Search Engine SEO

Every website owner wants to get their sites listed on the search engines as quickly as possible.  After all, it doesn’t matter how great your site is if no one can find it!  However, many site owners are not completely sure how to do accomplish this and often mistakes are made that could keep your site from ever being listed on the search engines. 

Here are just a few tips and guidelines to follow in order to be successful at being listed in the search engines. 

1.  Do not submit your URL manually to the search engines.  Also do not submit your site to a search engine over and over again.  It will only keep you from getting listed at all and it may prevent you from ever being listed. 

Yes, Google, Altavista  and Yahoo all have options for you to manually submit your site.  But just because it’s there, it doesn’t mean you have to use it!  Through trial and error we have found that it is much more beneficial to allow the search engines to find your site organically through links and the normal process.

There are some things you can do to help this along though.

a.  Make sure that every page on your site is complete.  If any page on your site is not yet finished, the Search engine spiders will skip right on by and you will be waiting for the next time around.

b.  Make sure that your site is not full of spam and/or the excessive use of keywords.  The search engine spiders can spot a site that is abnormal in its use of keywords and spam and your site will be skipped over again and again. 

2.  Use keywords to get the spiders to come to your site.   But be careful to use them sparingly and within reason.  The search engines love a site with good, well-placed and well-used keywords and key phrases.  But the keywords need to be part of the communication process of the site and not just for getting the attention of the spiders.  Try to write your article just naturally as you would normally speak.  You can then go back and count the keywords and key phrases and add them where it sounds appropriate.  When your article is complete, count the keywords and then divide that number by the total amount of words to get a percentage.  If your percentage is between 1-3% you article is probably right where it needs to be.  Anything less than 1% would need more keyword placement and anything over 5% would look too spammy.  When you are writing always remember that you are communicating to a reader.  Don’t write something so ridiculous that a normal reader would not be able to clearly understand  just to please the search engines.  Remember the reader, the search engines do!

3.  Use links.  Having links from other sites and linking out to other sites will just help the spiders to locate you faster.  Linking is a win/win situation for all of the parties.  However do not have a separate page just for links or any kind of link exchange page.  The search engines really frown upon that now. 

4. Put a blog on your site.  Blogs have become increasingly more popular and they are often listed on the search engines very quickly.  Google has been known to index a blog much faster than a regular site.  One of the advantages of a blog for the search engines is rapidly changing content.  Blogs are often indexed and listed within just a few days whereas a regular site would takes weeks, months or even longer.  It is definitely to your benefit to have a blog on your site.
Installing a blog is very easy.  All you have to do is install a program such as Wordpress on your website and then start making blog postings.  Install your blog today and watch how quickly your site becomes listed on the search engines.

If you apply these tips your chance for success in getting listed on the search engines will increase dramatically. 

To Your Success……