Search engine optimization is a strategic combination of SEO knowledge, proper web page design, keyword or key phrase relevant content, and old-fashioned common sense.
If you outsource the design of your website be sure to hire a designer that is well-trained in, and makes use of sound SEO design practices. If the website designer is a true professional in all respects then there will be no need to consult with a search engine optimization specialist later on. As such it pays off in the end to be willing to pay the higher fees of a profession rather than hiring a dirt cheap amateur.
If you know HTML and plan to build your website in-house, then you’ll need a basic guide to follow to ensure the highest rankings possible within the search engine results pages, or SERPs as they are more commonly known.
The page title tag should include the title of the article on the page. If it’s a blog page then the main subject and keywords would the focus of the page title.
The meta tags are placed within the header for a purpose: to help search engines pick up on an accurate description of the page along with relevant key terms. Make the best use of these as possible.
Use H1 tags to emphasize the title of the article or entries as the case may be.
H2 tags surrounding subheadings that contain key words and phrases can further enhance your SEO efforts.
File and image names are often abbreviated and are rarely descriptive. The reason this practice is so common is often for the sake of simplicity. Image “alt” tags too are often ignored. These are huge mistakes to make and can mean the difference between your web page amongst the top dogs on the first page of the SERPs, or buried somewhere in the great beyond.
Breadcrumbs are another great way to call attention to the subject of your web page.
As much as possible, keep every content item on the page related in some way to page’s subject. There’s a grey area here to be aware of because too many instances of your main keyword may result in your site being considered a spam site.
Make use of the relevant content tag that Google provides to separate the main content from anything that would detract from the relevancy of the page.
It’s perfectly acceptable to include links to related articles within the vicinity of your main content.
Search engine optimization really isn’t all that difficult. It just requires knowledge, patience, and attention to detail. Always adhere to industry standards and avoid black-hat techniques and at least some of your content will stand out to searchers. The more content you have available for the search engines to crawl, the more chances you have of driving highly-targeted traffic to your site. And of course, more traffic equals higher revenue.