SEO Strategies - Part One

The first goal of any search engine optimization strategy is to get your web pages indexed. But even before that can happen, you need to get the search engine crawlers to visit your website.Basically, the more frequently you update your pages, the more frequently the crawlers will show up on your website doorstep. Of course, that’s only half the battle. The other half is getting the search engines and directories to actually index your pages. In order to do that, you need to start at the beginning. And the beginning in this particular instance is developing and enhancing pages in such a way that the search engine crawlers will be impressed.

And since the title of the page and the text content generally carry the most weight - at least with regard to what search engine crawlers deem most relevant during their visits - it stands to reason that improvement in page rank and/or search results listing can most often be attributed to having individual and specific keywords properly incorporated into those two prime areas. Of course, if keywords were the only basis for which page rank and position in search results were determined, optimizing web pages would be pretty much cut and dried… pick a keyword > use it in your title and throughout your content > achieve high page rank and top position in search engine results The problem is, there are so many variables that not only come into play but change on a regular basis, it can seem as though achieving solid and effective search engine optimization might never be possible. Fortunately, it’s not only possible, it can be relatively painless as well. All you have to do is satisfy the top three requirements of pretty much all major search engines…

Beyond that, there are countless other search engines and directories like AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, and AllTheWeb. Should you optimize for those as well, or simply level your sites on the major players and bypass all the search engines and directories below them? Not necessarily. You still want your pages listed in as many locations as possible. You just shouldn’t try to satisfy every one of them with regard to optimization. Satisfy the top four contenders. Then, if you have the time and ambition to broaden the scope of your SEO efforts, do it. If not, don’t worry about the hundreds (or even thousands) of other search engines and directories that exist. You’re only human. And just meeting the optimization criteria of the top four is going to be challenging and energetic enough. Of course, unless you plan to make search engine optimization your life‘s work, it’s not likely you’ll invest most of your energy in that one single area (even when restricted to the top four players). But you do need to invest a fair amount of quality effort. And that basically equates to these two missions… 1. Get your pages indexed by major search engines. 2. Improve your page rank and position in search results. In order to accomplish both of those, you need to carefully balance the line between good optimization techniques and the urge to take things a bit too far. In other words, you need to make certain you carry out your two missions without stepping over the line into what’s commonly referred to as “black hat” search engine tactics.

For example, if the topic of your website is golf and you want one of your pages to be optimized for the keyword “golf swing”, you would want any and all content to include that particular search phrase. It’s no different than optimizing any other content on your website. You have a specific keyword and you need that phrase to be included in such a way that it will carry significant weight with the search engine crawlers. If you can’t accomplish that, you’re merely shooting in the dark, hoping to gain targeted viewer traffic without actually targeting it. The goal is to add content that is geared toward specific keywords. And RSS feeds are no different than any other content. If it doesn’t include the keywords, you’ll merely get search engine credit for having generic topic-related content. Of course, what you really want - and need - is to gain rank and listing benefit from whatever content is added. That’s the whole purpose… to gain enough search engine recognition which in turn gains you targeted viewer traffic. That being the case, the ultimate software program would be one that could automatically place RSS feeds on your pages while at the same time do it based on specific keywords. Fortunately, there is such a program. And it’s the best software available…

What To Do… Following is a brief overview of what each of the major search engines and directories is looking for with regard to optimization and value. Google Doesn’t use meta description and keyword tags. High score for the overall weight and proximity of keywords, < h > tags, and bold text. Rewards quality content, anywhere between 50 to 600 words. Content should include keywords in text and links. Likes to see keywords in the page title (utilizing 90 characters or less) and carried consistently throughout the website. Especially values link popularity, themes, and keywords in URL‘s and link text. The use of excessive keywords, cloaking, and link farms is viewed as SE spamming. Yahoo No major importance but the description and keywords filled in play a role. Will not index anything associated with SE spam. Slow loading pages run the risk of being excluded. The page title has some significance and should be concise. Likes site popularity and wants to see a theme throughout the website