| | Google, arguably the worlds most popular search engine, made a major change in it’s algo last November and things have been a rollercoaster to say the least ever since. |
SEO, the new fundamentals
Every time a search engine makes a change to their algorithm, SEO’s analyze the changes and experiment in an attempt to master the new algo as quickly as possible and begin moving their sites back to suitable territory.
Google, arguably the worlds most popular search engine, made a major change in it’s algo last November and things have been a rollercoaster to say the least ever since.
Our clients have enjoyed continued high rankings throughout the changes and several have even risen in their standings at other engines…luck or preparation? Probably a little of both. What we will outline here is a solid strategy for attaining good positions in any engine, not just Google.
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Keywords – What is it you are trying to say…exactly?
Keywords or keyphrases are the words that accurately describe your site to the World Wide Web. They help you decide what goes into your TITLE and META tags (Yes, META tags are still important. Choose your keywords wisely, going for terms that will bring you qualified traffic. Use more than one tool to determine the proper keywords for your pages (select one keyword or keyphrase per page and optimize around that) like Overtures keyword tool or the WordTracker tool.
Content – What does your site offer?
Content is King, long live the king! While content alone will not get you ranked well in the search engines, content will ensure you stay there! Good content, valuable information is what the World Wide Web is all about. Providing good, well written content that people will want to link to without being begged is what you want to provide. Be sure that your content contains a nice sprinkling of your keywords or search terms blended in a readable sort of way.
Google has begun to implement a technology known as “theming”.. | |
META TAGS – Raise the dead?
META Tags are not dead, only selectively utilized. The META KEYWORDS and DESCRIPTION Tags are not really used by Google anymore but they are important to Yahoo, AllTheWeb and AltaVista, all of whom use Yahoo’s new search engine as their base result set. Write short, sweet tags, using your keywords or keyphrases. For instance, if your keyterm is “widget” then your TITLE tag should be <TITLE>widget</TITLE> and your KEYWORDS META Tag should be “widget” as well…short and sweet. Your DESCRIPTION META Tag can include some verbiage since it will be read by humans…just keep it to the point!
IBL - No, not the new football franchise!
IBL’s, or In Bound Links are critical to Google. They help determine how “popular” your site is. Get plenty from as many sources that are “complimentary” to your business or organization as you can. If you are a Realtor, links from a moving company will most likely count more than those from a used car sales lot. Google has begun to implement a technology known as “theming” and seems to approve of sites that are complementary more than not.
SEO Wrap – Make it funky now!
Good, solid SEO techniques like the ones I have described above have been around for years. Those who follow them seem to weather the algo storms pretty well. While no one can predict the future, we can at best hedge our bets.
Good luck and happy SEO’ing.
James A. Taylor
CEO
www.AICompany.com – Premiere web design, web hosting and SEO
www.SEO-Highrankings.com – Free SEO tools!
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http://www.storefrontgoodies.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=search-engine;action=display;num=1086821837
