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>> Create an effective title - A
typical search engine will weigh the data in your title more
heavily than other data in your page. Make sure that your title
has keywords that represent your website effectively. For the
most part the title should be short but always include your
keyword(s).
>> Don't try to fool the search engines - This is probably
the biggest trap people fall into. People come up with ways
to 'fool' a search engine, and they work for a little while...sometimes.
But then the search engines catch on and write algorithms that
penalize sites that use this practice. Examples of this include,
but are not limited to: repeating keywords over and over; using
invisible text (white text on white background); using very
small text to jam the keywords in a small area.
>> Keep the important content near the top of your pages
- The actual text on your website is very important. A search
engine (spider) will read this to determine where your site
will rank. Some portals will place a higher rating of importance
based on where they find the text and keywords in your page.
Closer to the top is usually better. But having keywords throughout
your page develops a "theme" and that too is important.
>> Don't stuff the top of your pages with data the engines
can't read - As with the last example, something higher up in
your page can be more important that something further down.
Therefore, HTML formatting, images, scripts, etc. toward the
top of your page can result in lower rankings.
>> W ebsite content should be your #1 priority - Your
quest for high placement must start with a good site. It is
important to have a good amount of text describing what you
do. Use your keywords in the content, but don't repeat them
over and over. Many search engines rate sites based on 'keyword
density'. This is usually a formula that looks at META Keywords,
words in your TITLE, words in paragraph text, words in links
to other pages, and even words in the 'ALT' text on your images.
They will even look at different forms of your keywords. For
example, if an important keyword for you is 'FISH', the word
'FISHING' in the body of your document will raise the confidence
in the word 'FISH' on some engines.
>> Keep your site updated - Make sure that your site is
up to date. No one likes to go to a page that never changes
or that is very out of date. Make sure that the data in your
page portrays the message that you want to send. Check the links
on your site every now and again. Make sure the links are still
active. Dead links are not only an inconvenience for the visitor,
but can also negatively influence your rankings.
>> Don't go image crazy - We have all seen pages that
are almost all images. Usually they are the most beautiful sites.
After all, the artist can make beautiful screens that display
your content in the most eye-pleasing way. However, the search
engines don't have eyes. They don't see the beautifully formatted
text in your image. All they see is 'yourimage.jpg', and 'yourimage.jpg'.
This doesn't go far in terms of keyword content and relevancy.
>> Links to other pages - We can't emphasize enough the
importance of links. Both from your page to other pages, and
from other pages to yours.
>> First consider links on your pages - When most search
engine spiders see them, they consider your site more 'real'.
It also gives the spiders a place to go. Make sure you link
all of your website's important pages and also add links to
other related sites. Using keywords in the link text itself
is an important part of website optimization.
>> Links from other websites - Most search engines place
a very heavy rating of importance on how many other sites in
their index have links to your website. Think of it for a second.
If you knew that a company was only linked to by one website,
versus a company that was linked to by many relevant websites,
which one would you consider more important? If you were a search
engine, you would try to link the more important ones first.
A few links from related sites are worth more than a bunch from
unrelated sites.
>> This is where patience comes in again - It can take
some time to get a links to your website. The best way to go
about attaining links to your site is contacting sites you feel
fit well with your product, then requesting to swap links.
>> Consider banner ads - These are a popular method of
promoting your Web site. They are the little (usually) rectangular
graphics that you see near the top or bottom of some popular
Web pages. If you click on them, they transport you to another
Web site. You can make your own banners using one of the many
"banner creating" companies. Most offer free banner
making. Most offer free banner making.
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