Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the newer marketing terms that has generated quite a bit of buzz lately.  However, it is one of those few jargony terms that actually refers to something of real substance.  The reality is quite simple and undisputed:   Those visitors [...]]]>

1st Commandment of SEO: Know Thy Keywords!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the newer marketing terms that has generated quite a bit of buzz lately.  However, it is one of those few jargony terms that actually refers to something of real substance.  The reality is quite simple and undisputed:   Those visitors who have yet to visit your site, your “potential customers,” use Google to locate information.    Google’s “natural search” results come about from indexing certain keywords and content of high value.  Therefore, you want to adopt techniques and practices that are consistent with Google’s ranking system so that your unique, valuable content appears in the natural search results.  That’s it!

Google CEO Eric Schmidt was recently quoted by NPR to say that Google search recognizes that a lot of content is not useful. “We want our algorithm to recognize the stuff which has one view or one reader versus the stuff that is really used by an awful lot of people. And that’s how we do our rankings.” –  Google CEO Eric Schmidt, NPR Interview, 2 October, 2009

Okay, thanks Eric.  Sounds like the chicken and egg problem.  But rather than go there, let’s say we know we have valuable content, we still need to build our web site in such a way that gives it a fighting chance among competing links:

1) Know thy keywords:  First off, know your keywords.  These come into play for how you write content and how you build your web site.  You can also count SEO points with the very domain name you own/choose.    Great example of this:  www.dustmitekiller.com

2) Build your site based on those keywords: That means if you are working with static pages, product sections, be sure and take advantage of creating URL strings that contain the keywords.  If you are promoting a contest where you can win a free digital camera you might want to do:  www.blahblah.com/free-digital-camera-contest.  If you are linking within your pages link descriptive text that includes those keywords:  and don’t forget about our [link]free digital camera contest[/endlink] !

3) Clean design, syntax:  That means using <h1>, <h2>, etc., and putting high value (read “keywords”) in those headings.  It also means you should avoid inline styles, you should have javascript included as a seperate .js file and not embedded in the page.  The main rule is you want content separated from style as much as possible.  You want to barriers between Googlebot and your awesome content.  That means building a site based on CSS formating rather than tables.  For more information check out The SEO Benefits of CSS.

The good news is that certain Wordpress themes are optimized for SEO purposes, and there are specific plugins to help with such problematic issues as Google indexing your www.mysite.com and mysite.com as two separate sites.  For the most part, with these themes you don’t have to be too concerned about the finer points of search engine optimization.  In other words, you won’t lose sleep over <h1> tags and the like.

4) Inbound links and Social Networking: One of the most important factors in getting your site “up there” in rankings are the quality and quantity of links from other sites to your site.  And, of course, the omniscient Googlebot knows who links to you!  In short, the more of these inbound links the better.

eg:

Here are some more ideas about inbound links from Bonehead SEO.  See?  I just helped a Bonehead get some SEO points.

The SEO value of inbound links is also a GREAT reason to have a companion blog site.  You can help build those inbound links on your own and in an authoritative way — plus, if you choose to take advantage of social networking integration available for Wordpress, you can create a further opportunity to propagate your content.

In the near future look for “Five Key Social Networking Plugins for Wordpress.”  It’s being drafted now!