Sep 24, 2008
The following is my email reply to them. I thought it might be easier in the future to have a post I could just refer people to...
These are the REAL basics. I could write for hours on the more complicated stuff.
So here goes:
7 Basics of SEO
- Find out what people are searching for relating to your products/services
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
- Add have say three phrases at the front of your page titles - different set of phrases for every page -
<title>Max 70 characters per title</title>
- Then include those words in a sales pitch for the meta description
<meta name="description" content="max 155 characters sales pitch including the search phrases (they don't need to be the exact phrases as long as the individual words are mentioned)" />
- Then the concept of <h1>welcome to sitename - one of the search phrases</h1> - ie not just the search phrase, soften it down a bit
- Then an opening couple of paragraphs that include those phrases from the title - exact phrases. You can include plurals and other variations of the phrase in addition to the exact phrase. I aim for two instances of the exact phrase somewhere on the page. Best to not have too many more instances.
- Then inbound links from other websites with the link text of those 3 phrases, and also of their pluralisation.
- You need more inbound links, and similar Google PR, and same or better onpage optimisation than your competitors for those search phrases. Then depending on how competitive the phrase is, you need TIME to pass. Google likes old websites and old incoming links.
So that's it - the basics of SEO. Not so hard, was it! And you would be surprised how many websites do not have these basics on their pages.
I could easily write pages on each of the above 7 steps, but lets keep things basic.
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22 Comments
Dwayne Alexander - Online PR - Oct 24, 2008
Michael- this will be very useful to any business that wants to ultimately increase sales through using their website. Well done and thanks
Haiming - seo services - Oct 26, 2008
Hi Michael:
I have translated your post into chinese now: 英文网站优化的7个基本要素
Hope you like it!
great 7tip for seo ,thanx for sharing.
chris south - Dec 22, 2008
Thanks for the tips, I am off to try them out now.....
great SEO basic tips..
ny seo company - Mar 29, 2009
Another great blog. Keyword research is the most valuable thing other thank building links that any company should do. I mean after all why not look what people are typing in then fight lol.
Nice post , thank you for sharing .........
Paul Easton - Search Engine Optimisation - Jun 30, 2009
Wish all clients who wanted a website, started with step one...... ;)
Paul
Rod - Mobilty Sccoters - Jul 24, 2009
Its the building the incoming links that take the most work because not under your control....Also love to people to take more action on my site!
Rod
Robert Chean - Blog Marketing - Aug 12, 2009
These are good tips for those who are beginning in SEO.
Greta post!
Link Building - Link Building - Sep 23, 2009
You should create a basics for off-page SEO post as well. Would be good to have them side by side.
andrew - Oct 16, 2009
True, Link building is not easy in this competitive market.
You have some good content!
You are right - basic but few have reached this level.
SEO Services - Oct 23, 2009
Wow!!! thank u very much for all this information. Keep on supplying such useful information. It really is interesting.
Michael - Computer Tech Links - Nov 17, 2009
Often starting a title, and in the Meta description tag (particularly if their are hundreds of similar titled posts - such as SEO tips, How to increase blog visitors, etc) with "How to " attracts visitors visitors.
I get plenty of hits t for my later "How to" tutorial posts (where I learnt how to SEO the posts) in my blogs; i.e. trying to offer a relevant solution for targeted searchers.
Utah SEO - Nov 25, 2009
Awesome post! You're own 7 basic steps are great.
Orlando Realtor - Orlando real estate - Mar 25, 2010
I hear that good content helps too.
I am new to SEO. So I was searching the article based on SEO. And Believe me I have got a lot.
Haiming - Oct 17, 2008
Great summary for basic seo principal. Do you mind if I translate it into chinese :)