SEO and Rankings Revealed...
In this article, we discuss what SEO is and how you can make keywords work for you. We cover what a backlink is, and how you can make the right choice when engaging in a backlink scheme. Also covered is the importance of the quality and originality of the content on your website.
SEO - What is this phenomena sweeping the web?
If you are a large enterprise with many web pages or just about to start your own business, there is at least one common goal you will share, the desire to have your website rank high in search engines.
Anyone who has browsed the Internet recently could tell you there are millions upon millions of websites available. Among these millions of websites, you will likely want yours to appear in the top five to ten in search engines. Why? Most people will use a search engine to find what they are looking for, rather than typing in the direct path (URL) to your website.
Remember back to the days of Yellow Pages and local directories... well think of a search engine as the new Yellow Pages, but it does the looking for you based on the keywords you enter.
As you can imagine, there is a huge need to optimise your website to specific keywords. Web developers have become more preoccupied in recent years with how well their site will rank in search engines, often forgetting the reason they are making the page - for the user! Check out Google's Webmaster Guidelines.
Keywords - The more the merrier, right?
Often website developers are lead to believe the more keywords on your page, the higher your ranking will be in search engines. Again, this is only partly true. Search engines rely on the keywords you provide as a stepping stone to what lies ahead of its crawl*.
Crawl
When a search engine looks over your page, because it doesn't actually view what appears on the screen as you or I do, it "crawls" the code. Hence the label "crawl".
If it discovers that the keywords you provided are irrelevant to the content of that specific page, it can have a negative effect on your site's rankings.
Have a read of Google's Keyword Stuffing tip to confirm.
Backlinks - Good Idea? Or the Worst Decision...
If you have found your way to this article, then you would know what a link is or at least experienced using a link. A backlink, is simply a link on someone else's website, that links to your website and vice versa.
A common misconception is, the more backlinks you can have linking to your site, the higher your ranking will be, but this is only partly true! The backlinks pointing to your site must be relevant to the content on your website. This allows Google and other search engines to follow these links and get an idea of the quality and context of the content on your website. For example, say you are a Real Estate and you have arranged a backlink scheme with a local fruit grower. Now, unless you're planning to sell the fruit grower's land, this link scheme will not help either you or the fruit grower's rankings, in fact, it will have a negative effect on your rankings. You might consider a link to a trusted termite inspection company instead.
For more information on backlinks and link exchange schemes, have a glance over Google's Link Schemes information page.
Content - Quality and Originality
When creating a website, you must keep in mind a number of things, the most predominant being of course, the content. Ask yourself these questions while creating or updating your website:
- Why am I making this page?
- What am I trying to sell/provide my customers/visitors?
- Would this interest me if I were searching for this product/topic?
- Does this make me want to come back to the site?
Keeping these things in mind while you're creating your pages, will greatly benefit your ranking in search engines.
Read up on this short tip from Google, where it explains one of the most important steps in creating information rich, original content for your website.
If you would like further information on this topic, feel free to contact us through our online contact form.
2009-08-03 18:29:32
Samuel Clarke says:
Good summary of SEO stuff...and I like the ajax comments!
http://www.samuelclarke.com
2009-08-02 22:58:23
Guest says:
I always thought the more links the better! Thanks for the awesome tip.