5 Simple Search Engine Optimization Tips
This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to search engine optimization. However, these are a few easy practices that I found to be effective, and you don’t have to be an SEO genius to start implementing them. Hopefully you find them to be helpful.
1. Get A WordPress Powered Website
Traditional HTML and Flash based sites are not as likely to show up in search results as a WordPress powered website. WordPress was originally designed as a blogging platform. As a result, it has much more potential to rank in search results out of the box. In addition, There are endless plugins for WordPress to further improve your search rankings. If you’re still using a Flash or static HTML website, it’s time to change my friend. Organic Themes can help.
2. The Title Tag Reigns Supreme
The title tag is perhaps the most important aspect of search engine optimization. I suggest some research before choosing an appropriate title for your website. Who is your target audience? What services, information or products are you offering? What keywords would you like your website to rank for? How often are those keywords searched on a monthly basis? For example, if your company name was “Tubular Tee’s” and you sold t-shirts to surfers, an appropriate title for the website may be, “Awesome T-Shirt Designs For Surfers And The Surf Culture – Tubular Tee’s.” It’s important to note that repeating the exact word within the title of your website will not increase your search rankings — in fact, it will hurt it. So, use variations of a word, but don’t repeat.
3. Use Those Headings Wisely
Obscure titles should be saved for 90’s Alternative Rock songs. I don’t know the specifics, but when a web crawler is creeping around looking for stuff on the Internet, header tags (<H1>, <H2>, <H3>) are on the menu. So use them wisely and be descriptive. It’s also important to use them in order of importance, <H1> being the most important heading and <H6> being the least important. Just don’t over do it. Too much of anything is bad for you — even when it comes to search engine optimization.
4. Backlinks My Friend
How do I get backlinks? List your website in online directories. Use popular forums and include a link to your site in the signature. Exchange links with relevant websites. Tweet and Facebook about your website. Leave comments on popular blogs. Do what you gotta do, just get that shizzle out there. Since I design, I frequent a lot of design related communities, blogs and submission sites. If you play some kind of active role on those sites, you’ll receive traffic from them. And traffic translates in to search engine rankings. Plain and simple.
5. Use Pictures and Title Them Appropriately
People use image searches a lot. A whole lot. And I’m not just talking about people searching for the latest Angelina Jolie pictures. So, if you take a little extra time to create and title an image wisely, you’ll likely receive a little traffic from it. If you don’t know where to find images, you can use free resources like stock.xchng or even Flickr creative commons photos. Another reason to use images is for submitting your articles to sites like Digg, StumbleUpon or Delicious. Most of these sites (Which can also do wonders for traffic) use photos. If your article is featured and doesn’t have a photo, it will likely take a screen shot of the web page. Which isn’t exactly the most appealing option.
