Top SEO Tips and Tricks
SEO Tips to Help Search Rankings
So then, why can’t a one-time SEO effort be sufficient rather than a long-term approach? SEO is a marathon and not a sprint. Websites don’t go from #1000 to #1 overnight. You must build trust with the search engines, and that takes time. Google has publicly stated that it makes over 500 search algorithm updates each year and that it looks at over 200 different “signals” to determine why one website will out-rank another. Ongoing SEO is necessary because the search engines are always evolving. We SEO differently today than we did just 3 years ago. Also, just because one company makes a one-time SEO effort doesn’t mean that their competitors will give-up so easily. Remember, this is serious stuff and your business is on the line. Are you going to give up on SEO quickly after knowing that it is one of the most important, and possible THE most important, marketing influencer? If you have tried it, and it failed, it means that you need to work harder or find better help.
The REAL problem is that most SEO companies stink at their jobs. They are either outright malicious and take advantage of their customers, or they are simply incompetent. There is nothing wrong with SEO theory, but there is plenty wrong with SEO companies. If you are seeking out an SEO firm, take your time and be very thorough. Look for an experience firm with a proven track record. Don’t be wowed by a slick salesperson and take the time to verify that the SEO company shows competence, integrity and affordability.
SEO Tricks #1
Use META tags for your Title, Description and Keywords. Keep the META tags relevant based on the content and theme of each individual web page. Never use the same META tag on multiple pages. Tell the world what is unique about each individual page on your web site. Meta Description tags should be under 160 characters long and Titles under 70 characters.
SEO Tips #2
Do not try to do too much with one web page in regard to keyword optimization. Keep a narrow focus, pick a common keyword phrase, and make sure that your target keyword phrase resonates through the web page. In an ideal SEO environment, the same keyword phrase would be in your company name, domain name, title and META tags, and throughout the content of your web page. Don’t get carried away however, be sure that your content and optimization reads well. For example, a mortgage company should not say “mortgage” in one place and “home loan” at another. Just stick with one or the other.
SEO Tips #3
Perform keyword research to identify the common phrases used to represent your products and services. During the SEO process, you will likely have more success with targeting relevant or niche keyword phrases that are less competitive. If you know what to do to gain strong ranking for the highly competitive keyword phrases, then you wouldn’t need to be reading these SEO tips and tricks.
SEO Tricks #4
Implement descriptive title and alt tags within links and images on your web site. Note that a link “title” is not the same as the title tag in your header. Then use image file names that correspond with your optimized alt and title tag. For example, if you have a button on a mortgage web site, do not name it “image0123.gif”, rather, name it something more appropriate like “mortgage-quote.gif”. The same is true for web page names, note that the name of this web page contains “top-seo-tips-and-tricks.”
“Do not try to do too much with one web page in regard to keyword optimization.”
SEO Tricks #5
Include at least 1 outbound link to an authority web site. We know how counter-intuitive it may seem to post a link on your web site to another web site, however this simple SEO trick will improve your SEO rankings. You should be able to find non-competitive web sites to link to that have strong rankings for your most popular keywords. This represents a “fair-play” and non-selfish mentality, and Google has made this point very clear.
SEO Tips #6
Your web site should load up fast. Google has publicly announced that the time it takes for your web pages to load will be a factor in your ranking. Before choosing a web host for your web site, be sure that clients using their hosting solutions have fast web sites. Some web hosting companies are over-burdened, making the web site of all their clients load slowly.
SEO Tricks #7
If your company services a local community, be sure to utilize the names of the city or state that you operate in. There is no point in gaining the attention to someone in Boston, if you can only service people in Seattle. If you are geographically bound, be sure to dwell on geography.
SEO Tips #8
Make sure that all of the web pages on your web site can be found by the search engine. There must be a clear linking path from the home page that leads to all pages. Integrate and XML site map as well as and HTML or text-based site map. Include your XML site map within your ROBOTS.TXT file as follows: “Sitemap: http://www.yourdomainname.com/sitemap.xml”. We recommend generating XML sitemaps at xml-sitemaps.com/.
SEO Trick #9
When possible, or at least for any web page you intend to have strong organic search engine ranking, try to include over 300 words per page. Ideally, you will have 400+ words.
SEO Tips #10
Submit your web site to the search engines. We recommend that you submit to all the Tier 1 search engines, however submissions to the Tier 2 search engines can also be helpful. For example, you can submit your website to Google here.
