Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) How-To

Search engine optimization is a complex subject that has some simple elements and some others that require experience. Here is how I explain it from a high-level:

The wrong way to optimize pages

• Fill your pages with repetitive and/or hidden text that is clearly intended to fool search engines. This effort is better used to create real content.
• Submit your site to "link farms".
• Use cloaking techniques recklessly.
• Make numerous copies of your entry page but stuff each with different keywords, then use a redirect to the real entry page.
• Run automated programs that try to boost your ranking on search engines.
• Submit your site to 250,000 search engines. (How many can you name?)
• Choose a web designer or developer who builds functional and attractive sites but who knows nothing about SEO.
• Use an SEO service that promises to get you into the "Top 10 results - guaranteed!" (almost any page can be found with a 4- or 5-word phrase).

Your site could get banned by some search engines if such practices are reported by a competitor or are picked up by the engine's own algorithm. Blind, bulk submission will most certainly bring you more spam and abuse than you bargained for. Ranking in the first 2-3 pages is important, but even more important is to get the searcher to click on your link and, finally, to make the purchase (or whatever you want them to do).

How I approach SEO

My approach is to look beyond the Web pages and into the marketing strategy behind it. I use ethical techniques that won't get you banned, so I only work with ethical clients. I focus on content, structure and HTML. I will urge you to build a standards-compliant web site, as defined by the authority on this subject: the WWW Consortium, or W3C.

You can study the structure of this site as an example of how it can be done. There are far more attractive sites. I sometimes use English and American spellings on the same page, such as search engine optimisation / optimization on this one. As an experienced editor and marketer, I add value to SEO by improving the content and conversion rate.

Patience

Patience is required in this game. Only the people that run the search engines know the algorithms that determine the positioning of your pages. On the other hand, some engines publish a list of dos and don'ts, and good SEO firms also make their own observations based on experience.

There are no shortcuts in SEO: it can take several months to rise higher in the search engine index and requires ongoing observation and touch-ups by the site owner. There are some short-term gains too. If your pages have risen to the top, you cannot be complacent, as your competitors might hire a SEO to displace you.

Do it yourself

There are several million sites on the Web, so there is plenty of room for other people to do their own SEO or to do it for their clients. You cannot acquire experience without doing the hard yards but you can learn the basics within 3 months. f you want free advice, please check out the newsgroup google.public.support.general. You can also read my article linked at the top right of this page.

Ash Nallawalla