Web Marketing Basics #2, SEO
This is part 2 of my article series on web marketing. For those that don’t know SEO stands for search engine optimization. That’s what you’ll be reading about today.
If you missed last week’s post, click here.
There are lengthy books about this subject, so to pretend I could explain it all in this post would be foolish. I can, however, get you looking in the right direction. And by the way, if you would like a good book on this then take a look at this top-10 list of them.
So then let’s begin shall we?
Meta Tags
These tags are designed to tell search engines what to display when people find you. The description is usually a couple of sentences about the site. This is something that should be obvious so people know what to expect. Just think of the last time you were annoyed because a site was nothing like you were searching for. You don’t want to do that to your visitors.
Keywords is exactly what it sounds like, the things you want people to find you for when they search online. This website has ones related to fantasy and web design: fantasy, high fantasy, web designer, etc.
Meta information should go between the <HEAD> tags on your website. It should look something like this:
<head>
<meta name=”description” CONTENT=”What your site offers.”>
<meta name=”keywords” CONTENT=”Relevant keywords”>
<meta name=”revisit-after” CONTENT=”15 days”>
</head>Weblog Plugins
A lot of people these days don’t actually run a full website. If you just run a blog, that doesn’t mean you have to learn advanced PHP to take advantage of SEO. There are many plugins out there that will handle all your needs for you. It’s kinda like magic, but much less cool.
I use this one for WordPress. But you can find plenty by searching for “SEO plugin <type of blog>.”
Hosting Submissions
A lot of hosting companies, like the one I use, offers SEO submissions free of charge. They’ll let you submit your site as much as once a day. I try to do it at least once a month. As they say, consistency is key.
Actual Content
This is the real kicker. Everyone wants the coolest graphics and the latest Flash on their website. The problem is that nothing written in either of those is found by search engines. I hope this changes in the next couple years, but I’ve been hoping for the last couple too… You do have the option of using the alt tag with images of course. It is good practice, since things inside this tag can be found.
Your actual content should be considered as well. Remember that what you write can also be found on search engines. This can work both for and against you. You may re-consider saying something when you think of the audience. On the other hand, it’s not always a bad thing to talk about trends and popular subjects. People search for those, why not let them find you?
Be Friendly – Comment on Blogs
You hear complaints about this all the time. I’ve done that, I comment on tons of blogs, but nobody ever clicks back to my own. This happens for a number of a reasons, but the most important to me is the quality of comments. Most people go to a blog and post “great post, thanks for sharing.” I’ve even been guilty of it. What about that comment would even make the blog owner respond, much less their viewers?
If you aren’t interested in what they have to say, go comment on another blog. It’s as simple as that. People will have to find your comment interesting before they will want to read more that you’ve written.
The other big thing I see is people that are pushing themselves way too hard on someone else’s blog. If I am going through comments and see someone not only link back with their name (which you SHOULD do), but also add another link to their blog at the bottom of their comment, then I get annoyed. I promise you that I’m not the only one. Even if it only links to your blogger profile, accept that and move on. If you don’t list your website on your profile (all of them!), that’s your own fault.
© 2009 Robert W. Leonard
Because the last article was so long, I tried to narrow this one down. Do you guys prefer it to be shorter or longer? I tend to like more info, but I’d love to hear what readers prefer. Also, make sure to check back tomorrow for the latest Tuesday Night Storytime episode, part 4 of Mr. Snaggle’s Oddities.
Tags: draknor designs, web articles
