How To Optimize A Web Site for Search Engines - On Page

On page SEO is a required element for businesses seeking online visibility.   Yet over one third of web sites lack correctly formatted Title, Description and Keyword Meta tags and even more lack valuable content. Without these basics sites are often overlooked by spiders or - maybe worse - incorrectly indexed.

On page SEO is not difficult it only requires a little thought, a bit of time and an understanding of the process. This 10 step SEO guide walks you through the process.

1. Competitive Keyword Research

   The first step to any optimization process is doing your homework.  Begin by indentifying your top three competitors.  Go to their websites, right click and then copy and paste the meta tag information for each page of each site into a blank document.  Meta tags are found the top portion of the sites source code and will look something like this: 

   <title>Gemstone and mineral specimens from around the world available for sale online.</title>

   <META NAME="description" CONTENT="An international selection of unique and rare gemstones and minerals from around the world, precious gems and rough stone slabs from around the globe." />

   <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="australian boulder opal, chinese spiderweb turquoise, quartz geodes, shiva lingham, spiritual stones, healing stones, gems." />

   Now look over the meta tag data and see which terms fit your market.  I have highlighted some key terms in the text above.
   Open a Google Adwords account (this is free).  Go to the tools section under keywords.  Type in each of your selected terms one at a time and see what type of monthly traffic they receive and if there are any terms that are valuable that you may have missed.  Ideally you would create a spreadsheet of this data as you will need to make adjustments in the future.
   You now have a good starting point for optimizing your web site.

2. Find a Domain Name

   If you do not already have a domain name, find a short phrase that describes what you do, sell, etc.  For instance, if you sell minerals you might consider the domain name "rare-gems-and-minerals.com". 
   
   Having the words gems and minerals in your domain name will immediately tell search engines that they are relevant words for your web site. 
   
   Note: A good way to determine if a domain name is taken is to visit GoDaddy.  They have a domain name checking tool on the home page.
   
   Note: If your site has been up and running for years please do not change the domain name. The length of time a URL (http://www.rare-gems-and-minerals.com) has been in use is a significant factor in search ranking.
   
   ** As of early 2011 Google has indicated that the value placed on keyword rich domain names will be significantly reduced.  Just remember Google is not the only search engine and no one else seems to be following suit.

3. Provide Descriptive Names for Each Page of Your Web Site

   Page names can be found in the address bar at the top of your browser window (http://rare-gems-and-minerals.com/products.html ).   Having a descriptive page name is similar to having a descriptive domain name.  It gives the search engines an immediate way of categorizing each page of your site.  The home page is always named ”index” but the other pages represent opportunities to tell the search engines what your site is about.  For instance if one page of your site is dedicated to minerals from Asia it is a good idea to name it accordingly ( http://rare-gems-and-minerals.com/minerals-from-asia.html). 
   
   Note: If you decide to change the name of the page you will have to ensure that all parts of the site that link to that page are updated as well. If that sounds complicated hire an SEO professional. They should be able to change a five page navigation structure for $25 or less.
   Note: the dashes between the words are needed. They indicate spaces to search engines. Therefore, if someone searches for “minerals from Asia” your address will match their search. Few people search for “mineralsfromasia”  as a single word. 

4. Provide Useful Content

   When you are creating the text for your web pages remember that new, interesting and valuable information will not only attract visitors but will also attract search engines. Ask yourself - "what do I know that the average consumer of my product or service does not?"
   
   Ideally you can come up with at least three to five items that would be interesting to customers on each page of your site. For our minerals site - the owner could show the crystalline structure of different minerals, the differences between minerals found at different locations, fun facts etc.
   
   Your content is the single most valuable item on your site - spend some time with it. Make sure you are accurate and that the writing is grammatically correct. If writing is not your cup of tea hire a copywriter.

5. Input Meta Tag Information

   Owners are often confused as to why they never come up in search. Many don't understand that just like a librarian who is given a book without a title, description or any relevant information would have a difficult time cataloging the book, a search engine also needs this information. After all, the web is really a VERY big library.
   
   Earlier you copied the meta tag data from your competitors sites.  Now it is time to create your own.  Every page should have it's own unique set of meta tags.
   
   The Title tag needs to be no longer than 60 characters (including spaces) and contain your most important keyword. For this example “Quality Minerals Specimens for Sale - Timbuktu” might make a good title. Notice the capitalization of important terms - this is a very good practice when titling a page. Do not use all caps. 
   
   The description tag should be no longer than 250 characters and should contain several keywords. Descriptions are meant to be written in standard English (no capitalization of key words) with correct punctuation and no spelling errors. 
   
   The keywords/key phases tag is simply a list, separated by commas, of the top ten words or phrases which are relevant to the sites purpose. For our site we may use minerals for sale, South American mineral specimens, etc. Notice I said the top 10 – using a large number of keywords in this tag is known as “stuffing” and it will actually hurt your overall ranking. Don’t do it!
   
   Note: Many people will say keywords don’t impact your Google rank and therefore, are not necessary.  Think again – they are very important in Yahoo, Bing and other search algorithms. 

6. Optimize the Copy

   For each page of your site you should have a minimum of 150 words.  Within that text you should mention your number one keyword (the one contained in the Title, Description and keywords tags) between nine to ten times.  Essentially, you want a keyword density of approximately 7/100 words without exceeding this number.  These references do not need to be, nor should they all be, exact matches.  For our site “minerals for sale” and the “sale of minerals” as well as other variations should be used.  Less important keywords should be used slightly less often.

7. Post your Web Site on the Web

   Posting is done through a process called file transfer protocol or FTP. You will need an ftp client to do this. Some hosts provide them if yours does not download Firezilla or cuteFTP and put in the necessary information for your site. This will be provided by your host.

   Once posted be sure that all the pages and links work correctly.  I have yet to post a site the first time and not run into some type of error.  Chances are you will not get lucky either.

8. Create a Site Map

   A site map is simply a text file that tells search engines what is on your site and how to locate it (like a card catalog).  It also tells them how often to crawl your site and if any pages or secure areas should not be indexed (member data, etc). I use an automated site map creator. My favorite is:  http://www.sitemapdoc.com/  they not only provide the site map but they give you a listing of potential problems (broken links etc.) .  That said, if a problem arises, fix it and then recreate the site map. 
   
   When you have an error free site map save it in a text editor as "sitemap.xml" in UTF-8 format in the same folder as your web sites files. Upload the sitemap to the web. Now, open a Google WebMaster Tools account (free) and submit your sitemap to Google. You should also save this file as a .txt version of this file to submit to Yahoo and Bing.

9. The Links Page

   Many web site owners use their links page to link to all their friends.  A nice thing to do for sure but, this is business.  When a visitor goes to the minerals for sale links page they are not seeking a local florist they are looking for other sources of useful information about, in this case, minerals.  Find the best sites regarding your number one topic and provide links.  Then,contact each of the sites and ask for a reciprocal link.  If they will not provide one decide if the information on their site will be of use to your visitors.  If it will provide the link anyway.  If not, find another source who would be willing to reciprocate.

   Note: It is a good practice to research the pages before you link to them.  If a website does not have a page rank and does not come up after numerous exact searches you should avoid linking to it.  If, for some reason, the site have been penalized or black listed linking to it will hurt your credibility – guilty by association.

10. Submit your Site to the Search Engines

    You should hand submit to Google, Yahoo, and Bing.  Many people will say that search engines like to find your site on their own but, there is no reason to risk not being found by the top three. You should submit all pages not just the index page.  You should also go to Google Webmaster Tools and submit your site map.

11. Begin Link Building

    If you have a links page you have already begun this process when you contacted relevant sites for reciprocal links. Now you will need to look for one way links to your site. Submit your site to DMOZ, Yahoo ($300) and other high ranking directories as well as local government sites that may except links to businesses (.org links are gold so if you can find them take them).  Locate credible sources or organizations to which you belong who are willing to link to your site.  This is time consuming but, you will not get the desired ranking without it.  If you do not have the time hire a professional.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.