SEO involves optimizing certain elements in a web page’s HTML coding to rank high in search engine results. Keywords should appear in the title, meta description, and throughout the content. Other tricks include naming image files and anchors with keywords and providing backlinks. SEO is necessary for anyone who wants to take advantage of search engine traffic.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art of creating web pages that rank high in search engine results. SEO is achieved by optimizing certain sections or “elements” in the HTML coding of each page. These sections are specifically read by search engines and, depending on the level of optimization, can create a higher likelihood of free referral traffic.
There are different methods and opinions on how to optimize a web page and much will depend on the type of site, its content, purpose and competition, if any. But in general, search engine optimization relies heavily on the correct use of keywords and key phrases that describe the site’s content.
Keywords should appear first in the TITLE section of the page’s source code. They should also appear in the META description section where the page is accurately described by repeating keywords. The META keywords section will also contain keywords or key phrases that describe the product, services or content on the site.
Ideally, the source code for each subsequent page of the site will also have its own unique keywords listed. Each page title should use one or more of these unique keywords for maximum search engine optimization.
Because SEO relies so much on keywords, the most important keywords and key phrases should be used liberally in the first two paragraphs of each page’s content, then scattered throughout the body. The last paragraph of each page should also be keyword rich. A suggested rule of thumb is to aim for a keyword density between 5-15%. Judgment should be used to freely invoke keywords without becoming too repetitive. It can also be helpful to bold or italicize one or two keywords, but avoid doing it excessively.
Another important placement for keywords is in the H1 and H2 header fields of each page. The most important keywords or key phrases should be found here.
Other tricks to help search engine optimization or SEO are naming image files and anchors with keywords. Anchors, also called cross-links, are references to other pages within your site.
Finally, it is also important to provide links to and from external sites, called backlinks, as search engine spider robots navigate through the links. Text on your page that points to external links can also contain keywords.
Search engine optimization tutors are available online for those who want to optimize their sites. There are also many SEO companies that will provide the service for a cost. Some caution should be used in insuring a contractor to ensure that what is promised is feasible, realistic and cost-effective.
Whether you do your own search engine optimization or hire a contractor, with the billions of web pages on the Internet and the hundreds or even thousands of “results” that can be returned from any single online search, SEO it is a necessity for anyone who wants to take advantage of search engine traffic.
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