|
SEO Best Practices for Web Site Design
| WebGuy724 is proud to present to you the latest issue of our newsletter. In this issue, we highlight some Best Practices for Search Engine optimization for you that can be used to improve your site and help ensure that it is indexed and well positioned in the major search engines. |  What is Search Engine Optimization and why do you need it?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via natural (organic or algorithmic) search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results or the higher it ranks, the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.On an average, 80% of online traffic is driven by search engines like Google, yahoo and msn and 50% of buyers search for products on search engines before purchasing. Therefore it becomes critical for online businesses to show-up on search engines for search terms related to their products and services.
Here are our three SEO practices – three recommendations that if implemented properly - will help you take advantage of the opportunity that the World Wide Web has given to all organizations, and provide you with an edge over your competitors. | Web Site Copywriting
Web page copy is of major importance for search engines, directories, and customers. Search robots need machine-readable content (text) in your pages and HTML tags to index your site. Directory editors decide whether or not to list your site based on unique and relevant content. Customers make buying decisions based upon savvy marketing copy.
Text near the top of the page is important to search spiders, as are keywords at the beginning of paragraphs and in headings. Write your text first, and then create Meta tags relevant to specific page content. Write for people first and search engines second. It's not easy to write compelling marketing copy that skillfully integrates your keywords, so it's a plus to have your content written by a professional copywriter. | Meta Tags
Meta-data is information about a web page that is not part of the core content of the page. It provides useful information regarding the page to various pieces of software (a browser, search engine crawlers, etc.). From a structural perspective, meta-data is stored in a different part of the web page’s HTML code rather than the usual web content that people see. It pays to provide title, description, keywords, heading, and alternate tags in the head section of all your indexable pages. All your Meta tags should be unique and apply to a specific page. | Inbound Links and Site Map
One of the most important measures for a website is how many other sites link to it. The more links the better. Having links to your website from authoritative resources on the Internet helps you rank higher in search engines since these links are an indication that your website is trustworthy and contains good content. You can build links that point to your website with little time and financial investment. There are lots of business directories out there where you can just submit your URL, company name and a description of your business. Some of them require approval. Some of them require a fee. Yahoo's directories, Joe Ant, Aboutus.org are some of the ones you should do right away. There are also many social media sites like Facebook.com where you can simply build links to your site. Most of these no longer pass SEO credit, but they're still good links to get, assuming your target audience visits the site or these sites rank high for your keywords already.
A Site Map is a tool/page which includes a categorized list of all the pages on your site it not only makes it easier for search spiders to find all your pages but also is useful for site visitors. You must provide one or more links to the site map from the home page reading Site Map, with file name sitemap.htm. Putting internal links pointing to other pages of the same website on every page is also good SEO practice. | | Webguy724 is a dedicated website support group of Info724 Ltd |
|