The Secret to SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

You see it in emails.  You see it in ads.  It is promised over the phone.  If you just spend with us, you will get great results!  If you buy this program, you will be at the top!  If you exchange links with us, you will be well on your way!

You hear it often enough, but what is true and what is not?  Well here is the answer and it will cost you nothing but the time it takes to read it over.  That is right, folks.  FREE!!!

Secret #1.  Content.  You have to have content.  Google can do lots with your website if you have content, plain and simple.  Google loves content and especially if you have it bullet pointed and bolded and even maybe linked to other pages explaining it in more depth.  Content cannot be faked. It cannot be copied from one source to another. It has to be your words. As a web designer it is tough for me to fake content so I work with my clients to get that content.  Pictures say a thousand words but Google can’t see them.  Text is very important and some people waste that by putting nothing but pictures or flash and little to no text.

Secret #2. Avoid gimmicks.  The corollary to to that is do it if it makes sense and not because it will make you rank better.  Link exchanges do not work.  Google looks for one-way links.  the more one-way links you have to your site the better.  Avoid hidden text link having a key word listed on your page over and over but at a font color similar to the page so users cannot see it.  Google sees that and you are skipped from ranking.  Also avoid fonts smaller that 8pt.  Googe thinks you are trying to hide words with fonts smaller than that.

Secret #3.  Take advantage of the places Google wants to see text.  Google likes it is you use the title to describe your website.  Remember that it will only display the first 72 characters of the title.  But that does not stop Google from reading it if there is more than 72 characters.  Just don’t over do it.  Another place often missed are the “alt” tags in graphic images and pictures.  Google cannot deal with graphics except for the name of the graphic.  By adding an alt tag Google will utilize that for for searches.  If you use a key word anywhere, make sure it is in the body of your page as well.

Secret #4.  The higher your information is listed on the page, the greater those words are ranked.  So make sure the most important information is as close to the top of the page as possible.  If you want people to call you, have your number near the top.  If you need foot traffic, again put your address at the top.  One last thing on this.  If you have a menu bar with links to all your pages, the link on the top left is most important.  the further to the right or down the list it is, the less important it is.

Secret #5.  Minimize outgoing links.  Many people make the mistake of putting links to other places on their home page.  Your home page should be all about you.  Leave the outgoing links elsewhere.  Keep all your links to high quality locations.  Remember each out going link is treated as a vote.  You are telling Google that this link is good by you.  I once saw a major company that ranked very high on Google suddenly disappear from the pages because they had a link going to some pharmacy company outside the US.  The link had no relevance to the website’s business and to top it off the link was a site suspected of spam.  This was killing their ranking.  As soon as the link was removed, within minutes the ranking returned.  It makes a big difference.  For more on this visit CID Solutions.