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4 Tips for Search Engine Optimization
Now that you’ve got your brand new website, how do people find you? Search engines.
To properly and reliably get your site listed, I’ve compiled the following list of tips to get you started:
- Stay away from the tricks
A lot of web design firms will promise grand things and instant results. The problem? They usually use some sneaky tricks to get you ranked higher. And the problem with these tricks? Search engines eventually catch on, and could even punish your site for using the tricks. Keep it clean, and follow the clear-cut rules for optimization. - Keep your content fresh
Search engines tend to favor new content. For this reason, I have a blog on this site. For the most part, the information I have here doesn’t change. I may add additional services here and there, but it rarely changes. The easy way to keep things fresh is with a blog. Post articles related to your industry. You get two benefits: Search engines will begin to rank you higher, and your customers will have more reasons to check your site more often. - Relevant linking
Most search engines calculate part of your website’s rank on the number of incoming and outgoing links. For example, if a highly ranked website, such as CNN.com, linked to an article on your website, your site gains not only instant traffic increases, but a better search ranking. The same goes for the opposite direction. Try your best to link to relevant and highly ranked websites from your own site. - Optimize your URLs
Take a sample of five websites. Half will probably half URLs in an optimized form, while the other half will not. An optimized URL is one that tells a search engine what to expect at that address. For example, http://www.example.com/?page=29 doesn’t really say much about what will be on “page 29.” On the other hand, http://www.example.com/graphic-design-samples tells quite a bit about what’s on the page. If you don’t maintain your own site, ask your web developer if your URLs are search engine optimized.
Articles, Search Engines, Tips and Tricks »
Search Engine Basics
A search engine can be the greatest tool you have at your fingertips, or it can be the biggest waste of time, leaving you to you scroll through page after page of results that are irrelevant to what you’re looking for.
To properly utilize a search engine, there are a few basics that will help:
- Searching for a phrase.
If you’re interested in finding results that only have to do with an exact phrase, such as a full name, enclose the search terms in quotes. For example, to search for pages about Diet Coke, put “Diet Coke” into the search box. This would eliminate any pages that discussed diets in general, with perhaps a reference to Coke, and only return pages that had “Diet” and “Coke” next to each other. - Search within a certain website.
Google’s search engine allows you to specify the site you want to search in. If you’re looking for anti-virus solutions, but only want to see what I’ve included on my website, the search would look like this: site:seanreed.org anti-virus. - Forcing a keyword to be used.
By putting a plus sign (+) in front of any search term, you can let the search engine know that the particular search term must be included in any results to are found. If you’re looking for information about dolphins (the animals), and not the football team, your search could look like this: dolphins +animal. Similarly, a minus sign (-) will force the search engine to exclude any results with a term. To find similar results about dolphins, you could use: dolphins -football.
To find more information about search engines and their search techniques, check out the following links: