If you try to fool search engines with a new trick or technique, chances are your web site will be penalised (or even barred indefinitely), when the trick is discover.

• Think about what keyword phrase is most appropriate for your web page.

• Use a keyword phase of between 2 and 4 words. The reasons for this are;

• Internet users are becoming more sophisticated; they know that phrases will yield better results.

• There is far too much competition on the Internet to ever hope to land a good position with a single keyword.

• Using a phrase that closely matches your product or service is more likely to attract interested users; ie targeted traffic.

• Use a different keyword phrase for each web page.
  By using a different keyword phrase for each page you widen your net.
  Make sure you have a link to other important and related pages on your landing page. (Eg. Related documents, Home page, Contact Us, Site map). Give the user a reason to stay, give them a reason to buy.

• Check your keyword phrase with a search phrase suggestion tool; then revise.
  Use this tool in cooperation with the search frequency tool. Make a note of each suggested phrase, and then check it’s search frequency.
  Suggested tool: Google adwords keyword suggestion

• Check your keyword phrase with a search frequency tool; then revise.
  This is something of a balancing act; you need to find a term that is not searched too frequently (high frequency = lots of competition), and is searched frequently enough to be effective (very low frequency = waste of effort). We suggest a frequency of between 1,000 and 10,000 searches per month.
  Suggested tool: inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

• Embed your selected search phrase into the page content:
  • Body of page text.
    Pepper the keyword phrase throughout the copy, whilst being careful not to sacrifice readability.
    Eg. If your keyword phrase for the page is “Hitachi LCD monitor”, rather than say “this monitor was awarded…”, consider saying “this Hitachi LCD monitor was awarded…”.
  • Title tag.
    Eg. <title>search engine optimization notes</title>
  • Anchor tags.
    Eg. <a href=”#tags”>Using tags for search engine optimization</a>
  • File names.
    Eg. Search_engine_optimization.html
  • Meta tags (keywords, and description)
    Eg. <meta name=”keywords” content=”search engine optimization…”>
    Eg. <meta name=”description” content=”Step by stem instructions to search engine optimization…”>
  • Heading tags.
    Eg. <h1>Tip for search engine optimization</h1>
  • Alt attributes.
    <img src=”google.gif” alt=”Google search engine optimization”>
  • Title attributes.
    Eg. <span title=”Using HTML tags for search engines optimization”>
  • Bold tags <b>
  • Italic tags <i>
  • Underline tags <u>
  • Comment tags <!– comment –>

• Check your keyword phrase density, and revise.
  Make sure you have a keyword density of between 3% and 5%. To achieve this you will probably need to restrict your page to a manageable size. Try to keep page lengths to no more than 3 screen lengths. If longer create additional pages and use links.
  Suggested tool: www.gorank.com/analyze.php

• Use external CSS & Javascript.
  Search engines tend to value copy towards the top of your page more. Some SE don’t index copy beyond n words, so avoid wasting words on CSS & Javascript; use external references.

• Only use a robots.txt file to keep some SE out.
  A robots.txt file can be employed to instruct search engines about how to index your website. If used incorrectly you may unknowingly be keeping search engines spiders from indexing your website. Use a robots.txt file carefully or not at all.

• Avoid Flash & Frames.
  Most search engines get confused by Frames, and can’t read Flash documents; avoid wherever possible.

• Don’t try to fake it! Keep everything in moderation.
  Don’t go overboard with the above tips – extremes are likely to arouse suspicion, and get you penalized.

• Don’t use web page redirection!
  Search Engines will penalize both the landing page and the destination page.

• Don’t use link farms.
  You will get no legitimate traffic from them, and will be penalized by Search Engines.

• Submit to specialized search engines & directories.
  There are still some specialised search engines and directories that accept free submissions. But first check their Google page rank (for the page you will be listed on); below 4 may be a waste of time.

• Don’t submit to free-for-all sites.
  As with link farms, you are likely to get spam, but no visitors. Check the page rank of the linking page before submitting. If Google thinks it’s useless – it probably is!

• Don’t use automated submission programs.
  There are a limited number of search engines worth submitting to. The rest are of no benefit to you, on the contrary; they collect your email for spamming purposes.

• Don’t use advertising agencies that use pop-under or pop-over ads.
  Pop-overs & pop-under ads are forced on the user against their will. They will generate hits, but are unlikely to generate any customers. Instead they will create animosity towards your organization.

• Don’t submit your website until you have a few incoming links.
  It is believed that some search engines will not index your website until it has a link from an indexed website.

• Don’t resubmit your website to search engines too often.
  Be patient after submitting to Search Engines. It may take weeks or even months before your website is indexed. If you constantly submit, thinking it’s not working, you are likely to get banned.

• Don’t link to shady sites (pop-ups, porn, warez etc)
  It may be tempting to exchange reciprocal links with anyone and everyone, however this practice can only hurt you. Only exchange links with other related sites.

• Avoid links from shady sites.
  Do Search Engine believe in “guilt by association”? Its unlikely Search Engines will explicitly penalize you, but enough inbound links from certain sites will create an implicit association with those sites.

• Use a site map.
  Site maps act as an quick index for your visitors, but also augment Search Engine indexing.

• Don’t try to fool or Spam search engines.
  A serious breach will result in your website being banned indefinitely!

• Make sure your website is working! Monitor it.
  You don’t want your website down just when a search engine spider decides to visit for the first time; it may not revisit for some time. Use a free monitoring service to alert you if/when you site is down, and fix it quickly.

• Cheap hosting & banned IP’s.
  Avoid using free (or extremely cheap) hosting. You run a greater chance of inheriting a banned IP address, previously used by a spammer.

• Promote deep linking of your website.
  Use deep links (links to many different pages on your website) to tell search engines you have valuable content spread throughout the website – having links to the homepage alone tells them your site is shallow with little to offer.

• Consider the use of Pay-per-click advertising.
  Pay-per-click advertising through Google or Overture, can be very cost effective if properly targeted keywords are used.

 

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