Search Engine Optimization For BeginnersA helpful SEO guide for beginners and veterans!
Welcome to my search engine optimization for beginners guide! I'm writing this guide for everyone, but it should be simple enough for complete beginners to start optimizing their websites for the search engines.
What Is Search Engine Optimization?Search Engine Optimization For Beginners
What is the definition of search engine optimization? Basically, search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing your web site so that it gets found by the search engines and listed when users search for certain keywords. The "holy grail" of SEO is to win the #1 spot in Google, followed by #1 spots in Yahoo! And MSN. Gaining the #1 spot, or even just a spot in the top 10, will earn your site lots of targeted, free traffic.
Search engines find your site by sending out "spiders" that crawl around the web, following links and documenting pages. These spiders "read" web pages and determine the content, keywords, and other information. Based on the spider's algorithm it will decide what rank to award a certain website based on factors like keyword density, content quality, and accessibility.
Winning a top spot for certain keywords is the best advertising of all, and it's FREE. This is why everyone is always scrambling, biting, clawing, and playing dirty to get those top spots.
Black Hat vs. White Hat Search Engine OptimziationSearch Engine Optimization For Beginners
A new practice of ethical search engine optimization has now arisen because of all the underhanded ways that people will use to get their site listed and ranked by the search engines. These unethical behaviors are called "Black Hat" seo. Ethical search engine optimization practices are called "White Hat." Examples of Black Hat SEO methods are spamming and link farming. Examples of White Hat practices are fair link trades, keyword optimization, and useful blog and forum participation.
Winning The SEO WarsSearch Engine Optimization For Beginners
Search Engine Optimization is not difficult, however there are some key things you have to do to succeed. There's a little elbow grease involved, but if you play your cards right you can definitely get your web pages ranked well.
Firstly, as everyone always says, content is king. Create your web pages for the viewers. The search engines are getting smarter and more advanced every day. Eventually they may be advanced enough that they will act like a regular human. That's the aim of Google, anyway. Since search engine companies are a business, they WANT people to be happy with their results. This is why they always improve their algorithms to only list QUALITY websites and ignore sites that look suspicious or spammy.
Nobody REALLY knows what Google's algorithms are except maybe a few key people in the upper echelons of Google's thinktank. They're that protective, and for good reason.
However, it's safe to say that if you want your website to rank well, AND stand the test of time, it's important to create high quality, content rich pages that give value to humans. If someone finds your site to be good, they'll probably recommend it to their friends. If a webmaster comes across your site and likes it, they might link to it. On the other hand, if your site looks like a spammy, made for SEO piece of junk NOBODY is going to link or recommend it, let alone return!
Search Engine Optimization TipsSearch Engine Optimization For Beginners
Link building is one of the key aspects of ranking well in the search engines. Link quality is important though, as spammy or "link farm" links might actually hurt your rankings.
Keyword density within your content is another highly important aspect of SEO. Include your specific keyword just enough-not too much and not too little.
Keyword choices are another highly important aspect of successful SEO. You must use keywords that are not too competitive, but also have a decent search volume. This is related to niche marketing.
Usage of "long tail keywords" can also help gain search engine traffic by targeting longer keywords that have very little competition.
Using TITLES, HEADINGS and META KEYWORDS / DESCRIPTIONS is also an overlooked aspect of successful SEO. Some people doing SEO don't even know what this is!
Building your website in a three tier structure helps the search engine spiders crawl your content and see which pages are most important.
Having a site index page is also helpful in that it allows the spiders to easily index your content.
Limiting outgoing links is another good strategy. Use of the rel="nofollow" tag for certain links will help keep the spiders on your pages and increase your page rankings.
The Best Web Host For Search Engine OptimziationSearch Engine Optimization For Beginners
Using Site Build It helped me get my website ranked quickly and painlessly. I barely had to know anything about search engine optimization beyond using the helpful keyword research tools and automatic SEO friendly page analyzer. Check out my story about my first money making website and how SBI helped me excel. Then check out SBI's page to see how it can help you EASILY conquer the SEO monster.
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