What are some of the current core search engine optimization and online marketing elements?
While major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! don’t reveal all their algorithms for SEO we do know a few basics for good search engine optimization, partly because, in the case of google, they tell us. Here are a few:
- Keyword Usage – There is a myth that the more a certain keyword is used in the content of the website the more it can help bring traffic to a website. Not true. However keywords do “dominate our search intent and interactions with the engines“. A keyword is a particular word or phrase the user is likely to type and search for, during the search process for a relevant return of content. In order for a website to develop a better ranking it should have relevant keyword in titles, text and meta data.
- Page titles– The page titles of the websites also hold significant relevance for search engine optimization. The title of a page is one of the first things a user and a search engine will check before going through the website. Hence a page title with the particular keyword is of great help for search engine optimization.
- Relevant content– The most effective way to get a better SEO positioning will be to write content in your website which is relevant to a user. The fact that “content is king” cannot be emphasized more and hence website developers should pay particular attention to the content of their website. It also makes it easier for search engines to crawl pages where content matches the users search.
- Site Structure– The site structure of any website has to be properly constructed so that a ‘search bot’ may easily find and crawl your website. Major search engine robots look for easily accessible websites to present their results of a search. While building your website make sure that you put what you want the search engine to see, at the top of the page and remember Robots read words not pictures.
- Link Building- Links are like recommendations from other websites which guide the user to your website. Or like my 17 year old nephew says…”That’s kind of like Cred building online right.” Yeh thats about it! It helps you create better awareness of your website, higher traffic and a much needed competitive edge over other websites in your market. It is one of the most important and difficult tasks of search engine optimization.
- Social Networking Sites- Adding social media widgets and follow us links to your site is a great way to allow people, Visitors, to pass on information that they found interesting or useful to their network while at the same time building your connections and site awareness.
- Site maps- Search engines like Google go through a page’s site map before presenting it as a potential result to the user. Basically an XML code guides the the search bots to the desired content of the users search without having to go through graphic menus.
- Local Search– Because much business happens on a local level it makes good sense to add your business and site information in lots of local search directories. i.e yellow pages, yelp etc. Localized searches have taken precedence over normal searches. Your search results will be giving you results according to the place where you live. Location based search. This makes your search more relevant and also helps local business.
These are just a few basic key points to keep in mind while building and planning for SEO.
What are your thoughts regarding the more core aspects of Search Marketing and search engine optimization? Let us know your comments below or post it on Twitter/MediaWright. Cheers.
