezines. Currently there are tens of thousands of ezine publishers online and almost all of them have one thing in common. They are all looking for good content to publish in their newsletter.If you have good content (not a sales letter cloaked as an article), then you can be their savior. You can give them exactly what they need. Then, they will give....

 So You Want To Start An Internet Home Business?
Copyright © Robbie Fanucchi <a href="http://www.RJFanucchi.com">http://www.RJFanucchi.com<a/> Everyone these days has the notion to run a home based internet business? Do you have what it takes? This is the most important question to ask yourself before venturing forth. Why? Because not everyone is suited to start a successful home business. As strange as it sounds, many prefer to answer to a boss who dictates eight to twelve hours of their day. After all, if you do exactly as he says and your life is still miserable, who is to blame? Yourself? Of course not. You blame the boss. But if you have your own....

 20 Things To Check Before Joining Someone Else’s ”Pay Per Sale” Affiliate Prog
Online Home Based Business is the best possible way to earn a decent living online. I have been running my own home business for last couple of years and I must honestly admit that I am doing well at it. In my past 4 years experience of online business, my top money making period started with the beginning of Affiliate/Reseller Programs such as Clickbank and Commission Junction. There were times when I used to hear something like "Earn $1,000 per day from your home" and my reaction would have been "Yeah, yeah another scam artist". But now thanks to places....

 Is Your Site The Weak Link In Your Sales Chain?
In the sales chain, or sales process, buyers go through several steps before they make a purchase. Two of the big hurdles are the questions of "Do I trust you?" and "Can you deliver?" Two Big Hurdles Your Prospect Must Jump Over   In the sales chain, or sales process, buyers go through several steps before they make a purchase. Two of the big hurdles are the questions of "Do I trust you?" and....

 How to Get Started On Your Business Website
So you're about to embark on the creation of a major website for your business? Having a presence on the internet can be a big help to many enterprises, but that you consider a few simple points before hiring a web developer. First of all, it's a good idea to talk to your customers, the people who will actually be using the website, and determine what features they would find helpful. Circulate a survey among frequent users of your product or service, and try to collect insights into what should and shouldn't be a part of your new site.....

 Finding Good Web Designers - Essential Insider Tips On How To Find And Choose Your Web Designer
Finding a good web designer may seem an expensive and daunting prospect.  Where do you start, what do you look for and who can you trust? Personal recommendation is always a good starting point, but if you're reading this then you've probably drawn a blank with family and friends.  You need to keep in mind the following factors: What is your budget? This will often determine where you can afford to go to get your....

 One Way Links : The New Generation of Links
For the past few years search engine traffic has become the most targeted. Just think about this: a site without traffic it's dead site. And the best way to get good targeted visitors are search engines. So if a site ranks well in search engines then i can ensure you that it's not dead. The most important and popular search engines are Google, Yahoo and MSN. This search engines include in their search algorithms link popularity. So you can consider inbound links as some kind of votes in the favor of your site. So the main idea is that if you....

 The shortest way to a text link ads success
Since Google appeared, and became the most popular and frequently used search engine, things changed in the ´search engine industry´, because the web sites began to be ranked after the number of sites that linked to them. It appears that Google considers every link that points to one site a vote for it. Then, the ´link placing industry´ appeared, text link ads began to be bought and sold, but this was not what Google was planning, So the search engines started to filter the sites, trying to separate the ones with paid text links from the ones which ´earned´ them It is....

 How to get a Knock Out Website!
The first step in setting up an online business...Starting an online business for a brand new entrepreneur is a lot like falling in love for the first time. There is enthusiasm, the feeling of a new high in life and determination to make it work at all costs. All superior emotions, but making sure that your business grows will also take a sharp reality check. The reality is that along with enthusiasm and determination, you also need to be a smart marketer to make your business profitable. Marketing for profits has today moved....

 How To Pick Your Website Colors
Before you can consider the finer points of your design, you need to make the big decisions. Few decisions are more important than the color scheme your website is going to use. Pay Attention To Contrast You need to pick colors that provide enough contrast to make your text stand out in order to promote readability. Stay away from using a light colored font on a light color background as it would be very difficult to read. Remember your emphasis is on getting your message read. An unread message is a useless message. Not Too Many Colors You should choose 3 or 4 colors....

 10 Ways Web Site Text Can Impact Your Reader’s’ Buying Decisions
The appearance of your web site text can actually increase or decrease your sales. The size, font, style and colour of your text can easily affect your reader's buying decision. Below are ten points to consider when typing text on your web site. 1. Easy To Read - You want to make it easy for your visitors to read your text. You shouldn't use a light coloured text like yellow on a white background and you don't want to use dark blue text on a black back-ground. 2. Create A Mood - You want to use the colour of your text to....

 Be Concise
oncise by: Dr. Donald E. WetmoreConcision. (Sounds like I made up another word.) It's the idea of being concise in our ongoing communication with others, both written and oral.Many take forever to say so little. These are the same people who spend a lot of time in meetings. Some who may have little to say use lots of words to say what could be said in a few words. It is boring. It wastes time. It reduces productivity. Theirs and yours.I do not suggest that all of our communications ought to be reduced to one or two words. There ought to....

 The Amazing Power of Articles to Drive Traffic to Websites
Most experienced marketers are in awe of the amazing power of articles. Distributed in a consistent and structured submission pattern, they provide a force to drive insane amounts of traffic to any website. And yet some online enthusiasts shy away from article submission in the mistaken belief that the process is tedious and time consuming whereas nothing could be further from the truth. Certainly there is something of a learning curve to be negotiated in the matter of creative writing but with the amount of assistance available online nowadays, that is not a problem for anyone requiring tuition. A sound practice for beginners is....

 Web Site Strategies that Work!!
Maximize the value of your website with this web strategy questionnaire by Philippa Gamse. 1. Review your goals and markets for your site: a) Are there clear business goals and desired outcomes behind your Web site, and for each major page or section?  How will you evaluate your success? b) Have you defined all the target audiences for the site, and the "languages" they speak?  Do you have compelling benefit statements, testimonials, case studies? c) Does your home page appeal to each of your target markets and audiences?  Does it effectively direct....

Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.problogtips.com/the-7-points-of-do-it-yourself-seo/1280/trackback/

Posted by Jaron in the catagory of... General Interest