subject: Search Engine Optimization: How To Drive Website Traffic To You [print this page] Search engines operate in a strange new worldSearch engines operate in a strange new world. Search engines are visualized as spiders crawling through cyberspace. They pick up "keywords" and add them to their lair of identifying words. They use these words to direct searchers to sites. Search engines operate by artificial intelligence--different from ours. The following tips are designed to help you bridge that gap and help your business gain a valuable friend in these search engine "spiders."
The end factor when it comes to search engine optimization is all about your use of text, links, your site's overall popularity and its reputation. If all of these match up in a positive way then you will have no problems with searches and your site will begin to come up often and get more and more hits the better known it becomes.
If you plan on utilizing JavaScript in the coding of your site, you should take special care to store the codes in an .JS external file format. This allows the search engine spiders to quickly locate, process and evaluate, how relevant your site content is without having to scan through an entire set of Javascript codes.
In order to track the effectiveness of your search engine optimization, check your organic search results often. Some browsers will list the sites you visit frequently near the top of the page, even if they are not ranked that well. So be sure to clear your browser cache before checking your position or open your site in a private browsing window.
Cloaking is a technique where one optimized site is given to the search engines and a completely different, un-optimized site is given to consumers. This practice is very controversial and may result in your site being considered spam. Take great caution if this is a road you decide to travel down.
Many people still make the mistake of thinking that all they need to do in SEO is to cram as many keywords as possible onto their homepage. Not so. While it is important that your homepage contain some keywords, it's also critical to make sure you have keywords sprinkled throughout your site, since all pages that link to a homepage ultimately count towards its search ranking.
Including captions on your webpage is one of the best ways to optimize your site. This means that if you have a lot of newspaper articles or photos linked up to your site, take advantage of this and use captions which are rich in keywords to improve your visibility and traffic.
Make sure your code is lean, not heavy. Use external javascript or iframes to ensure that your actual page is loading quickly and smoothly. The items that end up in javascript or an iframe, like advertising, tends not to be something you would want indexed by a search engine anyway.
When trying to achieve a better ranking with search engine optimization, you should make sure your site is easy to use. A clear, well thought out design, with easy identifiable links, will help your visitors navigate the site much easier. A site that is easy to navigate will attract visitors who stay longer on your site, which will result in a higher search engine ranking.
Try to avoid image heavy sites in order to stay high in the rankings. The engines rank text much higher than they do images so if you are focusing on images the ranking for your site will suffer. Whatever images you do include, make sure they include alt text that describes the image.
Pay close attention to the keywords you are using and how often they are placed within your article. You do not want to stuff the article with too many words because it sounds terrible and sets off red flags within the search engine that will hurt your rankings. A good number to remember is between 3 - 5% density of the page's total text.
Start from the top. You likely will not be able to tackle your entire website for optimization in a week, let alone a day. Begin by working with your top ranked pages, and move down from there. The most popular pages will be the ones to bring you the most hits from optimization anyway, but optimizing them all will bring your site ranking upwards as a whole.
Social media doesn't begin and end with Twitter and Facebook, so consider branching out. Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicio.us, and other bookmarking or article sharing sites are a great way to expose your content to a larger audience and drive traffic back to your website. Spend enough time each day to make sure that the word gets out!
To optimize your page's search results, bold your keywords at least twice, throughout your web page. Try to keep them as close to the top of the page as possible, but keep your text natural and non-awkward. It is important to include your keywords in the body of your website properly, so that search engines will be able to detect them. The more well-placed your keywords are, the more likely that your page will appear higher in the search results.
Here are some other ways to make your site attractive to search engines. Use the bold function, italics and underlining occasionally. This creates emphasis. But again, don't overdo it. Creating a site map (using free online tools) is another way to gain the attention of search engines.
Don't use a splash page. Some people say "Oh, if you HAVE to use one..." - but there is absolutely NO reason to use a splash page. They are a waste of band width! Fill your front page with informative content on who you are; what you do; links to the rest of your website; and simple navigation.
We hope these tips have made this immaterial landscape in which search engine "spiders" operate clearer to you. Leading them to your website will give your business a tremendous boost. Search engines connect your business with customers. Study these tips--and much more information online--and your bottom line will definitely benefit.
