A Search Engine Optimization Checklist
With the competition for search engine ranking becoming more and more intense it is important to know a simple list of good SEO practices seo online services to make sure your website can compete with its competition in terms of search result ranking which means more visibility and more hits. Below are the most common and basic tips to keep in mind while planning, designing and implementing a website in order to incorporate some of the most important do’s and avoid the don’ts.
> Good Content – Interesting and informative content always makes websites popular. A well balanced combination of good articles, pictures and videos keep visitors interested and wanting to come back.
Good website content also includes frequent updates. Search engines take notice on new page additions to established sites. Engines also give a slight priority to sites with a fairly large overall size; this means more pages but not necessarily very large pages. Pages should be kept at a moderate size, around 100kb should be a good rule although with the need to capture the reader’s attention with images and videos this can be difficult to achieve.
> Content Consistency – A website that maintains a theme creates the perception of professionalism. A website’s pages should have a uniform layout to give visitors a sense of familiarity to the website. Navigation links should be in the same area for all pages, images should be located in the same general area. Consistency also applies to page color schemes, and font selection.
> Proper use of keywords – A good amount of keywords should be present in the page text, but not too much to be considered stuffing. They should also be placed somewhere at the beginning of a page’s content to gain maximum effect to both search engine spiders and readers. Keywords should also be added in HTML tags but, again, not too much. Keywords should be added at the page title, meta tags, internal and external links, even with images and videos.
> Proper use of internal and external links – When laying-out a website make sure it has an easy to navigate arrangement of internal links, a tree-like structure is best. A page should never be buried beyond four clicks deep otherwise visitors may never get to see those pages. Try to incorporate keywords in the text link and always keep navigation links at the same general area. If images are used as navigation buttons, like “next” or “back”, always have a text only counterpart somewhere in the page.
For links that lead users to another website, never redirect users to unrelated sites. Do not use misleading images or text that promise one sort of website and take users to another, possibly offensive, website. If a redirect is necessary, do not redirect users immediately. Use a notice or transition page to explain why a redirect has been made.