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Natural Way To Higher Search Engine Ranking |
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| Subia Creative, March 2003 |
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Applying The Fundamental Concepts Of
Search Engine Optimization |
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| Focus on two primary factors.
Establish strong content relevancy to a targeted search query.
And gather high quality incoming links that are related to
the content of your website. It’s that simple. That’s
essentially what "Search
Engine Optimization" is all about. |
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| Make your website “naturally
search engine friendly” by making it easier for
spiders to detect and apply positive “search
engine ranking criteria”. Basically it’s
a matter of placing keywords in locations and with form and
frequency that’s most appetizing to a search engine spider. |
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| Applying the pillar foundation
of “search engine optimization”
is the route to “higher search
engine ranking”. Thereafter it is continuous process
of fine-tuning adjustment and building “link
popularity” to gain greater website prominence.
Search engines continually change ranking algorithms, therefore
the order of ranking importance of the following recommendations
are also subject to progressive change. |
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| Basics Of On-Page Search Engine Optimization |
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| 1. Search Engines Prefer Simple Code |
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| The simpler the code, the better potential
for higher search engine ranking. Spiders begin “reading”
at the top of the page and like to discover relevancy quickly.
Minimize graphical elements and try to avoid JavaScript code,
which pushes html content farther down the source code. Html
navigation links always perform best. |
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| 2. Keywords In The Body Text |
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| Use a matching keyword phrase early at the
top of the viewable page. Intersperse keywords throughout the
middle text area with frequency that is reasonable and supportive
of good content flow. Close content with a matching keyword
phrase within the final 25 words. A strong closing summary that
reinforces relevancy strengthens search engine ranking potential. |
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| 3. Keyword Treatment |
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| Search engines seem to reward keywords in
larger type, bold type and italic type with additional ranking
value. Where appropriate to context of messaging, incorporate
those keyword treatments particularly in web page headlines
and paragraph heads. |
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| 4. Web Page <Title> Tags |
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| Other than html viewable content, keywords
in the <Title> are the most impacting to higher search
engine ranking. The earlier keywords appear in the Title, the
stronger the ranking value. An exact word-for-word phrase match
to the search query carries greater ranking value. Although
a search engine may display fewer words, most will consider
at least 10 words. Avoid “wasted words”
such as “and”, “of”
and etcetera, which consume valuable space with no contributable
value. |
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| 5. Meta Description |
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| Search engines display a summary description
with each search result. Some will present the meta description.
Google will sometimes use the meta description, an on-page snippet
or a combination of both. Keywords must be included in the description
to maximize the potential. |
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| Keywords used earliest carry more ranking
value. An exact word-for-word match to the search query contributes
greater ranking value. Write meta descriptions in natural sentence
structure not to exceed about 40 words. Do not merely list a
consecutive string of keywords. Remember also the compelling
strength of a well-written description is necessary to entice
click through to your site. |
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| 6. Keywords In The URL |
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| Keywords in the URL provide ranking value
if the words are separated by a “dash”
which is treated as a space. The URL of www.keyword1—keyword2.com
carries greater search engine ranking strength than www.keyword1keyword2.com
(without dashes). However, consider the branding value of a
domain that’s easy to remember versus one designed only
for higher ranking. |
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| 7. Meta Keywords |
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| Although quite miniscule, there is evidence
that meta keywords provide some ranking value such as possibly
establishing related theme continuity across a website. Always
create meta keywords because one never knows when a search engine
may resurrect a stronger importance of its ranking contribution.
When designing keywords, never repeat a keyword more than three
times and arrange them to form multiple keyword phrases. This
could be a good place to insert common misspellings of particular
keywords. |
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| 8. Graphic Alt Tags |
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| Search engines do not “read”
graphical (non-html) elements. Therefore always apply alt tags
to describe graphics because some search engines consider keywords
used in those alt tags. Alt tags must accurately describe the
particular graphic. Don’t just repeat keywords, particularly
if they are not related to the graphic. Keep alt tag descriptions
very brief. Search engines encourage the use of alt tags for
several reasons. Some users turnoff graphics so that web pages
load quickly, voice-output screen readers (benefiting the blind)
will not “read” a non-text element and
some older browsers can’t reproduce animations or use
applets. |
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| 9. Keywords In URL Extensions |
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| Also see item Number 6. Internal web page
URL extensions should also incorporate targeted keywords for
that specific page. Always use dashes to separate individual
keywords. Example…www.mydomain.com/keyword1—keyword2.com. |
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| 10. Keywords In Picture Names |
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| Apply a maximum of two words to accurately
describe the image. |
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| 11. Interlinking Internal Web Pages |
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| Internal web pages transfer link popularity,
which is significantly important to higher search engine ranking
potential. Interlink web pages in a manner that delivers the
greatest number of links to the pages targeted for ranking.
Link every page to the home page and minimize linking to unimportant
pages. Always create a Site Map that provides a link to all
pages and link to the site map from the home page. |
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| Use targeted keywords in navigation links
and anchor text links. This is of prime importance. |
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