One of the keys to being effective with online marketing is SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
You’ve probably read that sentence (or one just like it) over and over if you’ve been researching how to make money online…in fact, you’ve probably heard it enough to be sick of it by now. But there’s a really good reason why you hear that repeatedly… it’s true.
Stop groaning. Effective SEO doesn’t have to be a full-time tedious job; there are some simple things you can do to help boost your position when doing your internet search engine marketing.
Search engines can’t read Javascript or Flash
Sure, it looks nice, but looks alone won’t get you anywhere. There are some beautiful websites that don’t make a dime, while some of the ugliest pages on the internet convert traffic into money at a fantastic rate. If you have to use Javascript for your site navigation, you need to make sure you have text links to your website’s pages as well so that the search engine spiders will pick up your internal link structure.
Don’t freak out about PR (Page Rank)
Yes, you want to build as many high PR backlinks to your site as you can, but PR is only a small part of the behind-the-scenes math used by Google to determine your site’s search engine placement. Likewise, don’t think the PR of your site determines how well it will be placed; it helps, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of organic traffic.
Title tags are your friend
Make sure you use <title> tags for every page on your site, and make sure they’re focused on a keyword phrase. There are WordPress plug-ins that make this easy for bloggers; I use All in One SEO and it’s great.
“The forgotten tag”
There are lots of websites that don’t use the <alt> tag on their images; this is a mistake, as you’re missing a great opportunity to get your keyword phrases in front of the search engines again. These tags determine what shows up when you mouse over an image; make sure these are centered around keyword phrases you’re trying to rank for.
Be all-natural with your content
More and more, search engines want “natural” content. What this means is that you shouldn’t be stuffing your keywords into every sentence on your website. You’ve heard about keyword density; what you may not know is that having too many keywords in your content can actually hurt you. Make sure your keyword is in your content once or twice, but only in a natural way.
Backlinks: Quality, quality, QUALITY!
While it’s always good to have as many backlinks as you can get, the quality of those backlinks counts for more with search engine optimization than how many you have. If your website is about “purple monkey spiders,” then a link to you from a website about zebras won’t count for as much to the search engines as a link from a “monkey spider” site. The best backlink to have is from another “purple monkey spider” site; one backlink from another site in your niche does more to build your authority with the search engines than a dozen backlinks from websites that have nothing to do with your niche. How to get those backlinks?
Give a little, get a lot
The best way to get quality backlinks is to help others in your niche build their site. Leave good, helpful comments on blogs in your niche. Find forums related to your niche and participate. Give other sites in your niche backlinks from your site. This will do two things; it will build backlinks to your site on the sites and forums you participate on, and it will build your credibility and authority on your niche.
Remember, one thing that affects your position on the search engines that most people don’t think about…your reputation. If you build a reputation as knowledgeable, helpful and informative in your niche, people will recognize it. Before you know it, you’ll be getting backlinks to your website from places you’ve never heard of, because you’ll be considered an authority on the subject.
Word of mouth can be one of the most valuable SEO tools at your disposal.
Now, go forth… and optimize!
To Your Infinite Success,
PS I’d love it if you guys showed me some retweet love and let me know if you found value in this post, there are some people out there with some veeerrrry ugly sites in dire need of help (as far as Google is concerned)! Thanks!
January 26th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Very helpful info. I am constructing a blog right now. Good timing. Thanks.
Michai
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January 27th, 2010 at 1:56 am
Great straight to the point tips and tricks! A lot of people install All in One SEO (or now Platinum SEO) and forget to take advantage of the extra features !
The alt tag is important information. I recently heard that wordpress (.org) automatically sets the alt to the image title, so it becomes important to remember to title those images. (This would explain why the alt field is locked in some versions of the wysiwyg).
Thanks for a easy to understand summary! (And for stopping by my facebook page!)
Kimberly Castleberry´s last blog ..The FTC Changes & You: Protecting Your Business (Part 1)
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January 27th, 2010 at 5:15 am
Garrett, you are a genius. Your wisdom is well beyond your years. Much success and thanks for making the complicated so understandable.
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January 30th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Hey Garrett,
Great post, all important stuff. And of cours, already retweeted man!
I look forward to more posts of yours on SEO. I think it’s refreshing to see someone writing about SEO and not lead generation.
Congrats!
–Ryan
Ryan Yokome´s last blog ..How Your Prospects Speak To You Without Words
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February 2nd, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Great SEO info Garrett! Would you explain the “Forgotten tag” and what the all in one SEO does?
Thank you for sharing!
Daryl
Daryl Whicker´s last blog ..Child Internet Filter
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February 2nd, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Daryl, All-in-One SEO is a comprehensive, fire & forget (pretty much) add-on for WordPress that worries about your site’s SEO structure/tags so you don’t have to. Some would call it a necessity.
The “forgotten tag” refers to the alt tags images have. If you’re posting a post (or page) with images on it in WordPress, click each image and check the image title field and the alternate text field (under advanced settings) to make sure that those are keyword optimized and relevant.
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February 3rd, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Garrett,
Bro this is one rockin’ post. I’ve been learning this stuff over the last couple months and you’re right on with your information. For anyone looking to get great love from the search engines all this is a must.
Great Post!
Aaron Wyssmann
Aaron Wyssmann´s last blog ..Network Marketing Success Is Attracted Not Pursued!
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February 16th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Hello, I met you on facebook. I checked out your site and read about you growing up, way to ride the waves my friend!!!
Life is about riding the waves, and never stopping. When you are riding the waves… you are paddling along… going up the wave.. you are about the reach the top… drum roll, you are feeling great and then the wave dies and you start over again. It is in learning to ride the waves that we gain strength to keep going and that is what you did.
Good post about SEO, I did not know about the code.
Thanks,
Kathy Sammons
Kathy Sammons Dot Com
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February 18th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Happy to help Kathy! And your first post was correct btw, I didn’t even have to edit it lol.
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March 22nd, 2010 at 3:58 pm
In your opinion, what is the fastest way to build backlinks to a website?
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Garrett Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Outsource.
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