Article By Michael Fleischner
On-page optimization is a great place to start your next search engine
optimization campaign. Even thoug off-page optimization is essential for
improving your Google rankings, on-page techniques can be used to build a
strong SEO foundation and support good results on Yahoo!, MSN, and other major
search portals.
Here are a few SEO tips you can use starting immediately to make your site
more search engine friendly and begin enhancing overall rankings on all types
of search engines.
Optimize Your URLs
If you have not yet picked a domain name for your website, do not try to
purchase your keyword dot com. Rather, pick a name that will be memorable and
is something you want to build your company or brand around. You don't want to
limit your options too severely. That said do try to place your main broad
keyword into your URL.
Optimize Your Page Title, H1 and H2 Headers
Create a title that is relevant to your site content and which is no more that
60 characters in length. The reason you wan to limit the size of your title is
because larger titles cannot be fully displayed on search engine results
pages. The reason why the title is so important is because it gives you an
opportunity to display your keywords first.
The first headline that appears on your page should include your keywords and
be in the form of an H1 tag. The sub text should be presented as an H2 or H3
header. This reinforces the importance of your keywords and indicates
prominence oriented around the specific content included on your webpage.
Optimize All Your Meta Tags
SEO experts continue to debate the value of meta tags. I can tell you that
although meta tags including the title, description, and keywords is less
important that it was many years ago, it still plays an important role in
optimization.
Today, meta tags are used as a starting point and a reference point for search
engine crawlers. You meta tags need to be aligned to your page content and
also include your keywords. This creates consistency, something that search
engine spiders yearn for. So make sure to fully develop your description and
keywords. I suggest limited your keywords to no more than twelve and limiting
your description to about 150 words maximum.
Optimize your keyword density for Google
Creating a keyword rich content page is essential but don't get carried away.
Your keyword density should be around 3 or 4 percent, no more. Some people
believe that you could go as high as six percent for Yahoo! optimization but
Google seems to like pages that have a smaller keyword density.
From my perspective you are better off focusing on the placement of your
keywords and the type of emphasis you provide. Remember to focus on H1 and H2
tags and place keywords at the beginning, middle, and end of your web page. In
addition you should have an instance of each keyword phrase in bold, italics,
and underlined. This variety again reinforces the value of your links.
Keyword Variation
The last piece to focus on is keyword variety. Instead of stuffing your page
with the same keyword phrases again and again, use some variety. A great way
to do this is to add a word or two before your keyword phrase and after it.
Creating variety is important because it shows each search engine that your
site has a focus but that you are not intentionally trying to improve your
Search Engine Rankings.
The most important part of any search engine optimization campaign is to make
your site appear natural, present valuable content, and follow on-page
optimization best practices. If you use the above suggestions as a guide, you
will be well on your way to a fully optimized website.
Before you begin marketing online, make sure you check out this helpful
resource to Improve Search Engine Rankings, and discover marketing tips from
marketing online experts.
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