Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

What Is Search Engine Optimisation ?

It is a process of modifying your web pages to get higher ranking on search engines.

Search Engine Optimisation Overview

The content of each page of a web site should be optimised for a few specific keywords or key phrases that someone may search for in a search engine.

So if you sell gloves, you may have a web page for leather gloves, and may therefore use the keyphrase 'leather gloves' in your title for that page, the meta tags, and throughout your page content. Then if someone searches for 'leather gloves' on a search engine they will hopefully see a link to your leather gloves web page. However if someone searched for woolen gloves they may be directed to your woolen gloves web page if you had optimised the page for that keyphrase.

There are a number of views on exactly how you should optimise your web site for search engines, and particularly how you should write your meta tags and title.

Firstly many of the main search engines such as Google and others no longer use meta tags to index web pages. Google looks at the content of the page, combined with other factors like how many links a web page has to it.

However you shouldn't ignore meta tags as they are still used by a number of smaller search engines, and to some extent by some of the larger search engines as well.

How do I optimise my web site for search engines ?

1) establish a set of keywords and keyphrases for each page

Each page in your web site should have its' own set of keywords, which are unique to that page.
e.g for my Adobe InDesign training page I have chosen the following keywords and keyphrases:
adobe indesign training, indesign training, birmingham, training, adobe, indesign, course

2) write a title tag - using the main keywords/keyphrases.

<title>Adobe InDesign training course in Birmingham UK</title>

3) write a keywords meta tag.

4) write a description meta tag - using the main keywords/keyphrases in the description, and use proper sentences.

5) write the page content for that page

use the keyword/keyphrases in your content
use the text from the description tag in your content

when writing a sentences try to use your keyphrases exactly
e.g. rather than writing
" this training for adobe indesign is . . ."
you should write
"this adobe indesign training is . . ."
as this contains the keyphrase "adobe indesign training " so therefore is much more useful for optimising the web site and getting better position on a search engine when someone searches for "adobe indesign training "

The first couple of paragraphs of the page are the most important.

6) create links with other web sites

To get good position on search engines like Google, you need to get links from other relevant sites. It is also a good idea to link to relevant sites from your site. Don't add to many links though, and don't link to sites which are just made up of pages and pages of links.

Other factors which affect how your page will rank on a search engine

The number of times a single keyword or keyphrase is repeated.
If you repeat a keyword or keyphrase too many times then it will be considered word spamming by most search engines and you page will either be removed or given a reduced ranking.
You can repeat a keyword or keyphrase a maximum 3 or 4 times within the keywords tag for most search engines, and while repeating a keyword or keyphrase a few times within the body text of the site is a good idea, again repeating it too many times is not a good idea.

headings
Use heading tags (H1 and H2 tags) for headings and subheadings on your pages, as the text within these pages is give more importance than normal text.

hyperlinks
write your hyperlinks to other pages carefully
don't use "click here" "more info" "details" or other meaningless links, write something descriptive such as "Adobe Indesign training details". This is more descriptive and also has one of our keyphrases in it.
If you want to make the site more accessible it is also important to follow the same rules and make links as descriptive as possible

alt tags
any image used within the web site should have an alt tag with it, this will display if the image doesn't load for some reason, it can be read by screen readers used by those people with sight problems, and they are also looked at by search engines.
It is particularly important to use correctly written alt tags for any graphical links or for important images like logos and product photos.

Where possible, make the text of the alt tag on a link to relate to the keywords in the content of the page you are linking to.

Hidden text
don't create text which cannot be seen by site visitors (i.e. the same colour as the page background) as this may also get your site banned from search engines.
Similarly loading of alt tags with repeated keywords is also frowned upon.

How do Search Engines find my web site ?

Search engines trawl the internet all the time following links form sites which are already listed, so the best way to get listed on search engines is to get some links from good quality relevant sites.

Most search engines also have a submit site link to which you can add your web site address.

Directories are different and you will need to add your site to each of these these individually.

Don't expect an instant response to your new web site. Your site may show up very quickly, but it is more likely to take many months before you can find it on most search engines and directories.

Once you are listed changes to your site may be picked up when the search engine next checks your site, but some smaller search engines may take many months to pick up changes to your site.

See the META tags tutorial for more information on META tags

SEO links

Search Engine Watch
Everything you ever wanted to know about search engines, including how to get listed by them.

SEO Chat
articles and tools for search engine optimisation of your web site

Meta Tag Analyzer Tool
Check your keyword usage

Submit Corner Online
Tutorials and guides to improve your ranking with search engines

SelfPromotion.com
Resource for do-it-yourself web promotion

Web Design Articles and Tutorials

Design Training