Search engine optimization better know as SEO is a complex topic. This quick and easy guide allows you to make a good start in SEO an get more traffic to your website or blog.
Title <Title></Title>- Very important!
As you may know most search engines use a maximum of 60 characters for the title, thats why your domain name should be at the end of your page title. Most important keywords must be first and the remaining characters (if left) can be used to your company name. Here is an example of a solid page title that includes the company name:
Guide to SEO | Search Optimization | Web development | DjavuPixel
Meta Description <Meta> – People often forget it
The Meta description is a summary of your article. A good summary will make the user want to click it! A strong combination of Title and Meta Description is the key to SEO. Think of it as: Call to action
Meta Keywords
Unfortunately Meta keywords became useless. As they were used for spam, they are no longer considered as a ranking signal. Google and (Microsoft) Bing don’t even use them for their ranking.
Headings <h1>
When you open a newspaper you search for catching headlines (headings) in your article is should not be different. Headings should take you attention and should be related to you article. Make good use of headings <h1> and subheadings <h2>(<h3><h4>) as they structure your document and help indexing.
Text decoration <b><i>
Putting a word in italic or bold shows that it has a special meaning or an important meaning. The same is for good SEO when you make a word bold it will get a higher value. Do not put whole sentences as this won’t bring anything. You only quote sentences.
Finding the right Keywords
The first step is to brainstorm about your subject and make a list of keywords. Take some time and write down everything that comes to your head! You should be able to have a list of 50 keywords without much trouble.
After this delete the one that are not pertinent. Now with your pertinent list go to the following websites and search for the pertinence of you keywords and maybe you will get new keywords and delete some as they may not get searched.
Avoid Single-Word Keywords
Many people start their searches with single word-keywords only to find that the results are not targeted for their specific need. So single-word queries will produce the highest volume of searches, but also the lowest amount of targeted traffic. People will then go back to refine their searches with keyword combinations! It is common that they try multiple times with different keywords.
Target Multi-Keyword Phrases
Raw numbers show that single word terms often get more queries than multiple word phrases for the reasons shown above. However, people after one word search tend to use two- and three-word search queries to get more pertinent results. So focus on multi-word keywords it will be more rewarding!
Here you can find one of the best PDFs for understanding the process of keyword research and keyword selection.
Link Building – very important!
Link building is very important if you focus on google search, for bing it is less important. Here is a quick guide to get high quality link building:
- Build trust and authority with high quality content.
- Make a good hierarchy in your website so that related content is linked.
- Build trust and authority by acquiring links from trusted sites that have similar content.
- Build relationships. Network with other bloggers. They are also likely to have similar content and they will probably help you if you ask them nicely.
Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, …
Using social media like facebook and twitter can give you trust, authority and traffic. An article that gets a lot of buzz will help your SEO and you will get more followers. More follower means more link building and relationship with other bloggers. Just think of this because it is a really powerful and everything is connected.
Reminder: SEO Visual Guide
Some people are more visual to understand something and here is a brief but very good tutorial/guide to SEO.
Conclusion
The techniques presented in this article should give a boost in your search engine optimization. Most of them are simple to use but really rewarding. We also recommend you to come back and read the article or see the visual guide once in a while so that you do not forget this simple guide.
Useful Links
Complete List of Best SEO-Tools
very comprehensive guidelines!Totally agree!And do not forget that seo is a continuous process and needs to spend a lot of time on it
This is great, I’m hanging the graphs and guidelines in my office. Thanks!
Great article, and as a copywriter I’ll find the visual enormously useful for explaining the process to clients, so thank you!
You might want to know that unfortunately your complete list of SEO tools hits an HTTP/1.1 504 gateway timeout!
Thanks! That’s weird the link “Complete List of SEO Tools” works for me… Can you or someone else confirm again please?
Working now…how odd, sorry for the false alarm!
Love the visuals. Too many times I have explained why back links are important and not used a video or graph. Nice reminder. I don’t necessarily agree with you on meta tags being very important but I can honestly say I love the way you present your information. One of the very best articles if the best I have ever read about SEO.
Feel free to contact me with more great content. Would love to hear comment on meta tags.
Thanks,
Rick Hodge
Thanks that you like it and approve most of the simple SEO optimizations!
Thanks for this nice tips!
Very helping and useful tips!.Thanks
Atlanta Web Design
This has a lot of great info! Thank you for all the help.
superior article,,,,,,many thanks for share it…
Great post! you have defined it very beautifully 🙂 which i like most!
very useful post, thanks
Eine Website optimieren klingt erst einmal einfach, aber viele Start Up´s vergessen schon zu Beginn, Ihre Seite ordnungsgemäß zu gliedern. Die Struktur der Seite und des Menüs entscheidet hier schon über die Themenrelevanz und Indizierung in den Suchmaschinen. Dabei ist eine Keyword Recherche von großer Wichtigkeit.