Honours Search Engine Optimization

Written By: Corby Simpson

Published by: Enterprise Magazine

Published Date: April 2006

Millions of people use Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN daily to find the information they are looking for on the Internet. They type their keywords into a box and click "search" and up comes hundreds of thousands of websites. People search for anything and everything on the internet including your current products or services. This means that you could be missing out on potential business opportunities especially if your competition is showing up before you do. What you need to do is get your website listed in the Search Engines and more importantly, make sure it shows up on top!

The easiest part of getting your website indexed (listed) in a search engine is that you just need to upload it and make it live on the Internet. You don't need to fill out any forms or applications because it's actually the Search Engine's job to find you. Search engines use "bots" or "spiders" to explore the Internet and index new websites all the time. Even better is that Search Engines constantly come back to see if your website still exists or if the content has changed.

Now it's one thing to be indexed in a search engine and it's another thing to be at the top of the search engine results. When someone types their keyword phrase into their search box what can you do to make sure that your name is at the top of the list? Well, the unfortunate truth is that that for big ticket keywords, it's practically impossible. There are hundreds-of-millions of website pages on the Internet and it's purely about numbers and competition. If you own "www.dysons-designer-shoes.com" and you want to be at the top when someone types in "shoes" then you are competing with about 80 Million Websites!

But what you can do is find your niche market and work on getting visitors to your website using specific keyword phrases. This is called Niche Optimization and involves targeting very specific keywords and optimizing your website for those specific terms. This leads to more focused traffic and a higher return on investment because your visitors are searching for something specifically.

For top search engine placement results, there are two methods of increasing your ranking in the Search Engines. One is "Interior Optimization" and the other is "Exterior Optimization."

12 TIPS FOR INTERIOR OPTIMIZATION

"Interior Optimization" deals with optimization tips on your website itself. This is the way it's designed, the way it's coded and the way the content is structured.

Google uses over 100 factors to rank pages in the Google search results (SERPs) and only the folks who develop the search engines really know what makes the most impact for search engine rankings. However, there are various confirmed and suspected Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques.

Use your existing Domain Name - Google has developed a new strategy to combat online spammers (link directories and other variations) and you should use your existing domain name if at all possible. If you do need a new domain name, you can expect to wait 8-10 months for your website to show up using any of your keyword phrases. It is also said that registering your domain name for the longest period of time (10+ years) also helps with your ranking. It's minor but anything can help.
Optimize for your visitors, not the Search Engines - The search engines are looking for websites that best fit the keyword phrase a user types into their search box. If those "users" are typing in search words that relate to what your site offers, then they are most likely members of your target audience. You need to optimize your site to meet *their* needs.
Research your keyword phrases extensively - In the actual text of your website you should try to use keywords and search phrases. Don't be general with your website keywords. "Shoes, Men's Shoes and Woman's Shoes" lack focus so try to be more specific using keywords on your pages such as "Imported Italian Shoes or Men's Leather Penny Loafers." There are also tools available to research keywords for your website such as KeywordDiscovery or Wordtracker.
Keyword Density - Keyword density is the ratio of keywords contained within the total number of words within any page. Usually, a density in the range of 3-10% is ideal. Beware though, don't go overboard and sacrifice usability for density. You still want it to make sense to people who are reading your site. You need to find the right balance.
Keyword Frequency - Keyword Frequency is the number of times a keyword appears in a webpage. The more times a keyword appears in a page the better it is for the Search Engines. You should ensure that the most important keyword or keyword phrase is the most frequently used in your web pages.
Keyword Prominence - Keyword prominence refers to how prominent the keywords are within a webpage. Keywords at the top of the website are given more importance than those which are at the bottom. Generally, <title>Page Title</title> and <h1>Header Name</h1> is viewed as being more important than regular text on your website.
Develop your site to be "crawler-friendly." - Search engines do everything they can to read the content on your website but they can't read JavaScript links and menus, fill out forms, and can't interpret graphics and Flash. You can still use these enhancements on your website, but be sure that they do not contain important information that you would like to be searched by the search engines.
Keep the content Fresh! - Search engines like websites where the content changes occasionally (not a lot). One way to do this is to post news and current events. This can also be achieved by adding your own monthly articles to your site.
Label your internal text links and clickable image alt attributes (aka alt tags) as clearly and descriptively as possible.
Incorporate your keyword phrases into each page's unique Title tag. The first words are more important than the last words and try not to go over 60-70 characters. This takes emphasis away from the more important terms in your title.
Cross Linking to Good Sites! - All of the search engines place great value in who is linking to your website and vice versa. If you've got a lot of high quality websites linking to yours, there must be something good on your pages. It also helps for you to link to good quality websites as well. Beware of link-farms and other "sneaky" tactics because they can actually harm your listing.
Write articles on your site - A great way to keep fresh content on your site is to write a monthly article and post it on your website. You can often attract return visitors this way. These articles can also be rich with keywords and keyword phrases. A search engine will travel through your links and read all this real, qualified content!

3 TIPS FOR EXTERIOR OPTIMIZATION

Once you've done everything you can to optimize the code and content in your website, here's where the real fun starts and this is truly what helps to separate poor ranking sites with high ranking sites.

Google Adwords or Yahoo Overture can force you to be noticed - There are now paid placement services available from the major search engines which allow you to pay for your placement. These often come at a cost per click but can drastically improve your online marketing efforts.
Submit your site to Online Business Listings - Online business listings provide quality links back to your website! Submit your website to business directories and local chamber of commerce listings, basically, get your website out there in the online world! You see, as search engines have become smarter and more sophisticated they've started to look outside your website. In order to determine how important your website is, look at how many good quality websites are linking to yours.
Write Articles for online magazines - In fact, remember those articles which had great search engine content in them on your website? Well, submit them to online publications! Most are more than are more than happy to receive good free content and are more than willing to provide a link back to your website. Remember, quality links back to your website increase your websites ranking in the Search Engines.

BUT REMEMBER, DON'T BE SNEAKY!

There are a number of tactics that you or your developer may be tempted to use to try and get your websites to the top. Some of these methods include "hiding" or "cloaking" the text and keywords in your website or making the text the same colour as the background. Beware, these practices are not tolerated by Search Engines and can get your website de-listed. Don't do it.

All in all, your best bet is to design for your end human user first, followed by the search engines. A well designed website with good content will almost always perform well in search engines. Most importantly, make sure you go out of your way and make the extra effort to get your website listed all over the web. It takes time and work but it pays off. Besides, if it was that easy to get to the top, everyone would be there!