Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
By Kelli Townsend
Keywords: SEO, search engine optimization, search engine placement
Whether you have your own Web site or you are writing Web content for someone else, you need to consider search engine optimization (SEO) while writing. Search engines are the means in which most Internet users will find your Web site. By mastering SEO, you can increase your search engine ranking, and therefore increase traffic to the Web site.
Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and others don't release their formulas or algorithms for ranking their search results publicly. Therefore, search engine optimization isn't a science that can be learned overnight. However, with some experimentation and research, you can improve your search engine placement.
Choosing Keywords
The main aspect of SEO is choosing keyword phrases that are highly searched. For example, if you are writing an article about making money online, your keyword phrases may be "making money," "earning money online" and "making money online." Each webpage should concentrate on incorporating two or three keyword phrases.
You can use a keyword tool to check how often your keywords are searched. Many free keyword tools are available on the Internet. Google offers their easy-to-use External Keyword Tool for free. You just type in your keyword or keyword phrase and the tool provides you with information on how often that particular word or phrase is searched. For the best search engine placement, the keywords that you pick should be words that are searched most often.
Using Keywords
When optimizing your Web content, you need to use your identified keyword phrases often. Search engines scan articles to identify keyword phrases in certain areas of the Web page. You should use your keywords in the following locations:
- Title
- Bold Text
- Linked Text
- "Title" or "Alt" of Photos
- Content
For the best search engine placement, don't flood your content with keyword phrases. Search engines will see this, and you can be dropped from the search engine. Instead, keep a natural flow to your text, but keep search engine optimization in mind. Keywords or keyword phrases should be used twice every 200-250 words.
Don't try to trick search engines. Search engine companies spend millions of dollars and countless hours of research to deliver the best possible search results. A search engine may ban you if you are caught trying to trick it. Remember, you are trying to help search engines, not deceive them.
If you are writing content for your own Web site, use keyword phrases in your Meta tags. Meta tags are located in the header section of the html of your Web page. Though readers don't see this information, search engines scan this section when visiting your site. In the Meta area, you can provide the title of your Web page, a description and several keywords for the best search engine placement.
Successfully optimizing your Web content is very important. Most Internet users utilize search engines to find the information they are seeking. If your Web pages are optimized, it can be the difference between getting thousands of visitors per day and getting very little traffic at all. A Web site with poor search engine optimization can become virtually invisible on the Web, while a Web site with great SEO can become a very popular destination for Internet surfers.
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