Search Engine Optimization

The secret for most search engine formulas is closely guarded but the basic idea is this:  deliver results relevant to a surfer’s query.  Thus, search engine companies will continue to deliver as their most popular search engine results the most helpful, easy to read, information rich websites that are well-visited and linked to by other relevant sites. 

Four major categories come into play for search engine optimization:

Meta tags – These guys comprise the first three categories

1. They do not appear visually on your website’s pages – hidden in the HTML code.
2. They are descriptive tags that tells the browser program how to present your site to a visitor. 

1. Meta Tag One: Title

The title of your home page and other key pages should contain the most searched-upon keywords relating to the topic and customers of your site.  Users see this information appear along the top line of the browser window and it is the first thing that many search engines check when registering your site.

2. Meta Tag Two: Keywords

These words should also be the most searched upon words and phrases for your site’s specialty.  In this case, however, you can usually include up to approximately 26 characters and run them all together, separated just by commas with no spaces.  This allows you to fit more words and also makes it as easy as possible for the search engine spiders to read them.

3. Meta Tag Three: Description

The last meta tag often indexed by search engines is an approximately 200-character field that allows you to write several short, keyword rich sentences describing in plain English what your site and products are about.  Again, you should make sure these sentences are full of your best keywords so that the search engines will show this description of your site in search results relating to that topic when searched by customers.

4. Site Summary

In addition to cataloging a site’s meta tags, many search engines also scan the first few visible lines of paragraphs of a website’s visible text to get a more in-depth understanding of its content.  Consequently, you should write tow or three short sentences to put at the top of your home page that summarize your site’s (or that page’s) offerings.  Like the Description meta tag, these sentences should also be full of keywords.  The “Hollywood pitch” for your business will be useful here in identifying your site’s most important concepts and keywords.

These first few lines of copy on your home page are so important that some search engines ignore meta tags entirely and borrow the Site Summary wholesale to display as part of their search results.

Although the degree to which search engines rely on these four fields varies widely, they are so easy to complete that you should spend enough time to be certain that you have optimized the words included in each one.  The best words are those that your potential customers are most likely to use when searching for services/products like yours.  By taking care to research the most appropriate keywords and include them in your new site’s meta tags and home page site summary, you will have greatly improved your site’s chances of receiving accurate and highly ranked search engine results.

Find Your Competitor’s Keywords

1. Go to your competition’s website
2. Click on “View” in your IE explorer bar
3. Click on “Source”
4. Now you can see the HTML of the page – at the top you can usually see the meta tags that they use.

If the competitor is successful, you may want to consider using their keywords.

Quality Content is King

In the end, search engines are trying to rank quality content and typically, word of mouth will spread the news of a quality content website and other sites will begin linking to your site which will increase your search rank.  Therefore, create quality content and the rest will follow.

Get Your Site Listed – Now!

It can take weeks, and often months for a new site to be indexed and included in the major search engines, you should put up and submit to the search engines an introductory site with the basic information they require for indexing as soon as you can. 

Nail down initial versions of your site’s title, meta description, keywords, and some summary introduction copy, then post a simple if minimalist version of your site and submit it.  Update it later if necessary. 

Get Registered in the DMOZ

Submitting your URL to DMOZ open directory project (ODP) will ensure that you start showing up in searches across all search engines.  Go to DMOZ.org to request inclusion.

Skip search engine optimization services for now, they’re a rip-off.  You can optimize on your own with the above tips.