Archive for May, 2009

Search engine optimization (SEO) is not a static practice. Instead, it changes over time and your website should mold and adjust to these changes if you want to maintain good rankings. You have to be able to keep up with the changes that take place each year.

The world of search is changing and many people believe it is taking a large transformation in 2009. The main search engines like Google are starting to value your choices and clicks as a way to reference you relevant results for your search queries. There are a lot of predictions about how the search world is going to change in the coming months and years but most believe it will take on a more personal touch.

One thing that most gurus agree upon is that content is still king. Your content will rule over any other tips or tactics that you try to use to get rankings. Let’s face it; when you have great content, people will come.

Web 2.0 is no longer considered a trend since nearly all new sites support Web 2.0. Blogging and micro-blogging, however, are growing in support. With the attention of blogging, it’s very useful in your SEO plan. Less emphasis is being put on Meta tags and targeted keywords.

Instead, relevancy of the content is more important. Videos and podcasts are gaining importance through Google and other search engines and can greatly help you increase your SEO worthiness.  Rich media content can also help you get fast results. Videos placed on YouTube can rank within Google search results within days.

Social marketing and social media sites are some of the most effective ways to keep your content visible in the major search engines. Learn to participate in conversational social marketing techniques. Create a solid presence amongst diverse media outlets. This also shows that you are keeping up with the trends and that you are comfortable being a part of them.

For 2009 SEO, learn who your most valuable customers are and take time to discover what attracts them. Focus on these prospects as opposed to trying to appeal to the masses. Narrow your focus and get more targeted results from people who actually want your product or service. The main point to take away from this is to pay less attention to ranking and more attention to your conversions from traffic.

Make use of the tools available to help you track your traffic and conversions. Web analytics tools will help you identify important information about how is coming to your site and you can use this to better optimize your site in the future.  Remember that it does little good to be ranked number one when those visits aren’t converting for you.

When it comes to SEO, it seems there are a lot of people trying to tell you what you should do but fewer people telling you what not to do. Proper search engine optimization is a process. It’s not enough just to do a list of things and have perfect SEO. It’s a process of doing some things, avoiding others and tweaking over time to get the results you want.

Here are some top 10 SEO don’ts to use as guidelines:

1. Don’t randomly pick keywords- some people haphazardly pick the keywords that sound good to them but this will not generate good results in search engines. Choose your keywords properly and more technically than just randomly making them up.
2. Don’t take shortcuts or use “tricky” tactics to try to get a higher ranking- Black hat SEO strategies and shortcuts to higher ranking can actually get you banned from search engines for illegal tactics.
3. Don’t use flash- flash websites look pretty but they can hurt your ranking.
4. Don’t use multiple domains with identical content- If you have several domains, all the content on each site must be unique. Even if you own full rights to all the content, you can be flagged for duplicate content when you publish it on multiple domains.
5. Don’t participate in link farming or other schemes to get high ranking- there are many schemes and scams out there that promise you they will get you to the top of the search engines but usually they are very expensive and often use illegal strategies.
6. Don’t over-think your Meta tags- While it’s true that Meta tags do make a difference, some people mistakenly spend too much time on them. While it does have value, you shouldn’t spend too much time focusing on them.
7. Don’t use hidden text or cloaking- This is considered a type of spam and while it often tricks the search engines at first, it will eventually get you banned.
8. Don’t underestimate the URL- This is much more important than most people realize and can make a big difference in your search engine ranking. Place strong keywords in your URL when possible.
9. Don’t use images as your headlines- While this might look nice and interesting on the site, it can hurt your ranking.
10. Don’t ignore your title <title> tag- Having a keyword in the title tag is very important. Many people skip this or leave it blank but it can make a big difference in your ranking.

One final important note is not to neglect your website. Once you have things set up the way you want them, you will still need to keep up with it on a regular basis. Remember that SEO is a process and you have to continue to make changes when necessary to keep your ranking.