SEO Tips for Beginners

[membo]

1. Fill in your TAGS.
The two most important tags are Title and Description b/c that’s what is displayed on the search results. Get other sites to LINK to yours: This is one of the most important of the 100 factors Google considers when ranking sites.

2. Make SEO-friendly URLs.
Use keywords in your URLs and file names, such as yourdomain.com/red-widgets.html. Don’t overdo it, though. A file with 3+ hyphens tends to look spammy and users may be hesitant to click on it. Related bonus tip: Use hyphens in URLs and file names, not underscores. Hyphens are treated as a “space,” while underscores are not.

3. Use a unique and relevant title and meta description on every page.
The page title is the single most important on-page SEO factor. It’s rare to rank highly for a primary term (2-3 words) without that term being part of the page title. The meta description tag won’t help you rank, but it will often appear as the text snippet below your listing, so it should include the relevant keyword(s) and be written so as to encourage searchers to click on your listing.

4. Spotlight your search term on the page.
If you want to be found for your keyword(s), make sure that term is on the page you want to rank. The term should be at the top as well as peppered throughout your copy. After all content is the KING.

5. Create great, unique content.
This is important for everyone, but it’s a particular challenge for online retailers. If you’re selling the same widget that 50 other retailers are selling, and everyone is using the boilerplate descriptions from the manufacturer, this is a great opportunity. Write your own product descriptions, using the keyword research you did earlier to target actual words searchers use, and make product pages that blow the competition away. Plus, retailer or not, great content is a great way to get inbound links.

6. Use your keywords as anchor text when linking internally.
Anchor text helps tells spiders what the linked-to page is about. Links that say “click here” do nothing for your search engine visibility.

7. Include a site map page.
Spiders can’t index pages that can’t be crawled. A site map will help spiders find all the important pages on your site, and help the spider understand your site’s hierarchy. This is especially helpful if your site has a hard-to-crawl navigation menu. If your site is large, make several site map pages. Keep each one to less than 100 links. I tell clients 75 is the max to be safe.

8. Build links intelligently.
Submit your site to quality, trusted directories such as Yahoo, DMOZ, Business.com, Aviva, and Best of the web. Seek links from authority sites in your industry. Analyze the inbound links to your competitors to find links you can acquire, too. Article submission is more effect way for link building.

9. Use press releases wisely.
Distributing releases online can be an effective link building tactic, and opens the door for exposure in news search sites. Related bonus tip: Only issue a release when you have something newsworthy to report.

10. Create a blog and post often.
Search engines, Google especially, love blogs for the fresh content and highly-structured data. This can help you get links. Reading and commenting on other blogs can also increase your exposure and help you acquire new links. Related bonus tip: Put your blog at yourdomain.com/blog so your main domain gets the benefit of any links to your blog posts. If that’s not possible, use blog.yourdomain.com.

11. Use social media marketing wisely.
With any social media site you use, the first rule is don’t spam! Be an active, contributing member of the site.

12. Register for free tools.
Use the tools at google.com/webmaster, as well as creating sitemap (XML, HTML & Text).

[kenj]

Hey Membo

This is a brilliant post, thanks

I can't for the life of me work out why no one else has noticed this wise advice.

.................Well OK - Here is why no one has noticed or responded to this thread

1. Title - not very sexy even though it is accurate
2. Post needs Bold headlines for each section
3. Your signature is about poker - That will alienate some readers.

Other than that I think your post is right on in terms of content and advice.

[apocrypha]

Keep up the great work.This will surely be helpful for newbies.I too had a nice read recalling things i learned a few years ago.

Some quick facts were really nice.
Content is still the king.

[shysmily]

great work man. thanks for sharing.

[imanpatrick]

great job buddy..
i will try it soon

[zahrulazua]

Thanks, i'm just a very new beginner. So thanks again for the info.

[JeffLam]

Great tips membo!

I have those tips and more in my free SEO Techniques report too.

[james168]

thanks for sharing.