Jul 13, 2011

SEO: The 5 Things That Really Matter

[caption id="attachment_393" align="alignright" width="425" caption="SEO: The Five Things That Really Matter"]

[/caption] It’s true that these days, you don’t need to know much about back-end coding to have a good website. In fact, a lot of great web tools exist that can help you build a website quickly. But what about SEO (search-engine optimization)? Do you need to know much about that? Yes and no. SEO can be a tricky beast, but most builder tools, including The Small Business Authority’s Website Builder, have some nifty components built in to help. A basic understanding of SEO doesn’t hurt, either. Awhile back, podcaster Evo Terra of A Simpler Way spoke at a Social Media Club Phoenix seminar. He delivered a presentation about what he considers to be the only five things that matter for SEO. Terra gave The Small Business Authority permission to write up an overview of his presentation. Here are the five things that Terra said really matter: 1. Write great content. According to old-school thought, most people think there is a tried-and-true formula for achieving keyword density. Ignore that thought. Just write great content that will truly add value. Keep these things in mind:

The more pages on your site, the better. Just make sure that each page is necessary and adds value.
Aim for approximately 500 words of content per page. Obviously, if the page doesn’t call for it, don’t worry about it.
Investigate the popularity of your keywords. Find the phrases that your audience will likely be searching. In addition to Google AdWords keyword finder, try using Google Insights for your search.

2. Write smart titles. Keep these tips in mind:

Put your keywords at the beginning of the title. If you’re writing a blog post about hiking with dogs, title it, “Hiking With Dogs: Three Safety Tips to Keep in Mind” instead of, “Three Safety Tips to Keep in Mind When Hiking with Dogs.”
Value clarity over cleverness. Title your page or post in a way that conveys its main idea.
Invest 10 minutes in finding the best title that will deliver the best results. Write out three different titles and pick the best one.

3. Use H1 tags. An H1 tag indicates to the reader what the page is about. The same rules that are stated in the “write smart titles” tip apply here as well. Also, make sure you only use one H1 tag per page. Using more than one will only confuse Google. 4. Make link text matter. Link text is the text you use to link to various pieces of information both on your site and off your site. Keep the conversation going with additional links, not only to your own content that relates, but to outside content as well. It just makes you a better digital citizen. If you have a blog on your page, look at Zemanta.com. 5. Clicks come from descriptions. Today, description tags play a singular role: They entice those who see your website in a search to click on your site. Write your description tags well, and write them for human beings, not Google crawlers. Terra said that if you pay attention to these five things, you’ll already be ahead of the game. For more information, visit: 1. Evo Terra’s presentation: “The Only 5 Things That Matter for SEO” 2. “Getting Started With SEO” (e1evation.com) 3. “Cooking up Great SEO: An Analogy in Photos” (seomoz.org) 4. “Few Valuable Tips on Improving Search Engine Ranking” (ronmedlin.com) 5. “Optimize Your Brand for Sharing and Social Search in 11 Steps” (briansolis.com) 6. “Eleven Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook” (convinceandconvert.com) 7. “SEO Trends to Watch for in 2010” (smallbiztrends.com)