Announcing Proven Search Engine Optimization Methods
The practice of search engine optimization can often seem complicated and larger than life itself. But the truth about SEO is that it is really comprised of two general areas. These areas are on-page optimization and off-page optimization. Successful web sites understand the differences between these two areas and apply the right techniques for each.
In order to be successful with your search engine optimization efforts long term, you should always start with on page optimization techniques. On page optimization refers to everything that has to do with your actual web site and web pages from a search engine optimization perspective. This would include factors like web site age, URL, Meta tags, on page links, etc. It’s important that you start with on page optimization because it guarantees that your pages will be fully recognized by search engines.
When considering on-page optimization, most people like to start with URLs. It is true that having your keyword in a domain name can help, but it’s not all you should be focused on. This is more of a factor in rankings for Yahoo and MSN versus Google. Google weighs more than 150 factors when evaluating your web site and many of them are off page related. Regardless, consider URLs that include part or all of your keyword phrase.
It is true that putting your keyword phrase in your URL is beneficial even though it is not the end all be all. This is especially true with engines like Yahoo and Bing. One thing you can do is to use a sub-domain strategy. This means setting up sub domains from your main site that include the keyword you’re optimization for. An example of this would be: sneakers.yoursite.com where your site is the name of your main web site.
If you’re aren’t quite sold on a sub-domain strategy, there is an alternative. The good news is that the second domain option is just as effective and just as easy to implement. Essentially you want to follow the same strategy of determining which keywords you want to promote. Once you’ve done so all you need to do is set up a separate page on your site. It would look something like www.yoursite.com/keyword where keyword is the keyword phrase you are promoting and yoursite is your domain name. This promotes your specific keyword and keeps it close to your home page.
After optimizing your URL, its time to focus on other on page attributes. One of the most important is page load time. This is a function of the overall size of your page, scripts, the number of external calls made by your code, etc. and requires a good deal of experience from a programming perspective. Your best bet is to have someone with SEO experience review your pages to make sure that you are applying SEO best practices from an on page perspective.
If you’ve done a good job at on-page optimization, then you’re ready to start focusing your effort on off-page optimization. Off page optimization comes down to generating links to your web site from a number of sources. These sources could be authority web sites, blogs, directories, or social media web sites. The thing to keep in mind is that off-page optimization is an ongoing process that requires ongoing effort.
Start with on-page optimization to build a strong foundation to your web site. Once you have the proper domain structure and address other on page optimization factors, you will be in a good position to roll out your link building strategy. As you develop more inbound links, your search engine results will improve.
 Bing: Bed Time 4.07 |  Bing: Get Dressed 45.57 |  Bing: Yuk! 3.21 |  Bing: Swing 38.78 |
