Search engine optimization has become the buzzword of the moment. You want your site to show up at the top of the listings when a Web visitor searches for keywords, but how do you get there?
Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer — and no guarantee that you’ll stay No. 1 once you get to the top. That’s because search engines frequently change their criteria for ranking pages. (For this reason, Sheer Web Design™ subscribes to a service that tracks the standards various search engines consider when ranking pages.)
Submitting to the major search engines is an important step, but submitting too often can cause some to lower your rankings. And you should never submit before your pages are ready for the scrutiny to follow.
So what should you do? Don’t worry: You can make some basic changes that will improve your impact — on site visitors as well as search engines — no matter how the search criteria change.
Start at the top of your home page and follow this guide to improve your page:
Title Bar: The bar at the top of the browser window that displays your page should contain up to six words including your company name. You can add a word or two, but don’t repeat words or use any text that’s on your home page.
Check the rest of your site, too, to make sure the title bar is different on each page. Some search engine experts recommend that on inner pages, you put your company name after the title. Example: “Multivitamins: Joe’s Drug Store”
Metatags (keywords hidden in your page code) are not the ultimate solution to search engine rankings. Many engines ignore them completely. Others can even lower your rankings if they find words in your metatags that aren’t also displayed in the page's content. My best advice is to use metatags only to reflect the text that is visible on your pages.
Content: Search engines read words, not graphics. So concentrate on that text. The ideal home page contains about 250 words. Include your most important keywords, the ones potential customers would use in a search to find you. Put these words in your headings and repeat them as often as possible (without being obnoxious to your human visitors).
Images: Be sure every graphic you use contains an “ALT” tag that describes what the image shows. This wording will appear before the actual images load so that search engines and visually-impaired browsers can read it.
Incoming Links: Most search engines raise the ranking for sites that have incoming links. These links should be from high-quality, related sites. To see how many incoming links your site has, search for “link:yoursite.com”.
If you don't have many, consider starting a link-building campaign. Seek out non-competing sites in your industry and ask them to exchange links.
Other than paid or sponsored search engine listings, there’s no way to guarantee top page rankings for all your keywords. But improving your page content is a great way to start that will benefit your marketing efforts in many ways.
