This search engine optimization tutorial or SEO do’s and don’ts was created for beginners. But, even if you have been publishing websites for a while, it never hurts to refresh your memory. First, you will see a little basic information, followed by my suggestions.
SEO is short for search engine optimization. There are tens of millions of websites published on the internet. Most people use the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) to reach them.
The search engine operators have robots that scan the content, the keywords and the meta-tags on each page. The page titles and domain names are recorded in the search engine database, along with other relevant information.
In the early days of the internet, the keywords were the most important aspect of search engine optimization. There were few competing websites. The site that used their keywords frequently on their web pages would get the highest rankings.
Some publishers even “hid” the keywords in lightly colored text at the bottom of the page or in background images. The search engines caught on to this tactic.
Today, if the keyword or words appear in the content excessively, the robots tag the site as spam. So, there’s your first “don’t”. Don’t use your keywords excessively.
Another of the SEO do’s and don’ts is to choose your keywords carefully. The competition is fierce. If you choose vague or generic keywords, you will never be able to compete. Find a niche and look for keywords that are being used by few competing sites.
Your niche is made up of the customers you are trying to attract. You start with the vague generic topic and then narrow it down until you have something more specific.
A lawyer, for example, might start with keywords like “legal aid or help”. To that, he or she could add his specialty. “Criminal legal aid” might be an example. The niche would be further defined by where the lawyer is located.
Here’s another of the SEO do’s and don’ts. Make a complete sitemap. Some of the better software programs automatically create a sitemap for you. The program may ask if this page is to be included on your sitemap. The answer should always be “yes”.
Not only do sitemaps help the search engines index the information on your site. They also improve SEO and help users navigate through it.
Another suggestion is to invest in a good website promotion software program, if you have not already done so. Some programs come fully equipped with lots of SEO do’s and don’ts. They make website publishing and search engine optimization easy.