What components of SEO will produce the best results?
Remember before we mentioned that each search engine has a
different algorithm they use to rank sites, and those algorithms are always
changing? The reason is search engine algorithms work best when people don't
know what they are. Those SEO companies who use deceitful practices ruin it for
the rest of us by forcing search engines to continually change and make more
complex algorithms to try to make it "fair" for the rest of us. (Consequently,
having your site associated with deceptive SEO companies and spammers can get
your site banned from search engines.) Another reason algorithms change is to
keep up with all the new technologies, trends, and applications being made
available to us on the web.
For these reasons, we at Web Solutions Omaha
encourage our clients to focus on strategies that will produce long-term search
engine placement results. Below, we'll show you how to optimize your website
using WebFrame, and highlight overall SEO strategies that are worth the
investment.
Recommended SEO Components and Their Importance
ALT
Tags - ALT Tags are the alternate
description text used to describe a graphic or image on a webpage when a
visitor hovers over the image. Alt tags also make web pages more accessible to
the disabled. For example, a vision-impaired user may have a web browser that
reads aloud the text associated with the image. Since search engines can't
"see" the image, adding ALT tags gives search engines alternative description
text to index.
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Broken
Links (404 Error) - Broken links are often a result of a page that has
moved or has been renamed, and the URL/hyperlink path not corrected. Broken
links can also occur when you have a link to another website and THEY change or
rename their page which causes your link to become broken.
It's important not to have broken links on your site for 2
reasons: 1) It frustrates your visitors if they can't access the information
they're expecting to see, and 2) search engines penalize you for these 404
errors. The WebFrame has a standard 404 Error page that displays when a visitor
finds a broken link to help direct them to an alternative location. We also have
a broken link email notification system that can be set up on your website to
assist you in discovering and correcting broken links. Contact
WebSolutions Omaha if you would like assistance managing broken links.
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Bulk
Email Services - Another effective tool to advertise to current and prospective
clients, encourage viral marketing and drive traffic to your website is the use
of bulk emails. Web Solutions Omaha offers TouchBase Relationship Manager which
is a plug-in to your WebFrame site. Web Solutions can also manage your email
campaigns. Contact
Web Solutions for additional information about bulk email services.
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Link
Building - Word-of-mouth advertising and referrals are valuable to any
business. Link building is the ongoing process of acquiring high quality
incoming links to your website that show search engines your site is
authoritative, relevant, trustworthy and popular.
Working to get other websites to link to your website and
setting up company profiles on business directories and social networking
sites, are just a few ways to start building links. Contact Web
Solutions to help you determine what sites would be most beneficial to your web
presence.
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Longevity
of Your Website - Search engines love a well-established website. One with consistent,
fresh content and new pages are golden. Consistently maintaining your site over
time will increase the trustworthiness and popularity of your website.
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Meta
Data: Title, Description and Keywords - Targeted and effective keywords and
phrases are foundational to many other SEO efforts. Keywords are used to tell a
visitor something about the subject and content of the web page. Search engines
conduct search query and retrieval using keywords. If you want to rank high in
search results, you have to determine what keywords/phrases visitors are using
to try to find you. (see Choosing
Meta Tags and Keywords)
Once you have a list of keywords/phrases, use them frequently
throughout your website:
·
Optimizing Pages
and Catalog Items - Optimize each page of your website with meta keywords
(see Optimizing
Documents). Optimize each category and item if you have an eCommerce
catalog (see Optimizing
Catalog Items)
·
Website Page
Content - Place keywords toward the top of your document and repeat often. Don't worry about seeming redundant.
Redundancy using your top, targeted keywords that accurately describe the
contents of you page is a good tactic.
·
Navigation and
Links within your website - Use your keywords when naming the pages on your
site, and when creating the "clickable text" for hyperlinks in your page
content. Instead of using, "Click here for a directory." as your
clickable text, try using the full, descriptive call to action instead, "Download
the Omaha Website Designers and Developers Directory."
We discussed keywords above. The meta title and description
should also be added to each web page and eCommerce catalog items (see Optimizing
Documents and Optimizing
Catalog Items). The meta title is what appears as the name of your page in
the browser window. The description is used as the page summary in search
results by some search engines.
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Site
Search and Site Map - Standard with each WebFrame is the ability for a
visitor to search your site, or view a site map containing all the pages on you
website. These are useful tools for the visitor as well as a great tool for
keeping current the content search engines will index. It is advised that you re-index
your site search when notable changes are made to the pages or page content on
your website. The Site Map is automatically updated when you add, rename or
delete a page.
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Social
Networks - Social networking sites, one beneficial method of link building,
offer the opportunity for free or low cost advertising, as well as the
opportunity for viral marketing. Social networking sites allow current and
potential target clients to communicate about a product or service with their friends,
relatives, and associates. Contact Web
Solutions to help you determine what social networking sites would be most
beneficial to reaching your targeted constituencies.
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Web
Stats Tracking - Web Solutions Omaha offers software to track and report
traffic to your website. This tool is valuable as a key component for measuring
your SEO and marketing success, and to provide insight into the behaviors of
visitors to your website. A minimal, one-time set up fee with no ongoing
expenses is all that is needed to use to set up this software. Contact Web
Solutions to have web stats software set up for your website.
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Web
Solutions Omaha can help with your search engine optimization goals. Contact us
for a SEO personalized consultation and recommendation.
