SEO Tips

So you want to optimize your site huh? Well it's not as hard as you think. But it does take some understanding of how Google works first. (If you are asking yourself why I didn't say Yahoo it's because I always use the Google algorithm as my basis for research as they get the biggest amount of searches on the web.)

First - think of Google like a bookstore and your site like a book. You submit you site for inclusion to the bookstore - How does Google decide where to place your book? They READ it of course! It's the content - or TEXT on your site that makes the biggest impact on where Google will place your site. Not the fancy cover (design) or the pretty pictures inside (slideshow). It's all about the text. Now don't get me wrong, some of the other stuff will have a certain amount of pull in placing your site - but let's face it - Content has always been king. But just knowing that content is king will not get you to page #1.

Now with that said, there is a rhyme and rhythm as to how you use that text. It goes to say that what you write into your site has a very big part in what page Google will place you on. "I already have lots of content on my site" you might say...well well well, just because you have the content on your site doesn't mean that you have it arranged properly. Anyone can write a book - that doesn't mean they don't need an editor! Editing your site so that it reads properly for Google is a big part of search engine optimization. One of the first SEO tips I should give you is to get an editor! Or BE the editor! Editing your site is 1 BIG part content and 1 part everything else. The 'everything else' meaning headers, photos, alt tags, etc. Below I have outlined some important things to do when properly optimizing your website. These are the basic steps that I follow when I apply search engine optimization techniques to a new site.

*Prior to reading the SEO Tips below - IF you haven't read my page on Choosing the Right Keywords then please do.

So let's get started! If you have any questions about anything I have detailed below please feel free to contact me.

Choose the right keywords for SEO - Do not guess. It never works. For instance, below is the list of keywords I researched for and implemented on this page.

Keywords Local Search Volume: November Global Monthly Search Volume

seo tips 27100 33100

search engine optimization tips 9900 8100

seo tip 2400 1900

free seo tips 2400 1900

top seo tips 1000 1300

search engine optimization tip 1300 1000

Name your page - Make sure your page name IS the keyword! That doesn't mean the 'button name' although that helps. Sometimes the button name doesn't fit the keyword - but using the keyword in the extension that follows your '.com/' is important and can help your search engine optimization. See image below:
Meta tags are IMPORTANT - Put your top 3 in your TITLE meta - or just stay under 80 characters. Do not bother with your company name in your title unless it is searched frequently. Even then I wouldn't bother because most likely your site will show up anyway - and those people already know you. The goal of SEO is to be found by people who DON'T know you. Next, Put your top 10 in your KEYWORD meta and then put a few in your description. It is very important that every set of meta tags on every page is DIFFERENT. Make sure your #1 keyword is the first thing written in each meta tag. NOTICE I didn't just say it was the first keyword. Make sure it is the FIRST THING WRITTEN. For instance see my meta tags for this page below:

SEO Tips

Header Tags or H1, H2, H3 Tags - These are the tags that are kind of like the chapter titles in a book. They describe the content below them. Put a valuable keyword in the H1 and Google will see that keyword as extra important. This is a HUGE SEO Tip. But don't go crazy with these. I typically only put one H1 tag and MAYBE one H2 & H3. Sometimes I don't even use the H2 & H3 tags. To do this simply highlight the keyword, then click on the drop down in your WYSIWYG editor (shown in the image below) and choose HEADING 1.
See example below.
Content - Content is KING to Search Engine Optimization. You don't need to write a book - just a page. It seems like this might take a LONG time - however it really is worth it. Make sure you sprinkle your keywords throughout your text. Don't go over board. Don't try to stuff your page with keywords and DO NOT try to be sneaky and hide keywords by making them the same color as your background. SEO Tip : Check out Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Try to just write something that would be useful to the reader but contains a few keywords sprinkled throughout. And if you don't have time for this - then hire writer. I know a good one that charges $50 a page and all you have to do is tell him what keywords you want to use. So be a writer, hire a writer, just write!
BOLDING Keywords - Ok, now that you have written the text, added it to your page, added a Header tag or two - now you need to go through your text and bold your keyword phrases. As you look back on this page notice that the keywords that were in my list in bullet #1 are also used throughout the text and are BOLDED. That is because bolding tells Google that a word is more important than the others. I should note that if you know HTML then it is important to use the <STRONG> tag - not the <B> tag for this technique to work correctly. The WYSIWYG editor in a la mode uses this already.
Photos - Add a few photos to your content. You don't need to add as many as I have in this page, just 1 or 2 will be fine. Search Google Images for a cool picture and right click on it and choose SAVE AS. Then save it as a KEYWORD NAME. For instance - right click on the image just below this next bullet point and choose SAVE AS. You will then see what I have named it. What is it named?
Tags - Every Image should have an ALT TAG or a DESCRIPTION TAG. This tells Google what the image is about. Google doesn't actually read the picture - but like in a book - a caption will help describe what is in the photo. To do this simply right click on your image within the editor and choose Set Image Properties. Then fill in the Image Alt Text & The Long Description. See below:
Links - one little known or used SEO technique is to put links to other pages on your site using anchor text. Linking to my Choosing the Right Keyword page would be a great example! This page is relevant to the SEO Tips and also has similar text in it.
Link Title tags - Links have tags too! Once you insert a link you can right click on that link and choose 'Set Link Properties' and then fill in the 'Link Text' and the 'Tooltip'. See Below.
I do want to note that I believe using an a la mode site has a lot to do with being successful in search engine optimization and ranking in Google. One of the main reasons that I only work on a la mode sites is because I have had extrordinary success with them using these SEO techniques. I have optimized other websites before in the exact same ways without the same results. So before you go buying a site somewhere else (and unless you don't already have an a la mode site) then you should highly consider them. I am convinced that the way a la mode is designed is a big part of the reason Google ranks their sites so well. Great job a la mode!

That's it! Those are my best SEO Tips. And please rememebr - if you don't have the time or patience to go through every one of your pages and make these changes then your site needs me!

*I must note that there probably will be several of you who go an try to find out if this page has actually been ranked on Google to see if my seo tips are valid. Please remember that this is a brand new page (12/2009) and it is up against some mighty competition. BUT have no fear - I do believe it will rank - and when it does I will post it on this site.