Getting your website listed in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPS) can sometimes be a monumental task in itself, here are our top ten tips to get you started.
1. Page Title
Forget using ‘Welcome to my website’ as your page title, if you really want to attract target media specify your keywords and list your product keywords separated by an | (hold Shift + backslash key) symbol (eg: Digital Cameras | Video Cameras) will boost the strength of your chosen keywords, in this case Digital Cameras and Video Cameras.
2. Page Filenames (URL)
Still naming your page filenames as products.htm or aboutus.php, why not add some weight to your website and help the Search Engines distinguish from the multitude of pages with generic names and again utilise your keywords into your filenames (eg: paper_back_novels.htm) for a Book selling site with this link to the list of Paper Back Novels.
3. ALT & Title Tags
Again keywords play a huge part in the design of your site and another area to include these words is in your image ‘ALT’ and ‘Title’ tags.
4. Header Tags
Getting back to your Page Title, there is no point in making the heading text “Welcome to my Website” especially if you are selling Garden Tools. Using h1, h2 and h3 tags to emphasize your Products and Services in order of importance, lets the Search Engines prioritise the order of importance and then add to their databases.
5. Bold Text
Got something to say?, say it in Bold Text, this tells the Search Engines that this text is important and relates strongly to your content and keywords and should be taken notice of.
6. Keywords
Some say they aren’t that important anymore to getting results in the SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages) but using them correctly can add to your sites overall effectiveness. Concentrate on 3 – 4 keyword phrases (eg: “custom website design” or “web site design” for web site designers) and make sure they are used in the first and last paragraphs of your home page content.
7. Google Toolbar
Not only a search tool the Google Toolbar displays each sites Page Rank according to Google on it popularity and web presence.
8. Alexa Toolbar
Download the Alexa Toolbar from Amazon and sign up to their affiliate program, the toolbar is an essential tool in gauging the popularity and hit results of how your website ranks on the web.
9. RSS Feeds
Want to increase traffic? well consider starting a RSS Feed on your website with important news items relating to your business and your chosen profession then link these to your articles.
10. Article / Blog Writing
Article writing is another way to cross promote your site with helpful information for others and with links back to your site.
In conclusion
There are many facets to Search Engine Optimisation of websites and these 10 tips are merely just a few and a good starting point to get your website promoted on the web.
