SEO Tactics For Improved Search Engine Optimisation

Although no one truely knows the google search algorithm, there are definitely some fundamental improvements you can make to you website to benefit from Search engine Optimization. I have practiced what I will preach so I can vouch that all these tactics will work in improving your google listings. So before you start thinking about going to a third party agency who can promise you everything but tell you nothing, why not try implementing these simple steps.

Step 1 – Get Google on board!

Google offer a multitude of tools to enable you to attain better search rankings, one of the first steps you should take is to setup you webmaster tools. This is free to do and if you already have a google account then you wont need to sign up. You should also upload an XML site-map, if you haven’t already, if your  not sure how to go about this check out XML-Sitemaps. These are powerful tools to have available as they will help you understand who google crawlers index your site and what possible areas could be improved upon, this information is all freely given unto you, so snap it up.

Step 2 – Function Before Form

When designing a website try to think about layout, there are particular css tricks which will enable google to read information quicker, some examples are given by matthewjamestaylor.com. There is a key to achieving a more search engine friendly design. Organisation of headers and methodical indexing of information are all integral to a more optimised website.

Step 3 – A Picture wont tell google a thousand words

You may well want to use imagery in your design, however when doing so give consideration that googles crawlers can’t read words in images and unfortunately ‘alt’ tags will only take you so far. So when you plan your layout try to use html for your content, with developments in CSS there are a lot of smart tricks you can do to improve the look of fonts on a page, why not spend a bit longer tweaking these, the key is to get the balance between look and readability, don’t sacrifice your desgign to comply with google, use this to your advantage and get the best of both worlds.

Step 4 – W3C, a boys best friend

If you have a W3C valid html site will most definitely help you get up the listings, think of this as a more indirect approach, if you create a website which works in every major browser, then the chances are that people who visit your site, be it on IE or Firefox will get a fully valid website which will format correctly, and in doing so will mean it becomes trusted and returned to.

Step 5 – Don’t splash!

It has become quite fashionable to use splash pages on websites, which do nothing more than look pretty and get in the users way. This is a 100% mistake, as all you are doing is making your index page that much harder to crawl for relevant content, and in doing so your shooting yourself in the foot. To maximize your web pages effectiveness your index page should represent what your site is about, and describe this through headings and content text.

Step 6 – Share the love

When you write, a blog or any form of information you should make your links more descriptive, don’t just write ‘click here’ make sure yor links are relevant as possible. This process of  ‘back linkning’ is an extremely powerful tool for receiving higher volumes of traffic through your website.

Step 7 – Its about timing

Your website is given a grading by Google dependent on a multitude of elements, one of which is the speed at which you web pages load. Consider that you are including a header file which has 5 js files included, however your index page only uses 3 of those files, this is all relative to you grading, so if you write pages that only load what is needed, and do this to an optimum level you will be better set to appear higher in Google listings. There are tools available to help you see where to improve, one such is Yslow, available with firefox.

If you implement these tactics you will see improvements in your sites ranking, however even if you do this straight away it may take some time to notice the improvements, its a well known fact that google takes into account the age of a site when choose which come highest,having said this the more time you devote to your website the more return you will receive from it.

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