Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques are many and varied but the point of this article is to give an overview of the importance of SEO and to highlight a few quick and simple methods that you should keep in mind when adding web pages to your website.
How Search Engines Work
In essence, unless people know your website address, they will simply "google" key phrases and see what websites come back. Search Engines, like Google, make their money through selling paid advertising on the top and right hand side of their pages. The also have free or "organic" listing on the main results page. For Google, they are constantly working on the quality of their search results, so as to increase the volume of visitors to their search engines.
How websites get found in Search Engines
Search engines index the web using complicated algorithms to decipher what all those billions of pages are about, which are the ones that people will find most relevant and under which category. With this in mind, it is vital that when you put new web pages on your website, that you remember not only the person viewing the site, but also the search engines that will be indexing it.
SEO Tips
The key thing to remember is that when you add a new page you have selected and used your key phrases in it. (A key phrase is what a user will type into a search engine to find a product / service they are looking for.) Search engines give weightings to key phrases in the page heading, body, page title and description. You should make sure these key phrases as specific as possible, as this will make it easier to get indexed for less competitive phrases. Avoid terms like "Special offers" as key phrases as this could refer to most sites.
Page Title: Try and keep to no more than 8 words e.g. "Web design Ireland, Website Design Dublin"
Page Body: The main text area should contain the key phrases as well. You should also use Headings 2 and 3 to give prominence to variations of the key phrases for search engines. E.g. "Creative Website Design Solutions", "Web design samples". Again, avoid generic phrases as these headings will give extra prominence to your key phrases.
Photos: When putting up photos please ensure to use alt attributes. These is a description of the image and should include a key word, e.g. "Company A new website design". To add them simply right click on the image and select properties. Type the description in the Alternative Text box.
Url Name: You should edit this so it contains a key phrase.
That's all for now folks!!!