In order to gain maximum exposure on a search engine, a website has to be optimized properly. Search engines look for a number of different things in establishing how well it sees a site ranking. In order for a website to successfully function, it requires stringent attention to detail on these areas
Which search engine should I optimize for?
Well, at a rough estimate Google accounts for 1 out of every 2 searches on the internet. Yahoo is next at 25% with MSN (now Live) accounting for 10%. The remainder of the market is fought out by the thousands of other search engines on the internet. So, it makes good sense to aim your site primarily at ranking higly in Google’s organic listings.
‘Well it’s all about your page rank, isn’t it?”
Anyone involved in web circles will no doubt have heard this when talking about search engine optimization. The Google Page Rank is a great indicator of the strength of a page, but it shouldn’t be relied upon as the sole judge of page health. For those that don’t know, Page Rank is defined as the degree of importance or value that Google has for a specific web page. A site assigned a page rank of 0 is generally an unimportant or new page, wheras a page rank of 9 (there is no page ranked 10) is a page of great value or importance. A site that’s well maintained and spidered regularly will gain a better page rank over time, but by applying a few tips and tweaks you can rapidly gain an increase in your page rank.
View your current page rank with this tool from Live PageRank »
A site with a page rank of about 2 can often outperform a site with a page rank of about 6 on certain keyword searches. Page Rank can be tampered with and artificially inflated by a variety of methods, so Google doesn’t just use its Page Rank algorithm to list sites. Friendly URLS, good backlinks, good indexing, a web standards compliant site and most importantly GOOD, RELEVANT, KEYWORD-RICH content will often lift sites of lower Page Rank above those with a higher page rank.
Its all in the page links (internal AND in-bound)
One key thing that Google looks for is in-bound links off other sites, preferably ones with a high page rank. One link off a reputable site such as the BBC or Pixelsurgeon is worth over a dozen links from low ranking sites. This is because Google sees the high ranking site as being important, and and any site that has an outbound link from it benefits from a ‘halo’ effect. To go into technical terms, it is called the Trust Rank,
If possible, reciprocate the link from a links page (but always make sure the link pops up in an alternative window so as not to drive traffic away from your site.)
Recent speculation has led many to believe that Google is paying a lot of attention to the quality of the text that makes a link. For instance, if you have a link on your page that says ‘click here’, Google will think that it is a link to a page with a subject of click here. Therefore it makes sense to make the link a mini description of the page you are linking to. Use targeted keywords to build links, and encourage others to link to your site in the same way.
Click here to visit Design Plus One »
Getting your site listed on link exchanges may be a good way of getting traffic to your site, but be warned! Your site may be blacklisted if links to your site appear on spam exchanges. Make sure you list your site only on relevant sites and in relevant sections. You don’t want a link to your site off a blacklisted site, and this will have a reverse of the halo effect on your site.
Make use of the page title and the H1 tag
One of the key things that most search engines look for is each individual page title. This is inserted into a site between the < TITLE > HTML tags. By making the page title as descriptive as possible, and always including the site’s name, these pages will show up more favourably on a search engine. Do not include the same word multiple times, or make the title of a page non-sensical, as Google will dismiss the site as being a spam-like site. So, make it clear and concise.
Google will also look to the main title or page heading on each page, and it will register this as being an important element in describing the page. Make sure you use the H1 tag for each page heading. Then use < H2 > and descending HTML tags for less important headings, as Google gives more weight to the more important heading tags.
Don’t forget, each page on your website must have a different title and meta description tag, which directly suits the content of your page. If you do not do this, Google may consider the page to be spam and may add it to its supplemental results. This means Google trusts these pages less, and will crawl these pages less frequently.SeoBook.com shows you how to view all your pages listed in Google’s Supplemental Results Index »
Text on a website
Text on a website should be informative and targeted. Google reads all HTML text on a website, and is able to interpret if a search query is relevant or not to your site. If the site is making use of Cascading Style Sheets, (which is a must) then it is better to re-format the primary HTML tags (H1 through H6 and P) to the design specification than writing out new classes. Make sure the headings are clear, using target keywords. Try to use these keywords in your text, where relevant.
Do a search for a competitor on Google using a search term you wish to rank highly on. Click on the ‘cached page’ link and look at the results. You should see what Google saw last time it ’spidered’ your site. It will highlight all the words included in your search. Take note of the keyword density and proportion in the body text, as well as appearance in both the page title and any headings. Use this as a benchmark for your site.
Image Attributes
All images on a website need to have appropriate ALT and TITLE text. Not only is this a requirement of web standards, it will also be of benefit to how Google indexes the site. Alt text should expand on what the image is, but again it should be clear and concise. If a user places their mouse over the image, a text box will pop up with a text description. Also, in the case of a text only or speech browser, this description will be printed or read aloud in place of the image. The title attribute on images should also be used, and this should be an exact copy of the alt attribute. It is also never a bad idea to give the image a NAME attribute too.
Navigation and Repetition of Navigation
Ease of navigation around a website is fundamental. However, many sites decide to neglect this, and make navigation as difficult as possible. Avoid Flash navigation like the plague - Google finds it almost impossible to read it. The same goes for Javascript and Image-based menus. Keep it simple, using HTML and CSS. You’ll be surprised how elegant you can make your menus using just these languages. Search engines will be able to index and map your site effectively.
If possible, repeat navigation at the bottom of the page. Not only does this aid usability, it provides more internal links on your site for Google to catalogue.
Meta Tags are dead (except the meta description tag)
Meta tags are no longer considered to be important in web optimization, but are still recommended as they can assist with some search engines. A good meta description tag is recommended (usually only one tag is necessary for the entire site). Notice that Google uses a meta description tag in displaying its results. Key words are less important, but should be included as a matter of routine. Choosing between 10 and 20 keywords is usually recommended, as any more can be seen as spamming, and search engines may kick you off their results page.
I can’t stress this enough, only ever use keywords that are relevant to your page. Choose them wisely. Do not use a keyword more than 3 times in your meta keywords tag, as Google may consider the site to be spam. Do not fall into this trap. And, don’t forget to change the description tag too.
Google Webmaster Tools
Google provides different webmaster tools which can assist in the indexing and development of a website. These tools are free, and two of them are indisposible to a website. Firstly, by verifying a website with Google, the progress of it (the site) can be closely monitored. It is also possible to check when Google last crawled (indexed) a website, as well as finding out dead links on a website. By keeping a close eye on the statistics that Google gathers on your website, it is possible to see how users are getting you your site via Google searches.
Find out more about Google’s Webmaster Tools »
Friendly URLs
With the advent of PHP and other dynamic page script languages, individual pages no longer have their own unique web address (other than a page id number). Search engines like friendly URL’s and not a non-descript page number. For those of you building pages the old school way, (ie, in HTML), then name the page with some keywords.
www.randomsite.com/index.php?pageid=19
www.randomsite.com/search-engine-optimization.html
Those of you using PHP may be interested in the mod_rewrite function. This module provides a rule-based rewriting engine to rewrite requested URLs on the fly.find out more about the mod_rewrite engine »
Submit and build a sitemap
Developing a site map can be seen to be integral to aiding web usability. Have the sitemap page linked to from every other page in the site, or at the least from important high-level category pages and the home page. For example, put a link at the bottom of the page entitled ’sitemap’ which points to the site’s sitemap.
Google’s webtools can work harder for your website if they have a sitemap they can successfully follow. By submitting a detailled sitemap, Google can successfully crawl all listed pages, and include them in its index of your site. In turn, this will provide your pages with increased visibility on key Google searches.
Submit your sitemap to Google using their Webmaster Tools »
Study your website’s analytics
For a closer analysis of your website, Google provides a specialist free package called Google Analytics. By placing a short snippit of code in your website, Google is able to collect key data about the amounts of visitors to your website, how they entered (and if it was from a Google query - what that query was), and what their exit point from the site is. All this data can be used to understand what users look for in a particular site, which in turn can be used to tailor certain pages to gain maximum user interaction.
Sign up to Google Analytics »
Excellent FREE Analytical resource from 103 Bees »
Submitting a website to the DMOZ project is often looked on favourably by major search engines. DMOZ is an open source database project, and each entry to it has to be checked by an individual. It is for this reason that Google looks favourably on any inbound link from this site, as it has to be vetted by an individual.
Paying for positioning
Paid advertising (Google AdWords) is only a worthwhile exercise if a product is being sold via the internet. An AdWords campaign will make sure that your site features prominently when certain key words are inputted. links, and even if they do, each click will cost. Google Adwords will NOT have any effect on the organic listings of your webpage.
Find out more about Google AdWords »
