SEO Tips and Resources
Sometimes things in life are FREE, like Imand's
SEO Tips section!!
These tips do not include SEO elements which
we have discussed in other parts of our site such as keywords,
links, content and
meta tags, which are all of course crucial to Search Engine
Optimisation. In this section, we are attempting to help complete
conveying
the SEO picture, in terms of what needs to be done to optimise
your website, as we view it.
1. Optimising Your Title Tag
Without question
the title tag of your page is the single most important factor
to consider when optimising your
web page
for the Search Engines. This is because most Search Engines & Directories
place a high level of importance on keywords that are found
in your title tag. The title tag is also what the Search
Engines
usually use for the title of your listing in the search
results.What it looks like:
Here's the title tag of this
page:
<TITLE>Your
Title Tag - learn to optimize your title tag</TITLE>
Where
it belongs:
The correct placement for the title tag is between
the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags
within the HTML that makes up your page.
Tag limits:
We recommend that your title tag be
between 50-80 characters long - including spaces! The length
that the different
Search Engines accept varies, but as long as
you keep within this
limit you should be okay.
Tag tips:
- We recommend that you include 1-2 of
your most important keyword phrases in the title tag,
BUT be careful
not to just list keywords.
If you just list keywords you risk being
viewed as a spamming the Search Engines which can
ultimately lead
to you being
blacklisted. Your title tag should include
your keyword
phrases while remaining
as close to a readable sentence as possible
to avoid any problems.
- Make your title enticing!
Don't forget that even if you get that #1 listing in
the Search
Engines
your
listing
still
needs to
say something that makes the surfer want
to clickthrough and visit your site.
- Since
the length of your title tag could be a little long for some
Search Engines
we suggest
placing
the keywords at the
beginning of the tag when possible
so that you
do not risk
having them
cut off.
- Each page of your site should
have it's own title tag with it's own keywords
that related
to the
page that
it appears
on.
2. Optimising
Your Page Copy
The copy on your
page is also very important in order to achieve better
Search Engine
listings. Actually,
it is
very close to
being as important as your title
tag so make sure
you keep reading! By 'copy' we
mean the actual text that
a visitor
to your site
would read. Did you know that just
like a visitor to your site would read the copy
on your page
to figure
out
what you have
to offer,
the Search Engines do too? And
what do you think the Search Engines
are looking for when they 'read'
your page copy? Keyword phrases,
of course!
Page text tips:
- For best results we recommend
that each page you submit has at least
200 words
of copy
on it. There
is some
cases where
this
much text can be difficult
to put on a page, but the Search Engines
really
like
it so
you should
do your
best to increase
the amount
of copy where you can.
- This
text should include your most important keyword phrases,
but
should remain logical & readable.
- Be
sure to use those phrases
that you have used in your
other tags
during
the optimisation
process.
- Add additional
copy filled pages to your site. For
example, how-to
articles,
tips
or tutorials.
These
types of content
pages not
only help you in the
Search Engines, but many other
sites will link
to them too.
- Don't ignore
this tip ! Seriously, optimising
your
page copy
is one of the most
important things you
could possibly
do
to improve your listings
in
the Search Engines.
So, make sure
you have plenty of
it even if you need to redesign
your site
to work
it in!
3. Optimising
Heading Tags
Although they are not
used very frequently
any longer
HTML heading
tags can
help improve your
listings
in the Search
Engines too.
Since they are "headings" the
Search Engines
figure that they
are very
closely related
to the content
of the
page that they
appear on. So,
just like
with all of your
other optimisation
efforts you should
include your most
important keyword
phrases
in heading tags
on your page if
you
can.
What they look
like:
HTML heading
tags have 4
different sizes and
are formatted
as
you see below.
<
h1>Heading Size 1</h1>
<
h2>Heading Size 2</h2>
<
h3>Heading Size 3 </h3>
<
h4>Heading Size 4</h4>
Where they belong:
Headings can go anywhere within
the HTML of your page.
Tag Tips:
Try to include your most important keyword
phrases in heading tags
on your page if you can.
Consider rethinking your
page content. It is often very easy
to take an existing
page full
of copy and find
ways to break
it up into separate sections with headings.
4. Optimising
Text Hyperlinks
Did you
know that
text based
hyperlinks can
help improve
your listing
in the Search
Engines? The
Search Engines
basically figure
that if
you are linking
to something from
your page
whatever it
is, what
you are
linking to
is likely to be
closely related
to the content
of your page.
For that reason
some of
the Search
Engines actually
look for
keywords in
the hyperlinks
and any
text immediately
surrounding the
hyperlinks. What
this means
to you is that
if you can
you should include
your most
important keyword
phrases in
the link itself
and possibly the surrounding
text.
What
it looks
like:
A
text based
hyperlink is
a standard
HTML link
.
Tag
tips:
- Try
to include
your most
important keyword
phrases within
the hyperlink
itself.
- Try
to include
your most
important keyword
phrases in
the text
that immediately
preceeds, or
follows the
the hyperlink.
- Be
careful not
to keyword
stuff! Make
sure your
links and
surrounding text
are still
readable and
make sense
after you
include a
keyword phrase
or two.
5.
Optimizing Your
Images "alt" Attribute
Did
you know
that any
images on
your page
can help
your listings
too? Each
image on
your page
can include
a keyword
phrase or
two that
relates to
the image.
This text
will also
show up & help
those that may have their
images turned off when visiting
your site. This does not
work for all Search Engines, but
it certainly
does not hurt so we recommend
you give it a try where you
can.
What
it looks
like:
<
IMG SRC="SubmitItLogo.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="Submit
It! Web Site Submission Service">
Where
it belongs:
You
can add
the "alt" attribute to any image on your
page.
Tag
limits:
We
do
not
recommend
using
more
than
a brief
sentence
or
two to
describe
an
image.
Tag
tips:
- Be
sure
to
use
the
keyword
phrases
that
you
also
used
in
the
copy
of
your
page,
title
tag,
meta
description,
and
other
tags.
- Do
not
try
to
cram
a
bunch
of
keywords
into
the "alt" attribute
. We recommend using no more than 2-3
per image.
- Describe
the
image
-
do
not
just
list
keywords.
- The "alt" attribute is also a good place
for misspellings and plural keyword phrases that you may
not have used elsewhere.
6. How Long Does it Take to Get Listed?
Here's
the length of time it currently takes to get listed at each
of the major Search Engines once you have submitted your
web page.
MSN - Up to 2 months
Google - Up to 4 weeks
AltaVista - Up to 1 week
Fast - Up to 2 weeks
Excite - Up to 6 weeks
Northern Light - Up to 4 weeks
AOL - Up to 2 months
HotBot - Up to 2 months
iWon - Up to 2 months
7. What you should not do. . . (spamming the
search engines)
There are several things, considered "spamming",
that you can do to try to get your page listed higher on
a Search
Engine results page. Basically, you should never try to trick
a Search Engine in any way, or you risk being blacklisted by
them. Since the majority of your traffic will come from Search
Engines the risk far outweighs the benefits in the long run.
Below is a list of the more common things we recommend that
you never do when trying to achieve better listings.
Do not:
- Do anything to trick the Search Engines
into listing your site better. If what you are doing is not
listed as one
of our Search
Engine Tips or is not one of our offered SEM services,
the Search Engines will likely view it as spam and penalize
you.
- List keywords anywhere except in your keywords
meta tag. By "list" we
mean something like - keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3,
keyword 4, etc. There are very few legitimate reasons
that a list of
keywords would actually appear on a web page or within
the page's HTML code and the Search Engines know this.
While you may have
a legitimate reason for doing this we would recommend
avoiding it so that you do not risk being penalized by the
Search
Engines.
- Use the same colour text on your page as the
page's background colour. This has often been used to keyword
stuff a web
page. Search Engines can detect this and view it as
spam.
- Use multiple instances of the same tag. For example,
using more than one title tag. Search Engines can
detect this
and view it
as spam.
- Submit identical pages. For example, do not
duplicate a page of your site, give the copies different
file names, and submit
each one. Search Engines can detect this and view
it as
spam.
- Submit the same page to any Search Engine
more than once within 24hrs.
- Use any keywords in your keywords
meta tag that do not directly relate to the content of your
page.
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