Place Keywords within URLs and Filenames

As URLs are typically one of the first things read by a search engine using keywords within them is one of the most consequential SEO details.

Maintain Your Website

If your website is hosted on a server that constantly crashes, or if you have pages that are blocked or no longer exist make sure you take the proper measures to maintain your website. When a search engine comes to index your website you want it up and running at its peak. Keeping your website maintained is the best way to do so.

Use A Sitemap

Sitemaps are perhaps one of the quickest ways for search engines to find all of the pages within your website. Use a plain HTML sitemap, an XLM sitemap, or both, just as long as it is accessible and reflects all of the current pages.

Large Website Rank Well

Search engines thrive on large websites, therefore the more pages you have the better rankings you will tend to see. The downfall to this is the more pages on a website the harder they begin to navigate and maintain. Go back to maintaining your website, build out your website, but do so in a sensible manner.

Older the Better

The longer your domain has been around the better. Search engines respect age and see older websites as dependable and sensible. They are given higher priority over new websites than may just as easily disappear tomorrow.

Use a Constant Theme

When all of your content is able to fit within the same constant theme this makes it easier for search engines to recognize the difference between the theme and the content itself, and in the long run makes it easier for search engines to index your content. If possible, keep your theme consent throughout the entire website.

Leave Files Near Root Directory

Burying your content in sub director after sub director may be great for organization, however it makes it entirely difficult for search engines to find. Leave your files within or close to the root directory for the best rankings possible.

Research When to Use A Separate Domains, Subdomain, or Subfolder

Registering a new domain, creating a subdomain, or creating a subfolder all have their potential benefits. Before deciding on which way go make sure you know which one you may benefit from the most. Learn more on root domains, subdomains, and subfolders over at the SEOmoz Blog.

Use Common Top-Level Domains

While registering .com, .net, .biz, and so forth will ensure that visitors are not likely to misplace your domain this does not mean that all of the domains will be treated the same within search engines. The highest-ranking domains I've seen are .edu or .org domains because of their typical reputable nature. This by all means is not a proven fact however something I have personally experienced. Many will argue that a .com domain is just as good as an .edu or org. All other low-level domains (.biz and etc.) should be redirected to the top-level domain.

Use Hyphens over Underscores In URLs

Using hyphens makes URL easier to read for visitors as well as search engines. Using hyphens doesn't stop at URLs either. Use them within all file names for better readability.

Keep URLs Short

Long domains will not technically hurt you, however the longer they are the more they tend to look like spam. My recommendation is to keep domains around 3 to 4 words and then 6 to 8 words max for the rest of the URL. In total try your best to keep URLs under 10 words.

Use A Trustworthy IP Address

A lot of websites are hosted on shared hosting servers. If one or the other websites on your shared hosting is being used to send out spam or is taking part in any other illegal activities this can affect your search engine rankings and potentially even get you blacklisted.

Ads Do Not Improve Rankings

Running ads or hosting from search engines will not improve your rankings. They may help drive traffic to your website or to possibly even put a little extra money in your wallet. However they will not benefit your SEO efforts at all.

Avoid Faulty Hosting

A typical hosting company should have an uptime over 97-98%. Anything less than this is not acceptable. When a search engine comes to your website and it is not there because of your hosting chances are the search engine won't be back for quite a while.

Avoid Dynamic URLs

Dynamic URLs, especially over 100 characters, are difficult for search engines to continuously recognize. Best practice is to use static URLs and if that is not possible use a script to rewrite dynamic URLs into recognizable keyword friendly URLs.

Do Not Use Session IDs

Any information and content you want to be indexed and recognized by search engines cannot be hidden behind a session ID. Using a session ID in order to access content will turn off a search engine and your content will never be reached.

Do Not Use Bans in robots.txt

If you are using a robots.txt to point search engines in the right direction it is important to not use the robots.txt to ban a large part of your website. If you are banning access to a large portion of your website this is likely to affect the rest of your website as well.

Use Redirects (301 and 302) with Caution

When using redirects make sure that the target page is relevant and active. Redirecting pages to irrelevant content or inaccessible content can be considered a black hat SEO approach and cause penalties throughout your site.

Related posts:

1. Content Optimization Guidelines
2. 6 Visual Optimization Mistakes
3. 18 Powerful Linking Strategies

Use JavaScript Wisely

Using JavaScript to display content can add great features to your website. However, in the long run, it can also make content harder to be reached by search engines. When using JavaScript do so wisely and keep the code clean.

Make Use of Image <alt> Attribute

Text only websites are typically dull and image based websites are unrecognizable to search engines. Find a good balance between related content and images, and always make use of the image <alt> attribute. However do not keyword stuff the <alt> attribute as this will hurt your rankings.

Provide Additional Content with Podcast and Videos

Podcast and videos are great for users as well as lowering your bounce rate. However, without any additional content, they are rendered as useless for search engines. I recommend providing a transcript or any additional content along with your podcast and videos.

Stay Away From Image Links

Search engines feed off of links and hyperlink text plays an important role in determining rankings. As search engines cannot read images, using them as links is typically a bad idea, especially if doing so within the main navigation. If you cannot get around using image links be sure to use an <alt> attribute within the image.

Do Not Use Frames

Frames are extremely bad for SEO and are also an extremely outdated method of layout, so use them only if absolutely needed. A good alternative method to frames is PHP and the ability to include files.

Do Not Use Flash

As of yet search engines are unable to index flash based websites, thus any content used within a flash based website is unknown to search engines. If you must, you may use flash elements within a website, however not for laying out any links or content. If using any flash provide alternative content as well.

Related posts:

1. Content Optimization Guidelines
2. How Domains Relate to SEO
3. Hyperlink CSS Attribute Selectors

Good Techniques

Use Original Related Content

The more original content (directly written for your website) you have on your website the better. This is for many reasons, however one of the most direct being, more content equals potentially more keywords and the more keywords the better the rankings.

Consistently Add New Content

Adding new content to your website is not only preferred by search engines but by users as well. (Blogs perform extremely well because of this.) Making minor updates to previous content is not considered as adding new content.

Big Keyword Text Size

Having keywords stand out from the rest of the text on a page places more importance on them, thus making them more valuable then any keywords within the text itself. The best practice is to use keywords within your headings (<H1>, <H2>, <H3>) as these are typically larger in size than the rest of the text on the page.

Stylize and Emphasizing Keywords

Using effects such as bold italics and underlining to highlight keywords will also place more importance on them than the rest of the text on the page. However it is important to do so within limitations. Bolding an entire paragraph will create the opposite and potentially negative results.

Keep Content Updated

The newer the content on your website the better. We live in a fast paced environment and things change quickly, thus making some content outdated fairly quickly. Keep your content updated and fresh at all times.

Limit Content Length

Generally speaking users scan content online rather than read it. Producing three pages on one given subject rather than one long page will not only achieve better rankings but it will be easier to maintain user interest as well.

Poor Techniques

Use One Domain

Putting all of your content under one roof will help build better rankings as it will not confuse search engines and visitors when navigating from page to page. Moving visitors from one domain to will set off a red flag.

Keep Your Code Clean

Table based layout and designs are bulky and the way of the past. HTML and CSS layouts are short and clean allowing search engines to get to your content quickly. Keep your code clean and well compiled to allow easier access from search engines.

Stay Away From Unlawful Content

Search engines will not put up with any unlawful use of copyrighted content nor will they promote any website that condones illegal behavior. Stay far away from any unlawful activities and do not raise any suspicions amongst search engines.

Do Not Hide Content

One sure way to get blocked from a search engine is to hide content. This is a black hat method of SEO accomplished by coloring text the same color as the background of a website so that only a search engine spider can find it.

Do Not Practice Any Cloaking

Cloaking, serving up different content to search engines than to actual users, is highly banned by search engines and is also a sure fire way to be blacklisted immediately.

Do Not Use Doorway Pages

Doorway pages were once popular however, search engines have caught on and know when you are pretending to be one thing when you are not. Stay away from doorway pages and take down any that you might currently have set up.

Do Not Reuse (Duplicate) Content

Using the same content from page to page on your website does not make it more relevant nor bigger. It’s also important not to copy or duplicate content from any other websites as search engines will pick up on this as well.

Related posts:

1. 6 Visual Optimization Mistakes
2. Are Meta Tags Important?
3. Keyword Do's and Don'ts

Google does a lot of interesting things, of which one of the most popular being periodically changing their logo to reflect current events. In the past 10 years we have had the pleasure of seeing quite a few fascinating and delightful logo designs. Most often we see these imaginative logos around holidays, including Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and other popular holidays. We are often surprised to see new logos unexpectedly, most recently for the 40th anniversary of Comic-Con. Outlined here are over 300 of the most brilliantly designed Google logos.

2009

40th Anniversary of Comic-Con – July 23, 2009

Historically Long Solar Eclipse – July 22, 2009

Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Anniversary – July 20, 2009

Nikola Tesla's Birthday – July 10, 2009

Igor Stravinsky Birthday – June 17, 2009

Philippines Independence Day – June 12, 2009

Mary Cassatt's Birthday – May 22, 2009

Missing Link Fossil Discovery – May 20, 2009

Mother's Day – May 10, 2009

Samuel Morse's Birthday – April 27, 2009

Anzac Day In Australia and New Zealand – April 25, 2009

Girl's Day in Germany – April 23, 2009

Turkey National Sovereignty & Children's Day – April 23, 2009

St. George's Day & Shakespeare's Birthday – April 23, 2009

Earth Day – April 22, 2009

Kartini Day in Indonesia – April 21, 2009

Zu Chongzhi's Birthday – April 20, 2009

Christiaan Huygens' Birthday – April 16, 2009

Thailand New Year – April 13, 2009

1st Day Fall/Spring – March 20, 2009

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2009

Giovanni Schiaparelli's Birthday – March 14, 2009

Dr. Seuss' Birthday – March 2, 2009

Valentine's Day – February 14, 2009

Unix 1234567890 – February 13, 2009

Charles Darwin's Birthday – February 12, 2009

Jackson Pollock's Birthday – January 28, 2009

Martin Luther King Day – January 19, 2009

New Years – January 1, 2009

2008

Holiday Doodle – December, 2008

Thanksgiving – November 27, 2008

Rene Magritte's Birthday – November 21, 2008

Veteran's Day – November 11, 2008

U.S. Presidential Election – November 4, 2008

Halloween – October 31, 2008

Google's 10th Birthday – September 27, 2008

1st Day of Fall – September 22, 2008

Large Hadron Collider – September 10, 2008

Summer Olympic Games Doodle, Beijing – August, 2008

50th Anniversary of Nasa – July 29, 2008

Marc Chagall's Birthday – July 7, 2008

4th of July – July 4, 2008

1st Day of Summer – June 20, 2008

Father's Day – June 15, 2008

Diego Velazquez's Birthday – June 6, 2008

1st Hot Air Balloon Launch Anniversary – June 4, 2008

Anniversary of the 1st Ascent of Mount Everest – May 29, 2008

Up in the Clouds – May 22, 2008

Walter Gropius' Birthday – May 18, 2008

1st Demonstrated Laser Anniversary – May 16, 2008

Florence Nightingale's Birthday – May 12, 2008

Mother's Day – May 11, 2008

St. George's Day – April 23, 2008

Earth Day – April 22, 2008

Mother's Day in the Middle East – March 21, 2008

1st Day of Spring – March 20, 2008

Persian New Year – March 20, 2008

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2008

Alexander Graham Bell's Birthday – March 3, 2008

Leap Year – February 29, 2008

Valentine's Day – February 14, 2008

Chinese New Year – February 7, 2008

50th Anniversary of the LEGO – January 28, 2008

Martin Luther King Day – January 21, 2008

New Years – January 1, 2008

2007

Holiday Doodle – December, 2007

Thanksgiving – November 22, 2007

"My Future" UK – November 20, 2007

Veteran's Day – November 11, 2007

Halloween – October 31, 2007

Luciano Pavarotti's Birthday – October 12, 2007

International Sputnik Day – October 4, 2007

Google's 9th Birthday – September 28, 2007

Roald Dahl's Birthday – September 13, 2007

4th of July – July 4, 2007

Father's Day – June 17, 2007

Mother's Day – May 13, 2007

Earth Day – April 22, 2007

Yuri Gagarin – April 12, 2007

Persian New Year – March 21, 2007

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2007

Chinese New Year – February 18, 2007

Valentine's Day – February 14, 2007

Martin Luther King Day – January 15, 2007

New Years – January 1, 2007

2006

Holiday Doodle – December, 2006

Edvard Munch's Birthday – December 12, 2006

Thanksgiving – November 23, 2006

Remembrance Day – November 11, 2006

Halloween – October 31, 2006

Canadian Thanksgiving Day – October 9, 2006

Mid-Autumn Festival – October 6, 2006

Harvest Day – October 3, 2006

German Reunification Day – October 3, 2006

Google's 8th Birthday – September, 2006

Rosh Hashana – September 22, 2006

Chinese Teachers Day – September 10, 2006

Google U.S. Government Search – 2006

4th of July – July 4, 2006

Father's Day – June 18, 2006

Football World Cup – June 9, 2006

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Birthday – May 22, 2006

Mother's Day – May 14, 2006

Earth Day – April 22, 2006

Joan Miro's Birthday – April 20, 2006

Persian New Year – March 21, 2006

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2006

Percival Lowell's Day – March 13, 2006

Winter Olympic Games Doodle, Torino – February, 2006

Chinese New Year – January 29, 2006

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Birthday – January 27, 2006

Martin Luther King Day – January 16, 2006

Louis Braille's Birthday – January 4, 2006

New Years – January 1, 2006

2005

Holiday Doodle – December, 2005

Thanksgiving – November 24, 2005

Halloween – October 31, 2005

Google's 7th Birthday – September, 2005

Lunar Landing Anniversary – July 20, 2005

4th of July – July 4, 2005

Father's Day – June 19, 2005

Frank Lloyd Wright's Birthday – June 8, 2005

Mother's Day – May 8, 2005

National Teacher Day – May 3, 2005

Earth Day – April 22, 2005

Leonardo da Vinci's Birthday – April 15, 2005

National Library Week – April 10, 2005

Vincent van Gogh's Birthday – March 30, 2005

World Water Day – March 22, 2005

Persian New Year – March 20, 2005

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2005

International Women's Day – March 8, 2005

Valentine's Day – February 14, 2005

Chinese New Year – February 9, 2005

New Years – January 1, 2005

2004

Holiday Doodle – December, 2004

Thanksgiving – November 25, 2004

U.S. Presidential Election – November 2, 2004

Halloween – October 31, 2004

Space Ship One – October 4, 2004

Google's 6th Birthday – September, 2004

Ray Charles' Birthday – September 23, 2004

Summer Olympic Games Doodle, Athens – August, 2004

4th of July – July 4, 2004

Father's Day – June 20, 2004

James Joyce Bloomsday – June 16, 2004

Venus Transit – June 8, 2004

Mother's Day – May 9, 2004

Earth Day – April 22, 2004

Persian New Year – March 20, 2004

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2004

Leap Year – February 29, 2004

Valentine's Day – February 14, 2004

Gaston Julia's Birthday – February 3, 2004

Chinese New Year – January 22, 2004

Spirit on Mars – January 15, 2004

New Years – January 1, 2004

2003

Holiday Doodle – December, 2003

100th Anniversary of Flight – December 17, 2003

Thanksgiving – November 27, 2003

Halloween – October 31, 2003

Google's 5th Birthday – September, 2003

Alfred Hitchcock's Birthday – August 13, 2003

4th of July – July 4, 2003

MC Escher's Birthday – June 16, 2003

Father's Day – June 15, 2003

Mother's Day – May 11, 2003

50th Anniversary of Understanding DNA – April 25, 2003

Earth Day – April 22, 2003

Einstein's Birthday – March 14, 2003

Michelangelo's Birthday – March 6, 2003

Valentine's Day – February 14, 2003

Chinese New Year – February 1, 2003

Martin Luther King Day – January 20, 2003

New Years – January 1, 2003

2002

Holiday Doodle – December, 2002

Thanksgiving – November 28, 2002

Halloween – October 31, 2002

Pablo Picasso's Birthday – October 25, 2002

Google's 4th Birthday – September, 2002

Andy Warhol's Birthday – August 6, 2002

Bastille Day, France – July 14, 2002

4th of July – July 4, 2002

Canada Day – July 1, 2002

La FÃate de la Musique, France – June 21, 2002

Father's Day – June 16, 2002

Dragon Boat Festival, China – June 15, 2002

World Cup – May 31, 2002

Dilbert Google Doodle – May 20, 2002

Mother's Day – May 12, 2002

Children's Day, Japan – May 5, 2002

St. George's Day, UK – April 23, 2002

Earth Day – April 22, 2002

April Fool's Day – April 1, 2002

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2002

Piet Mondrian's Birthday – March 7, 2002

Winter Olympic Games Doodle, Salt Lake City – February, 2002

New Years – January 1, 2002

2001

Holiday Doodle – December, 2001

Nobel Prize Centennial Award Ceremony – December 10, 2001

Thanksgiving – November 22, 2001

Claude Monet's Birthday – November 14, 2001

Halloween – October 31, 2001

Korean Liberation Day – August 15, 2001

Swiss National Day – August 1, 2001

Bastille Day – July 14, 2001

4th of July – July 4, 2001

Canada Day – July 1, 2001

Father's Day – June 17, 2001

Mother's Day – May 13, 2001

Earth Day – April 22, 2001

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2001

Indian Color Festival – March 9, 2001

Valentine's Day – February 14, 2001

Lunar New Year – January 24, 2001

New Years – January 1, 2001

2000

Holiday – December, 2000

Thanksgiving – November 23, 2000

Japanese Children's Holiday – November 15, 2000

U.S. Presidential Election – November 7, 2000

Halloween – October 31, 2000

Summer Olympic Games Doodle, Sydney – September, 2000

Bastille Day – July 14, 2000

4th of July Doodle – July 4, 2000

Father's Day – June 18, 2000

Mother's Day – May 14, 2000

1st Google Doodle – May, 2000

Easter – April 23, 2000

St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 2000

Valentine's Day – February 14, 2000

Groundhog's Day – February 2, 2000

New Years – January 1, 2000

1999

Holiday – December, 1999

Thanksgiving – November 25, 1999

Halloween – October 31, 1999

1998

Thanksgiving – November 26, 1998

Burning Man Festival – 1998

Google U.S. Government Search – 1998

Google Beta – 1998

What Do You Think?

What do you think is the best Google logo? Did I leave out one of your favorite logos? Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

No related posts.

Looking to jump to the top of search engines? Some people believe all you need to do is drop a few simple meta tags into your code and the rest is history. Truth be told, meta tags play a very minor role in determining search engine rankings. (Quite possibly no role at all depending on whom you talk to.) However this does not mean you should ignore your meta tags. Outlined below I recommend how to make the most out of some of the most popular meta tags.

<Description> Meta Tag

While meta tags are becoming of less value each day they are still important to include MSN and Yahoo!. Still play close attention to the <description> tag and often times the <description> tag will show up as the description of your site in search results.

<Keywords> Meta Tag

As with the <description> meta tag, MSN and Yahoo! also keep a close eye on the <keywords> meta tag. Do not keyword stuff the meta tag. Keep it around 8 keywords or keyword phrases. Also, make sure that your <keywords> meta tag only uses keywords from within the page. Using keywords not directly used on your page can hurt your rankings.

<Language> Meta Tag

Any website that is language specific should make practical use of the <language> meta tag. Although search engines are able to figure the language out themselves it is better that you give them a hand.

<Refresh> Meta Tag

The only suitable time to use the <refresh> meta tag is when you need to temporarily redirect visitors to another page. Leaving up a <refresh> meta tag as a permanent redirect is considered unethical and will lower your creditability. The best practice is to use a 301 redirect for a permanent redirect.

What Do You Think?

How do you feel about meta tags? Did I missing something important? Are there other meta tags you believe are of greater importance? I encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions within the comments. I would love to hear what you all have to say.

Related posts:

1. Keyword Do's and Don'ts
2. Top 10 Keyword Research Tips
3. 18 Powerful Linking Strategies

Powerful Linking Strategies

Inbound Links Anchor Text

Any inbound link to your website is of benefit, however having bound links with the anchor text directly related to your keyword is the best. This is perhaps one of the quickest ways to obtain quick rankings.

Inbound Links Origin

Apart from having keyword anchor text, you want your inbound links to come from a creditable source and if possible a source with a decent Google Page Rank.

Links from Similar Sites

One way to build trust within search engines is to gather links from similar websites. This proves that you are well liked within your industry and that your competition is on your side.

Links from .edu and .gov Sites

Websites with .edu or .gov are strictly monitored and thus are admired. Obtaining links from one of these sites is difficult, however once done shows great respect for your own site.

Number of Backlinks

While a high number of backlinks will help it is more important to obtain backlinks from a creditable source with good keyword anchor text.

Anchor Text of Internal Links

Anchor text makes a difference no matter if the link is internal, inbound, or outbound. The better the keyword anchor text is the better rankings you will receive.

Text Around the Links

Text that comes directly before or after the anchor text should relate to the link itself. This proves that the link is relevant and has been used within naturally written text.

Age of Inbound Links

The older your inbound links are the better. A high amount of new inbound links advocates that you are possibly buying them, which is strictly prohibited.

Directory Links

Getting links from reputable directories such as DMOZ, Google, or Yahoo will be of great benefit. Getting links from hundreds of useless small directories can be considered link spamming. Stick with the big guns.

Number of Outbound Links on a Page with a Link to You

Ideally the less outbound links on a page that is linking to you the better. Fewer outbound links on a page will place more importance on your link.

Named Anchors

Internal named anchors (<a href=”#web-design”>Web Design</a> and #web-design) are beneficial because they place added importance on a section of text. As with any anchor text, the better the keywords the better the results.

Inbound Link IP Address

Although Google has not confirmed it, inbound links with the same IP can look like link spam and thus cause some harm to your rankings. For best practice try to obtain links from different IP addresses.

Weak Linking Strategies

Inbound Links from Skeptical Sites/Link Farms

While this does not affect you as long as the links are not repetitive it is best you stay away from skeptical websites and link farms. Search engines see skeptical sites linking to your site as something that is out of your control, therefore they do not penalize you for it. Either way it does not look good and is something that should be avoided if possible.

Number of Outbound Links

Having a large number of links on a page will drain your page rank as well as your keyword rankings. Seeing as how outbound links provide you no benefit, the fewer the better.

Excessive Linking and Link Spamming

Getting too many links from one source or website advocates that you are possibly buying links or perhaps link spamming. Either way it is going to hurt you and should be avoided.

Outbound Links to Skeptical Sites/Link Farms

Just like you do not want inbound links from skeptical sites and link farms, it is even worse if you link to them and it will drain your credibility and rankings. The best practice is to occasionally check your outbound links and ensure that they are up to date and creditable websites.

Cross-Linking

Cross-linking (A linking to B, B linking to C, and C linking to A) is seen as glorified reciprocal link trading and search engines will come down on you hard. Avoid all reciprocal linking and cross-linking.

Hidden Links

Hiding links from users in attempt to falsify search engines for rankings will not work. Search engines will recognize these links and punish your rankings accordingly

Related posts:

1. Keyword Do's and Don'ts
2. Are Meta Tags Important?
3. 6 Visual Optimization Mistakes

The Do's

Use Keywords within <title> Tag

The <title> tab is perhaps the most important place to have a keyword. The reason being, any text within the <title> tag shows up in search results as your page title. Keep your title short (7 words maximum) and use your keyword towards the beginning.

Use Keywords within URL

Keywords within your URL (www.shayhowe.com/seo/keyword-dos-and-donts/) are an added bonus. Repeat keywords from your URL in your document text for reinforcement. If at all possible use dashes ( - ) to break up words within your URL over underscores ( _ ).

Low Keyword Density within Text

You do not want to repeat your keywords over and over however you also do not want them to be so subtle that they are easily missed. A good density for main keywords is 3-7% and around 1-2% for minor keywords. Any keyword density over 10% is suspicious and will be considered stuffing rather than naturally written text.

Keywords within Anchor Text

Keywords within inbound anchor text links can dramatically boost your results. This is because not only are you receiving a link from an outside source, but you are receiving a link from an outside source directly related to your keywords.

Keywords within Headings (<H1>, <H2>, etc.)

Headings are a great place for keywords with an added value. Make sure that your heading is relevant to the text following it as well.

Keywords within the Beginning of a Page

Search engine spiders work from the top down. Finding your keywords at the beginning can act as a much needed push.

Keywords within <alt> Tags

Search engine spiders are not able to read images however they can read <alt> tags within images. Placing keywords within your <alt> tags will help spiders recognize valued content.

Keywords within Metatags

Keywords within metatags are not nearly as important as they used to be, especially for Google. However they are easy to install and done so properly can not harm you.

Keyword Proximity

Keep your keywords next to each other, specifically for long tail keyword phrases, without any words in-between them. If you are targeting "search engine optimization" and use "search engine" in the first paragraph and "optimization" in the second paragraph you will not benefit as much as having the phrase "search engine optimization" altogether.

Keyword Phrases

As mentioned in under keyword proximity, build keyword phrases on top of targeting specific keywords. For example, if your keywords include "design" and "services" combine them to create the keyword phrase "design services". This gives you added value keywords and increases the chances of you matching exact keywords.

Secondary Keywords

Build pages to target secondary keywords to obtain better-targeted traffic. For example, on top of targeting "web design" also target "Arizona web design". This is an easier keyword phrase to target and will provide better-targeted traffic.

Keyword Stemming

Keyword stemming, using a variety of the same word (design, designs, designed) is not extremely important but at the same time it will not hurt either. Typically search engines recognize the root of the word and thus consider all of the stems from the word as related material.

Synonyms

It is not a bad idea to optimize for the synonym of a keyword, on top of the main keyword itself, to pick up some possible traffic. The benefits may not be substantial but every visitor counts.

The Don'ts

Keyword Mistypes

Using common misspellings will allow you to pick up more keywords however you run the risk of looking incompetent. I would advise that if you are going to go after keyword misspellings only do so within the meta tags.

Keyword Dilution

Targeting too many keywords on one page will dilute and draw away from the main keywords you want to pick up. Best practice is to leave off the unrelated keywords and focus on the best performance of the major keywords.

Keyword Stuffing

Using the same keyword(s) repeatedly, making up over 10% of your overall content, looks very suspicious. Search engines will pick up on this and can potentially ban you from their search results.

Related posts:

1. Are Meta Tags Important?
2. Top 10 Keyword Research Tips
3. Content Optimization Guidelines

I have never heard anyone say that a website could have too much traffic, it is unheard of. People are always looking to obtain more traffic - and rightfully so. But how do you obtain large amounts of traffic? Research shows that the majority of all traffic comes from search engines. And how do you show up in search engines? You target specific keywords and market your website or pages around these keywords. With this, ideally the more keywords you target the more traffic you will see. Follow these top 10 keyword research tips to make the most out of your targeted list of keywords.

1. Think like potential customers.

To even begin developing a keyword list you need to know and understand how potential customers are going to search for your product or services. What may be relevant and a common understanding to you may be completely over the heads of your clientele. Technical or specific terms you use might not even be searched. Always think like a potential customer when developing keywords.

2. Analysis any competitors.

It is always a good idea to know who you are competing against. Doing so will provide you with insight not only to how your industry is being marketed online, but to also new keywords and descriptions you may have never even thought about. Visit competitors websites, check their code, and make sure that you are not leaving out anything critical.

3. Use typos and misspellings.

It is not uncommon for people misspell words and phrases in their searches. While you may not want to place misspelled words on your web page for rankings it is possible to run pay per click on these words, and they are often cheaper than the correct spelling. A good tool to use to locate common misspelled words and typos see SearchSpell Typo.

Examples:
Calendar > Calender
Your > You're
Here > Hear

4. Use acronyms and abbreviations.

Acronyms and abbreviations make up a large amount of search traffic, thus making it important for you to make sure that your not missing any keywords. Many keyword generators will miss out on acronyms and abbreviations so be sure that you are doing this yourself to uncover your full potential list of keywords.

Examples:
9/11 > September 11th
SEO > Search Engine Optimization
PPC > Pay Per Click

5. Use multiple verbs.

Everyone has a different mindset when it comes to searching, therefore you want to make sure that you are using a contrast of different verbs.

Examples:
try to play
trying to play
try playing
trying playing

6. Use both plural and singular.

Using both plural and singular keywords will easily magnify your list quickly. Most major search engines will take in to consideration plural and singular forms within organic results however keep in mind if running a pay per click campaign Yahoo Search Marketing does not while Google AdWords does.

Examples:
mountain bike
mountains bike
mountain bikes
mountains bikes

7. Use compound, separated, hyphenated, and merged keywords.

Users often search trying multiple variations of words and spellings looking for the right fit. To be sure you are not missing out on any terms or phrases research compound, separated, hyphenated, and merged keywords.

Examples:
checkin > check-in > check in
startup > start-up > start up
lifesize > life-size > life size

8. Use locations.

One of the best ways to pick up traffic is to localize your keywords. If you are looking to pick up traffic on a national level create a few sub pages targeting localized keywords in the most popular areas. This will directly target your visitors and overall will increase your conversion rate if done correctly.

Examples:
Phoenix web design
Arizona SEO
Chandler, AZ artist

9. Use Adjectives

Numerous users will use adjectives in addition to the main keywords. This is a fast way to pick up keywords and even spark an immediate interest with users.

Examples:
Good, Better, Best
Far, Further, Furthest
Much, More, Most
Little, Less, Least
or Free, Cheap, Amazing, Pretty, New

10. Refine list.

After you have built your keyword list its quite possible that your list is far too big and contains some keywords that can be tossed out. Narrow down the list by selecting a good mix of both broad and targeted keywords directly related to the subject and theme of your website. Keep these keywords as you will want to rank for both. Remove any keywords that are not relevant to your website or keywords that you don't have enough content to support. Remember it is always possible to go back and add content and keywords later as well.

Get Started!

You can begin your keyword research for free using any of the following tools. These are great resources to help you find new keywords or get your pay per click campaign off the ground. However one thing to keep in mind, since these resources are free it is likely that your competitors are using them as well. For the best results be a little creative and thing outside the box when at all possible.

• Google Keyword Tool
• Wordtracker Free Keyword Tool
• Keyword Discovery Free Tool
• Google Trends
• SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool

Related posts:

1. Keyword Do's and Don'ts
2. Are Meta Tags Important?
3. 10 Quick E-Commerce Tips