25
Free SEO Tips to Help you Gain Visibility in Search
Rankings
By John Alexander
Many of our
regular readers have written to express their appreciation for
our Free SEO Tip of the Day.
If you are not currently getting the Free SEO Tip of the Day,
then you can sign up for it right here. Today, I wanted to
share just 25 tips in this article that I hope you will enjoy.
If you enjoy learning SEO and reading these tips, then why not
consider registering for our Free tip of the day?
Now on with 25 tips to help you gain top visibility in the
search rankings:
Tip 1. Enjoy better rankings by
writing higher quality content.
Did you know Google is literally rewarding well-written content the benefit of
"true relevancy." All I mean to say here, is that just by becoming a better "writer"
and creating higher quality content, you can benefit from certain elements that
are at work behind the scenes. Strive to write better content for your visitors and it will work for you not
against you.
Tip 2. How well
"focused" is your content for each page you are
working on?
If you try to keep very focused on one topic per page, you
will do much better than having multiple topics on the same
page. If your page is specifically about the "benefits of
using nostalgia" as a topical reference, are you actually
using the keyword phrase for example "using
nostalgia" within your readable HTML text? So many times,
new students of SEO forget about the importance of focus.
Tip 3. Where is the best place
to get started?
One of the best places to get
started is by researching your target audience's search
behavior. Ultimately, you want to target the exact phrases
that your ideal buying audience is using when they search. Watch
this short video demo on keyword research using Wordtracker
for some tips.
Tip 4. Once you have got your
keyword research done, you need to get started right away.
Some people are so completely overwhelmed that they
put off actually getting started on their Web site for far too long.
Walt Disney put it simply like this:
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."
Walter Disney
Of course he was not speaking about SEO but the principle still applies.
Why not make a list of strategies that you like to apply on your Web site, but then
take one single item and work on it immediately, until it gets done.
Sometimes even the simplest of changes have significant impact and I always feel
badly when I see anyone taking to long to "get started."
Tip 5. Have you heard that
"link building" is important?
Perhaps you've heard that link popularity and link reputation is important.
It is important, but don't become so obsessed with linking that you build your
entire strategy only "just around link building." You want to use all of the basic
principles to carry your Web site through and you may want to do some linking
based on the look of the "competitive landscape" for your keyword
phrase.
You also want to build links based on what "makes sense" for your visitors.
Some search engines like Google give more weight to elements like link reputation
which is an "off-page" influence while other search engines like Yahoo will give
more weight to "on-page" influences such as your keyword phrase usage and how it
is used on the page.
Tip 6. Have you read Google's
Webmaster guidelines?
It is good to check it from
time to time as things do get updated and are subject to
change.
Tip 7. What is important to
Yahoo?
What does Yahoo! say it wants in a Web page?
- Original and unique content of genuine value
- Pages designed primarily for humans, with search engine considerations secondary
- Hyperlinks intended to help people find interesting, related content, when applicable
- Metadata (including title and description) that accurately describes the contents of a web page
- Good web design in general
What 14 things does Yahoo! say it does "NOT" want in a Web page?
Find out all of their guidelines here:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/basics/basics-18.html
Tip 8. What about researching
important keyword phrases in other languages?
Are you wanting to perform keyword research in other languages?
What if you are trying to find keyword research suggestions for
other languages such as Spanish or French or German? Now you can
research keywords in several other languages including French,
Dutch, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish and Spanish
at Keyword Discovery. Check out Keyword Discovery by clicking
here.
Tip 9. For effective search engine marketing, you need more than just top rankings.
Remember to include strong calls to action to compel a response from the reader.
What do you want the reader to do once they finish reading your content? You need
to clearly build these options into each page and leave nothing to guess work.
Describe what action you would like them to take and never assume that they will
just know what to do, because they won't act unless you spell it out.
Tip 10. SEO and Cascading Style
Sheets.
An understanding of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) can help you with a number of
SEO work-arounds to meet challenges with complicated design issues. W3Schools
provides an excellent CSS tutorial free of charge, complete with a lot of examples
and quizzes.
Tip 11. Don't ever limit the search engines
to only just one way of finding your pages.
Put links to new pages on your site map. Make sure you link to
your site map from every page of your Web site.
If there's a corresponding page on your site that you can use to link to the new page, do so.
Mention the new page on your blog. Do you have a directory associated with the particular topic dealing with the content of
this new page? Add a link on that page. Just make sure that you
give the search engines multiple ways to find all of your
important pages
Tip 12. How compelling are your Meta descriptions?
- Are you remembering to use your important keyword phrase in the description?
- Are you taking time to write unique descriptions for each of your pages?
- How about a call to action?
- Are you remembering to include good calls to action in your description?
Tip 13. Have you tried Fagan
Finder?
This Web site has over 100 tools that you can use to dig for information on a URL.
There are more nooks and crannies to this site than you can possibly imagine.
http://www.faganfinder.com/urlinfo/
Tip 14. Do not obsess
over Google Page Rank.
Did you know that a page with a high PageRank can be out ranked in the SERPs by
a page with a lower PageRank? Remember that PageRank isn't the "end all" in
SEO. It's only one piece of the pie.
Tip 15. Don't use your keyword phrase in ALT text.
None of the search engines consider ALT text when determining relevancy. ALT text should be used
only to describe images. Putting keywords in the the Alt tag to try and influence even a marginal advantage is a waste of time. Don't do it. Use every tag for the purpose in which is
was specifically designed to be used by the W3C.
Tip 16. Create content that serves your customer's needs FIRST and your own needs second.
Far too often, our focus is so narrowly limited to just our own objectives for
a Web page. One powerful tip is to first research the specific needs of your
customer (within a niche) and then deliver up high value, based on your research
and give the searcher EXACTLY whatever it is that THEY want, first.
Think about it - try it out and see what happens when you meet the client's
interest first, before introducing your own objective.
Tip 17. Are you using your
researched primary keyword phrase prominently in your Title
Tag?
The Title Tag of your Web page
is still extremely influential for relevancy in most search
engines. Try using your researched phrase once, up front in
your Title and remember the value of creating a compelling
Title that engages the reader. Avoid stuffing your Title full
of keywords and instead create a compelling Title that reads
well and accents a benefit.
Tip 18. Remember that most
major search engines no longer look at the your Meta keyword
tag when determining relevancy.
Use moderation and be careful
not to over-use any single word multiple times in your keyword
Meta tag.
Try and use approximately a half dozen words that are actually
being used within the Web page content.
Tip 19. Do not use the same
Title tags, Meta Keyword Tags and Description Tag on every
page of your Web site.
Keep your Title, Keywords and
Description all specific to the individual page you are
working on, unless you want to get falsely flagged for
duplicate content penalties.
Tip 20. Remember to use
alternative synonyms sometimes instead of over using keywords.
Your Thesaurus can be your best
friend or else watch this video on how you can choose
semantically related keywords with the help of
Wordtracker's Full Search tool.
Tip 21. Check out Robin Nobles
list of 148 muscle words you can use on your Web site
Here is Robin's list of muscle
or power words you can print out or save to your hard
drive, words you can use on your site in your title and
description tags along with your keyword phrase, and in your
heading tags and your content.
Tip 22. Create content that
deserves to be found within the top ranks.
One of the single
most important aspects to managing your time well, is to stay
focused on creating high value, original content that is
useful and engaging to your visitors. What kind of
content should your Web site contain?
-
Create content
that is truly relevant (and honestly deserves to be found
at the top.)
-
Create content
that serves your customer's needs FIRST and your own needs
second.
-
Create content
that will meet your visitor's exact search query and
satisfy it.
-
Create content
your visitor will be GLAD that they found - something of
true merit.
-
Create content
that is based on real "behaviorally based
research" rather than guessing at keywords.
-
Create content
that is written for your specific visitor so that it flows
smoothly and reads well to them.
-
Create content
that is original and you can feel proud to have created.
-
Create content
that has a solid, well written "call to action."
-
Create content
that is based on what a "search engine
understands" through artificial intelligence (AI.)
Tip 23. Pay attention to
keyword usage in page names. Use hyphens not underscores.
Be sure when naming pages after your full keyword phrase, that you connect
the words together using a hyphen (-) rather than an underscore (_)
Example: A search engine will understand: antique-clocks.html
but will not understand both words if you use: antique_clocks.html
How much advantage does this
tip give you? Only marginal. But sometimes there is only
marginal difference between ranking number 10 or ranking
number 1.
Tip 24. Don't forget to
use optimization with your press releases.
Have you thought about optimizing some news about your business this week?
You can put your news story out in front of thousands of publishers and editors
through the PRweb
service.
But the question is - what will your unique story angle be?
There are so many times we get so wrapped up in what our competitor is doing, we
seem to forget the power and impact of taking a reverse or opposite approach.
Learn how to tell your story from a different and more interesting perspective
than everyone else and your stories. Catch your audience by surprise with some
genuine news and make your news story stand out in the eyes of publishers.
Surprise your audience with a different approach and watch the impact it can
have on your Web site. Its only news, but people love fresh ideas or a story told
from an alternate approach.
Tip 25. Are you trying to
increase the frequency of robot visits to your Web site?
Are you aware of the value of fresh, original content added to your Web site
on a consistent basis? Of course you are. Does it real improve the findability
of your Web site? You bet it does and it increases the frequency of the
Spider visits too.
But how can you create truly "fresh" and "original" content?
There is one place you can pick up daily tips and fresh ideas about content creation.
It all starts with just one simple "idea." When was the last time you visited Robin Nobles
"IDEA MOTIVATOR"
Blog?
The next step up in building
genuine SEO skills is to consider one of the following
options.
1. Would
you like a Free SEO Tip of the Day?
Get a free tip every single day by signing up here. We
have hundreds of short concise, easy-to-read little tips,
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2. Attend
a live Search Engine Academy
Attend a 2-day, 3-day and 5-Day Workshops located in a
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3. Join Robin Nobles and John Alexander at one of the SEO
Mastery Workshops.
Check
out our new agenda of Workshop topics.
4. Check out
the SEO
Online study courses where you can begin learning online.
About John Alexander
John Alexander is Co-director of Training at Search
Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his
partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first
comprehensive online search engine marketing courses. John is author of
an
e-book called Wordtracker
Magic and has
taught SEO skills to people from 87 different countries world
wide.
John's articles can be read in publications like REALTOR
Magazine, Search
Engine Guide, WEBpro
News and many others.
