April 3, 2007 19:14
Category: Optimizing
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In its basic, optimizing for search engines involves writing targeted content and building up valuable incoming links. Since search results show webpages (as against websites) which the search engines have earlier crawled and stored in their mammoth databases, the concept of optimizing for search engines therefore applies to individual webpage in particular and the entire website in general.
In this brief narration, we'll deal on the content-aspect of search engine optimization, leaving the link-building-aspect for future. Readers may like to refer this search engine optimization book for a quick recap on important issues.
The Beginning
Before we proceed to describe search engine optimization techniques at length, the first essential step will be to ensure that the site structure of your website is soundly done. Let me dwell awhile on this point.
A website proceeds from an apex page (the home page) down to subsequent levels in a hierarchical pattern. An army's functioning is a good example. The point is there must be free flow of movement from the top to the bottom-most and back. While there is no hard rule as to how deep a webpage can go, it is usually preferred that no webpage may be more than 2-clicks deep.
The second requirement of a good site structure is to have clean, easy-to-follow html for each webpage. Tuck away your javascripts and stylesheets in separate files to be referred only on call in your webpages.
Third, try to ensure that your main content is as close to the opening body tag as possible. Fourth, maintain a consistent site design which is easy to understand and easy on eye.
Why are all these steps important? Since search engines are hungry monsters who prefer less hindrance and more content as their food when they come calling to your website, you should make their stay welcome.
For your human visitors too, a good site structure helps them easily navigate within the site. Doing up a properly structured site is rather a must-do preamble than actual search engine optimization technique. Let's see what is in store next.
What Is Search Engine Optimization?
In essence, search engine optimization is like dressing up your webpage content in such a way as to signal search engines about relevance and importance of the webpage with regard to its content. Not clear?
Well, let's say your webpage describes utility of terra cotta vase in home improvement. Let's further assume that 'decorating terra cotta vase' is the most dominant 4-word phrase for your webpage. We'll call this as your keyword-phrase for the webpage.
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A word of caution before we proceed further:
Keywords must not be fruits of your imagination. To decide your keywords, you must use proper keyword research tools. Try WebCEO, an invaluable all-in-one tool.
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Once you've known your keyword phrase, you've to create a suitably 'targeted' content for your webpage relating to the topic 'home improvement'. Watch the stress on the word 'targeted'. The underlying logic of optimizing for search engines is that your page content must weave around the keyword phrase without making it too evident. Why so?
Remember your page content has twin purpose. First, it must signal search engines that the page contains good information on 'decorating terra cotta vase', the main keyword. Second, your human visitors must feel comfortable with page content. Many webmasters over-emphasize search engine optimization for search engines, forgetting conveniently that it is ultimately the human visitors who will drive success.
Harmonize Your Targeted Content
We come to the most important part of search engine optimization technique - creating targeted content that harmonizes the two needs. In many cases, there is also an added need of including a 'call to action'. Which means that your visitors have to be led to take an affirmative action such as buying your product or service.
All these taken together must constitute your overall approach to search engine optimization.
Machine-speaking Search Engine Optimization
Keeping aside content relevance, let's see how search engines will come to know importance of your webpage vis-a-vis your keyword phrase. Since search engines are nothing but robots, your webpage must speak a language that robots are able to follow.
Therein lies the necessity of locating your keyword phrase in strategic places of your webpage so as to let know search engines the importance of the phrase with respect to the page.
Title tag, meta description, meta keywords, headlines (H1, H2 and so on), alt tags, keyword density, beginning with keyword in first paragraph, anchor text, footer, etc. are some places to consider locating your keyword phrase. Occasionally you'll need to juggle between 2 or more keyword phrases in a single webpage.
Summing Up
For all you know, there are only 2 ways to stay on top in search engine optimization game. One is to create focused content pages based on chosen keywords. The second is going on creating focused content pages based on more chosen keywords. If there is any third way or a fourth, it will only be to repeat the cycle. Period.
