Be Kind to Search Engines for Better SEO Results

I get asked all the time, how can I get to the first page of Google. Now that is an article that deserves its own space entirely, but there are several things you can do to increase your search engine rankings and create a path to the first page. I like to focus on organic methods of search engine optimization (SEO), starting with search engine friendliness. A website that is built to make the search engine’s job of indexing your content easier and has timely, relevant, and personal content is one they will grow to like and visit often. The creation of a search engine friendly website begins with the developer who builds the site. Using a combination of HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the best route to take. By defining most of the design elements and graphics in CSS file, you limit the code on your actual HTML page, making is much easier for the search engines to scan and find your content.

Once your site is built with search engine friendliness in mind, the focus then shifts to on-page SEO techniques that can give your site a big boost. Here are four search engine friendly techniques I’d like to share:

On-Page SEO Technique 1: Stop using Flash/Javascript

A lot of web designers push Flash for websites because it is cool, and it makes their portfolio look cool. But Flash does absolutely nothing for you. It actually hurts you. Overall search engines can’t read Flash. Some will tell you they can now, but it just isn’t there yet. So, if your site is done in flash it is like you don’t exist. Using Javascript is also a very unfriendly practice, as a lot of browsers can’t read Javascript.

On-Page SEO Technique 2: Use Headline Tags

Breaking up website copy with headlines and subheads is a must for readability and SEO. But if they are not optimized, they aren’t helping you at all. All of your headlines and subheads should be formatted with Header or “H” tags, as they will then be given more attention and deemed more important by the search engines. Your headlines and subheads should also include the keywords and long-tail phrases you are targeting.

On-Page SEO Technique 3: Use Meta tags

The most common meta tags, and the only ones you really need to focus on are the title, description and keyword tags. The title tells the search engine the topic of the page, the description tells them what content you’re offering and the keywords cover the words and long-tails phrases you want to be found under. If you’re targeting specific keywords, make sure they are in all three meta tags.

On-Page SEO Technique 4: Don’t over/Under Use Keywords

The over/under use of keywords is referred to as keyword density. It is the ratio a keyword appears in your content compared to the total number of words on the page. The old school approach was to use the key word over and over on a page – the more the better. That no longer works. That practice can actually hurt your rankings! In researching the best practices for keyword density, I found suggestions for a target density of anywhere from 2% – 7%.

Now that you know the techniques for making your website more search engine friendly and optimizing your content, please put them to work on your site. Remember though, search engine optimization is a process not an event – especially organic SEO. But it is also the most rewarding… and free!

Do you have a search engine optimization tip, technique, or insight to share? I’d love to hear about it!