Enterprise Mastermind

What is SEO?

SEO is the act of altering a websites code and content so it works optimally with internet search engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo, AOL etc. This can be done to an extreme level but in this guide I will endeavour to give you nothing but the basic rules of SEO, just enough to get you listed on your favourite search engine… maybe.

I say maybe because SEO is something of a black art. No-one knows for sure what algorithms the search engines use to rank sites, it is a well kept secret. We know that incoming links play an important part in the ranking of sites, and that the quality of those links is also an important factor. How your page is laid out and the use of keywords and original content are also factors that we will be covering here.

We will assume that you have already registered a domain name, built a site of sorts and have said domain name pointing at your website.

I can’t go into what you should have done with the design of your site here, thats a matter or personal taste and dependent upon the market you are aiming at. At best thats another post for me to write at another time.

Different search engines have different rules for inclusion, so for the purposes of this series we will assume it is Google that you want to impress and that you already meet Google’s Webmaster Guidelines which can be seen here.

Please note that the points in this post are not written in any order of importance.

Organisation is King

Planning your website promotion strategy is paramount and you can start this by listing your strategy using good old pen and paper. Keep tabs of where you are by making a checklist of what you want to achieve with your promotion in the order you want it done in.

Content is King

You may have heard that phrase before. It is arguably the most important thing listed here because without quality content no-one will want to visit or link to your site. Simple. Ideally* content should outweigh the HTML used in a page giving the search engines plenty to get their teeth into. Aim for a minimum of 200 words on every page of your site but more is better.
*I’m a website designer, I know that a design will not always lend itself to containing lots of copy. Don’t fret, there are other ways of getting your site seen if there’s not much indexable content, only it’s a lot more complicated and I’m not going to go into it here…sorry!

Keywords are King too

Sorry, they just are. A person searching for the product you are selling or subject you are writing about is going to use a search term. That search term is going to have to match with something on your page in order for it to be found. That something is a keyword or keyphrase. For instance, if you are selling kitchen appliances and you know that people will be searching for items like cookers and refrigerators, then those words will need to be included on the website. Unfortunately its not as simple as that… read on.

Keywords, keywords everywhere

Ideally** the keyword or keyphrase is going to need to go within your description tag, in a <H1> heading, in bold and high up on the page to be effective. Not to mention using it within your URL.

**Dont worry, this is obviously going to be impractical in most cases, so aim to get your main keywords in one or more of these positions where possible.

Finding your keywords

Use free keyword tools such as those found at Google and Overture to research which terms people are using in their searches. Check what your competition is doing by looking at the source code of your competitors sites. Again, make lists and keep your research as organised as possible, you will thank yourself for it in the longrun. There are various paid-for applications such as IBP and Arelis that will do a much better job whilst automating all this for you (if you have deep pockets) but you can do just fine without having to spend a penny.

In Part 2: sitemaps & linking