1. Keyword-Rich Title Tags
Title Tags are arguably the most important factor in achieving high rankings.
This is largely due to the fact that Title Tags are supported on all search engines.
Title Tags are important for both visitors and search engines, and must be consistent
and easy to read, both by human eyes and by search engine indexing programs.
Example: ABC Plumbing Company – Tulsa Plumbers
Extra Tip: Use different keywords on each page
2. Utilize Meta Tags
The two Meta Tags to be concerned with are "description" and "keywords". In the early
days of search engines, these two tags were the primary tools used by search engines to rank
websites. It wasn’t long after this that webmasters began to spam the Meta Tags with any keywords
they wanted to target in searches. As a result, while Meta Tags are no longer emphasized greatly
by major search engines, it is necessary for developers to utilize these in Search Engine
Optimization (SEO). Both Description and Keyword Meta Tags provide direction and information
for search engines. Utilizing these tags will not put a website on page one of the search engines,
but it is essential in the overall process of achieving high ranking.
Description Meta Tag: Brief description of the company including keywords
Keyword Meta Tag: List of keywords separated by commas and without spaces
Extra Tip: List keywords in order of importance
3. Navigation
Easy navigation is essential for Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) because it aids search engines in properly indexing its pages. Easy navigation
is achieved by keeping the menu consistent throughout the website and providing a site map. It is
as important for search engines to easily read your site as it is the visitors.
Extra Tip: If there are many levels to the website, utilize "bread crumbs,"
links that lead back through the hierarchy of the site.
4. Utilize Header Tags
Header Tags define the structure of a website
like an outline defines the structure of an essay. Search engine crawlers use the Header Tag to
identify the content of a page. Because of this, it is beneficial to use these tags as a means
to insert keywords. Header Tags alone will not achieve high search engine rankings; however,
much like Meta Tags and Title Tags, they are important in the overall process of achieving high
ranking.
Extra Tip: One header tag per page is a good rule of thumb.
5. Don’t Saturate the Site with Keywords
It is very common for a person who is new to SEO to saturate a website with keywords. There are
two reasons why this doesn’t work. First, we all want high search engine ranking but this
should not be at the expense of content and its readability. Saturating content discredits a
website and often drives the reader or consumer away. The purpose of SEO is to achieve high
rankings and therefore bring in readers or buyers.
Secondly, a website can be penalized for having too many instances of the keywords. A webmaster
or SEO specialist can utilize all the proper tools to achieve high ranking and then undermine the
efforts by saturating a website with too many keywords. Title, Meta, and Header tags are basic SEO
tools, but having the right balance of Keyword Weight is crucial to achieving high rankings.
Extra Tip: Target one keyword per page.
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