SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION - Tips, Techniques and
Strategies
1. Do NOT use Frames, Flash, Javascript,
Image Maps, or Dynamic URLs.
2. Optimize for correct keyword phrases.
> Be specific, think like your target audience, look at
competitors pages, and optimize each web page.
3. Optimize your title tag.
> We recommend that your title tag be between 50-80 characters long -
including spaces! The length that the different search engines
accept varies, but as long as you keep within this limit you
should be ok.
> We recommend that you include 1-2 of your
most important keyword phrases in the title tag, BUT be
careful not to just list keywords. If you just list keywords
you risk being viewed as a spamming the engines which can
ultimately lead to you being blacklisted by the search
engines. Your title tag should include your keyword phrases
while remaining as close to a readable sentence as possible to
avoid any problems.
> Make your title enticing! Don't forget that
even if you get that #1 listing in the search engines your
listing still needs to say something that makes the surfer
want to clickthrough and visit your site.
4. Optimize your page copy.
> For best results we recommend that each page
you submit has at least 200 words of copy on it. This text
should include your most important keyword phrases, but should
remain logical and readable.
> Add additional copy filled pages to your
site. For example, how-to articles, tips or tutorials. These
types of content pages not only help you in the search
engines, but many other sites will link to them too.
5. Optimizing your meta tags.
> We recommend that your Keywords Meta not
exceed 1024 characters including spaces.
You should only use those keyword phrases that
you also used in the copy of your page, title tag, meta
description, and other tags. Any keywords phrases that you use
that do not appear in your other tags or page copy are likely
to not have enough prominence to help your listings for that
phrase. Don't forget plurals. For example, a travel site might
have both caribbean vacation and caribbean vacations in their
keyword meta tag to make sure they show up in both searches.
If you know of a common misspelling of a
popular keyword that could be used to find your site you
should enter it in your keywords meta tag. For example, a
travel site might use caribean in their keyword meta since it
is a common misspelling for caribbean. Watch out for repeats!
You want to include your most important phrases, but when
doing so it can be difficult not to repeat one word many
times. For example, caribbean vacation and carribbean
vacations are two different phrases, but the word caribbean
appears twice. This is okay to do in order to make sure you
get the phrases you need in there, but be careful not to
repeat any one word excessively. There in no actual limit, but
we recommend that no one word be repeated in the keyword meta
more than 5 times.
> We recommend that your Description Meta tag
not exceed 250 characters including spaces.
Make sure you accurately describe the content
of your page while trying to entice visitors to click on your
listing. Include 3-4 of your most important keyword phrases.
Especially those used in your title tag and page copy. Try to
have your most important keywords appear at the beginning of
your description. This often brings better results, and will
help avoid having any search engine cut off your keywords if
they limit the length of your description.
6. Optimize your images "alt" tag.
> Do not try to cram a bunch of keywords into
the attribute. We recommend using no more than 2-3 per image.
> Describe the image - do not just list
keywords.
> The attribute is also a good place for
misspellings and plural keyword phrases that you may not have
used elsewhere.7. Optimize inbound
links.
> Inbound links to your site are part of some search
engines' ranking algorithm.
> An Inbound link from a heavily trafficked site is more
desirable than a less frequented site.
> Do exchange links with popular sites related to your
industry.
8. Search engine spamming. Do not:
> Do anything to trick the search engines into
listing your site better.
> List keywords anywhere except in your
keywords meta tag.
> Use the same color text on your page as the
page's background color. This has often been used to keyword
stuff a web page. Search engines can detect this and view it
as spam.
> Use multiple instances of the same tag. For
example, using more than one title tag. Search engines can
detect this and view it as spam.
> Submit identical pages. For example, do not
duplicate a page of your site, give the copies different file
names, and submit each one. Search engines can detect this and
view it as
spam.
> Submit the same page to any engine more than
once within 24hrs.
> Use any keywords in your keywords meta tag
that do not directly relate to the content of your page.
9. Google Specific Optimization Variables
> page rank
> keyword in title
> keyword in H1 and H2
> keyword in URL
> keyword density (total word count being considered)
> keyword in title
> keyword in links to page (anchor text)
> keyword in bold / strong, etc.
> keyword in other parts (full text, alt, title, meta
description)
> keyword proximity (if search for 2+ keywords)
> keyword order (does or not order in page match order in
query)
> keyword prominence (how early in page/tag)
> URL length
Optimizing Dynamic Page (ASP) Tips
