Top Tips from Some of the Best SEOs in the Business
| Category: Search engines - Optimisation | Date: 2003-06-12 |
. . . Learn from the Pros in this Informative Article! Part 1
Have you ever wondered what types of strategies the top search engine optimizers use for their own sites or the sites of their clients?
In an industry like the search engine industry, where no one can possibly know everything, its important to learn from trusted experts in the field. So for this article, I interviewed some of the best SEOs in the business in an effort to share their winning strategies with you.
Important facts about these tips
Please remember that these tips arent necessarily the fundamental strategies that should always be used when working on a Web page, such as including your keyword phrase in your title tag or capitalizing on headline tags or link text. Instead, many of these tips are meant to be applied to the top of the basic strategies in an effort to give you an edge over the competition.
Also, these tips arent in any particular order of importance. The first tip in any category isnt necessarily the most important, and the last tip certainly isnt the least important.
Ive identified each tip with the SEO who wrote it. Then, at the end of the article (Part 5) in alphabetical order, I highlighted the various SEOs who participated in this article, along with brief information about their qualifications.
Enjoy these tips from some of the best SEOs in the business!
Basics
* Stick to the basics of search engine optimization for your existing Web pages (i.e. optimized titles, header content, keyword density, the order your text is presented in the code, etc.), before you move into supplementary techniques like doorway pages, doorway domains, and the like. The odds are that if you have not mastered the basic skills to optimize your existing Web pages, you are not going to be able implement supplementary techniques successfully. (J.K. Bowman with Spider Food http://www.spider-food.net)
* My advice to everyone is always to remember the basic, simple things that have not changed rather than get lost in details that may change on a regular basis. I find that even very advanced people sometimes need a reminder of the basics to see the forest from the trees. (Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch http://www.searchenginewatch.com)
Content
* Focus on building useful "research content." Remember that the Internet is constantly being used for all types of research. Take advantage of this and develop content that will appeal to the people who are doing the research. What is it that people want to know? People are looking for "how to" articles, "inspirational" articles, reference material, financial advice, technical advice, comparison charts, phone numbers, historical information, serial numbers, and the list goes on and on. Dont just do up a general page on a topic. Do a little research. Talk to some real people and see what it is that fascinates a specific group. Look for a newsgroup and see what they talk about. From your research, try checking a few keywords in WordTracker. From WordTracker, you can discover trends that people are using to conduct research. If you have a garden center online, perhaps youll want to build a content rich doorway page that offers detailed blue prints for building a birdhouse or an article on "How to attract hummingbirds to your garden," etc. If you have an online jewelry store, perhaps youll want to offer articles on how to determine the real value of a diamond or a tutorial on Victorian gemstones. (John Alexander with Beyond-SEO.com http://www.beyond-seo.com/)
* If your site makes heavy use of graphics and has no substantial real text content, this will severely impact your ability to get good search engine listings because there is nothing for the search engines to read when they index your Web site. You should consider redesigning some of your pages to include real text rather than graphical text. (Paul Bruemmer with Web Ignite http://www.web-ignite.com)
* Customize content for each page. Every URL is a potential entry point. Keep content in the header tags focused and terse. Simplicity is so important in search engine optimization. (Marshall Simmonds with About.com http://www.about.com/)
* Use cgi-based date scripts to keep the site fresh. (Ginette Degner with SearchBrokers.com http://www.servicebrokers.com)
Directories
* Proper submission to the major directories is critical. One of the most significant changes in search engine marketing in recent years has been the rise in popularity of human-reviewed directories and catalogs like LookSmart, Yahoo, and Open Directory. Some search engines prominently display directory listings for many popular searches. MSN is a prime example. Some of the other major engines also list directory results prominently, or at least emphasize them in various ways. You can recognize directory listings since they are often called "Web Site" results rather than "Web Page" results. Once you submit to a directory, its difficult to go back and correct mistakes later. Some of them like Yahoo and LookSmart charge you for the privilege of simply being reviewed for inclusion. Therefore, its of utmost importance to get it right the first time. (Brent Winters with FirstPlace Software http://www.webposition.com)
* Get listed with the human-powered directories of Yahoo, LookSmart and the Open Directory. If this is all you do, youll get plenty of traffic. All either get lots of visitors or "power" other sites that get plenty of visitors. In addition, getting listed with them helps crawler-based search engines locate your site and perhaps help it rank better, because of the link importance these sites provide to you. (Danny Sullivan with Search Engine Watch http://www.searchenginewatch.com)
Diversify
* Its important to experiment and diversify your optimization strategies. The algorithms of each engine change frequently to keep content fresh -- so should your techniques. It is important to abide by all the rules and regulations as set forth by the engines to avoid spamdexing. (Marshall Simmonds with About.com http://www.about.com/)
(Continued in Parts 2-5)
About the Author
This article was written by Robin Nobles, a professional freelance writer and the Director of Training at the Academy of Web Specialists (http://www.academywebspecialists.com). Over the past few years, she has trained several thousand people in her online and onsite courses in search engine positioning strategies and has written three books that can be ordered through Amazon. Visit the Academys training Web site to learn more about their online courses: http://www.onlinewebtraining.com.
RobinN@acws.com
http://www.academywebspecialists.com
Have you ever wondered what types of strategies the top search engine optimizers use for their own sites or the sites of their clients?
In an industry like the search engine industry, where no one can possibly know everything, its important to learn from trusted experts in the field. So for this article, I interviewed some of the best SEOs in the business in an effort to share their winning strategies with you.
Important facts about these tips
Please remember that these tips arent necessarily the fundamental strategies that should always be used when working on a Web page, such as including your keyword phrase in your title tag or capitalizing on headline tags or link text. Instead, many of these tips are meant to be applied to the top of the basic strategies in an effort to give you an edge over the competition.
Also, these tips arent in any particular order of importance. The first tip in any category isnt necessarily the most important, and the last tip certainly isnt the least important.
Ive identified each tip with the SEO who wrote it. Then, at the end of the article (Part 5) in alphabetical order, I highlighted the various SEOs who participated in this article, along with brief information about their qualifications.
Enjoy these tips from some of the best SEOs in the business!
Basics
* Stick to the basics of search engine optimization for your existing Web pages (i.e. optimized titles, header content, keyword density, the order your text is presented in the code, etc.), before you move into supplementary techniques like doorway pages, doorway domains, and the like. The odds are that if you have not mastered the basic skills to optimize your existing Web pages, you are not going to be able implement supplementary techniques successfully. (J.K. Bowman with Spider Food http://www.spider-food.net)
* My advice to everyone is always to remember the basic, simple things that have not changed rather than get lost in details that may change on a regular basis. I find that even very advanced people sometimes need a reminder of the basics to see the forest from the trees. (Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch http://www.searchenginewatch.com)
Content
* Focus on building useful "research content." Remember that the Internet is constantly being used for all types of research. Take advantage of this and develop content that will appeal to the people who are doing the research. What is it that people want to know? People are looking for "how to" articles, "inspirational" articles, reference material, financial advice, technical advice, comparison charts, phone numbers, historical information, serial numbers, and the list goes on and on. Dont just do up a general page on a topic. Do a little research. Talk to some real people and see what it is that fascinates a specific group. Look for a newsgroup and see what they talk about. From your research, try checking a few keywords in WordTracker. From WordTracker, you can discover trends that people are using to conduct research. If you have a garden center online, perhaps youll want to build a content rich doorway page that offers detailed blue prints for building a birdhouse or an article on "How to attract hummingbirds to your garden," etc. If you have an online jewelry store, perhaps youll want to offer articles on how to determine the real value of a diamond or a tutorial on Victorian gemstones. (John Alexander with Beyond-SEO.com http://www.beyond-seo.com/)
* If your site makes heavy use of graphics and has no substantial real text content, this will severely impact your ability to get good search engine listings because there is nothing for the search engines to read when they index your Web site. You should consider redesigning some of your pages to include real text rather than graphical text. (Paul Bruemmer with Web Ignite http://www.web-ignite.com)
* Customize content for each page. Every URL is a potential entry point. Keep content in the header tags focused and terse. Simplicity is so important in search engine optimization. (Marshall Simmonds with About.com http://www.about.com/)
* Use cgi-based date scripts to keep the site fresh. (Ginette Degner with SearchBrokers.com http://www.servicebrokers.com)
Directories
* Proper submission to the major directories is critical. One of the most significant changes in search engine marketing in recent years has been the rise in popularity of human-reviewed directories and catalogs like LookSmart, Yahoo, and Open Directory. Some search engines prominently display directory listings for many popular searches. MSN is a prime example. Some of the other major engines also list directory results prominently, or at least emphasize them in various ways. You can recognize directory listings since they are often called "Web Site" results rather than "Web Page" results. Once you submit to a directory, its difficult to go back and correct mistakes later. Some of them like Yahoo and LookSmart charge you for the privilege of simply being reviewed for inclusion. Therefore, its of utmost importance to get it right the first time. (Brent Winters with FirstPlace Software http://www.webposition.com)
* Get listed with the human-powered directories of Yahoo, LookSmart and the Open Directory. If this is all you do, youll get plenty of traffic. All either get lots of visitors or "power" other sites that get plenty of visitors. In addition, getting listed with them helps crawler-based search engines locate your site and perhaps help it rank better, because of the link importance these sites provide to you. (Danny Sullivan with Search Engine Watch http://www.searchenginewatch.com)
Diversify
* Its important to experiment and diversify your optimization strategies. The algorithms of each engine change frequently to keep content fresh -- so should your techniques. It is important to abide by all the rules and regulations as set forth by the engines to avoid spamdexing. (Marshall Simmonds with About.com http://www.about.com/)
(Continued in Parts 2-5)
About the Author
This article was written by Robin Nobles, a professional freelance writer and the Director of Training at the Academy of Web Specialists (http://www.academywebspecialists.com). Over the past few years, she has trained several thousand people in her online and onsite courses in search engine positioning strategies and has written three books that can be ordered through Amazon. Visit the Academys training Web site to learn more about their online courses: http://www.onlinewebtraining.com.
RobinN@acws.com
http://www.academywebspecialists.com
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