SEO For the Beginner - Three Basic Methods
By Donna Moss
Just do a search and you can come up with many links to articles, e-books and programs
that all seem to have the answers to SEO. Even though there are many good tips and tricks,
as a beginner it is easy to find yourself jumping from one thing to another and still not seeing results.
There is a saying that you have to crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can
run; this is also true for search engine optimization. So begin with the basics. In many books
and tips about SEO there seems to be three basic principles, Keywords, Content and Backlinks.
Let's start with these.
1. Keywords
Keywords and phrases are what are used in your web content that make it possible for
people to find your site via search engines. Generally, when you start optimization, the first
things you need to consider are the keywords that describe the content of your site. Also consider
what keywords other people will use to find your website, blog or article. The basic and simplest
way for a beginner to do this is:
A. Think about the topic⁄content of your site. What are the top three to five words
or phrases you would use if you were to search for the product or topic that you are selling?
Write them down.
B. Make sure you conduct keyword research before you begin placing them on your site.
This can be done by using
Google Adwords Keyword Tool,
Google Traffic Estimator
and
Google Insights for Search.
C. Now that you have your keywords, be sure that those words are on each page of your
site, especially in titles, headings and at the beginning, middle and end of each page. For
articles it's a good practice to have the keyword within the first 25-50 words of the document.
One Caution: Don't assume that more is better in terms of keywords. Most search engines
will flag sites with an unusually high number of keywords, terming them spam, rather than legitimate.
A Keyword Density of more than ten percent is considered keyword stuffing and puts you at risk of
possibly being banned by Search Engines. If you're unsure you can use an online Keyword Density
Checker to check your site.
2. Content
Certainly you have heard this one before, Content is King? As cliché as this phrase is...
it's true! Long gone are the days that you could use some Meta tags and throw some affiliate
banners up and get traffic. Even as a beginner I'm sure you know that readers and search engines
love fresh content, and lots of it. So the question is where do you get it?
A. You can use other writer's articles provided you respect the author's copyright guidelines
and restrictions for use, although this is not the best option, because the content can also
be utilized by hundreds of other sites. If this is the case then you run the risk of Google's
Duplicate Content Penalty and your site may not achieve high ranking or even lose a top placement
because of it.
Check out Google's Duplicate content page at Google's Webmaster Central. But, in the
beginning this type of content is still not out of the question if you're willing to search out the
newest articles and change them frequently on your site. If you want to take a look here are
some sites that carry this type of content EzineAricles and Article directory USA.
B. One of the best options of course is to write it yourself, it ensures that your content
is fresh and search engines love new and unique content. If you are interested in traveling
this route but are somewhat apprehensive of your skills you may take a writing course. You
can sign up for a free content writing e-course at Content Writing Training or search for low
cost courses.There are also numerous tips on writing content that can be found with a quick search.
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