The Ten Commandments of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Though there is no denying of the fact that Search Engine optimization is evolving faster that what we have perceived, there are still some standard rules that you cannot afford to ignore if you want to see your website secure better ranking and gain maximum exposure. The hard truth about SEO is that it is time consuming and even harder is that there is no shortcut way to success. You need to produce great content, increase interaction with your visitors and get quality links from different sources (do not have any idea how a startup company can get natural links) if you wish to get it to the top of search results.

Here we are going to share top 10 search engine optimization techniques that can help you add a layer of visibility in your website. We have rechristened these techniques as Commandments. Hope you will like them:

1. Optimize Body Content: - There should be no disparity between the keywords you have targeted in the body content and in the meta tags. Keywords should be used in ‘Z’ pattern throughout the content and you should not force them into the content. Rather you should blend them without making the readers feel that you have optimized the content for search engines.

2. Meta Tags: This is undoubtedly the most vital section of a website. In majority of cases, Google takes into account this section to show snippets in its search results. So, this section has to be optimized properly. Keywords should be used profusely but you should not make it look like a meaningless block of content catering to the needs of the search engines only.

3. Image Optimization: Since Google and other search engines cannot read images, you need to make sure that you are using Alt Tag i.e. against each image so that Google can relate them to that of the theme of your website. Make sure that you are not playing hide and seek with Google by stuffing keywords in the alt tag section. Keep it natural if you don’t want to face the wrath of Google.

4. Sitemap Creation: You need two different versions of sitemap. One for search engines and another for general users. XML sitemap is usually created for sitemap submission purpose so that search engines can locate and crawl them easily. Whereas sitemap.php, sitemap.html or any other form of sitemap is created to make it easier for users to find out pages that are otherwise difficult to reach from home page

5. 404 Error Page Creation: Suppose one of your readers made a typo while opening your website. Do not show him this message: The Page You Have Requested No Longer Available. You are driving away your visitors. Let him in. You should create an 404 Error page where he could find the right option to navigate to your website.

6. Canonical Issue: - if you weary of duplicate content issue, you should get it fixed by using rel=”cannonical” tag and specify the preferred version of your URL so that Google and other leading search engines can give value to what your preference.

7. Robots.Txt: Creation of robots.txt file is another vital issue without which your website might face a problem. Suppose you do not Google index any particular folder for say ‘movie’ in your website or any other subfolder ‘movie/The Matrix’, you can instruct so by adding this text in the Robots.txt file:

In case of disallowing a particular folder
Disallow: /movie

In case of disallowing a particular subfolder
Disallow: movie/The Matrix’

8. Links: The open secrets of securing better ranking are to get as many links from different domains as possible. However, try to get links naturally and avoid buying links since it is treated as black hat SEO Services techniques.

9. Simple navigation: Navigation is not a place where you would try something innovative. Keep it as simple as possible and try breadcrumb navigation if possible. It will make it easier for users to navigate your website without getting lost in the middle.

10. Make It Load Faster: Create external JavaScript file, CSS file and try to compress the size of images to make your website light weighted. Do not try to add too many images in the website since it will have devastating impact on the loading speed. You can check loading time of each of your page by adding a new version of Google Analytics code. Or you can download Page Speed tool to find out where you are missing out on.

Creating innumerable web pages and links in order to attract more and more visitors to a website, is not a good idea. Such considerations fail to judge the specific marketing domain. No magical formulae or working principles can help in achieving this target.
Search engine optimizers can perform well if they follow the two important steps as mentioned. The first step is to create well-designed web pages so that both the layout and the contents are user-friendly as well as search engine friendly. The second important step is to create such links for the website that will lead to precise contents related to specific keywords à (keyword focused anchor text). These are the fundamental methods of onpage and offpage optimization.
It is quite tough to sell online products even if they assure being the best of their kind. Occupying the top position in Google is also not sufficient. Marketers need to put into a lot of hard work and deftness to win the competition. They should also possess a lot of patience since the process of occupying the top position may take some time.
There are several online markets on the web, most of which are not well optimized. Having a sound knowledge of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the determination to sell a particular product to the customers is of great help to online dealers. For this, they need to build a well optimized website that can easily attract the visitors, thereby increasing the traffic.
A well designed and user-friendly website and can easily draw the attention of a visitor. If successful in creating a good impression, then the visitors will drop in more frequently. This is another impressive way to increase traffic.
This point is quite similar to the previous one. A well designed and user-friendly website with good quality contents can be hugely popular with its visitors.
Exchange of links is another useful method that can increase traffic.
Webmasters must check whether there are other websites taking part in Search Engine Optimization. Greater the participation, tougher is the competition.
The layout of a webpage is the base of a well organized website. In a competitive environment, good-quality onpage optimization is not enough for the accomplishment of the website’s target. However, in a non-competitive environment, a well designed and user-friendly website with a large number of links can be one of the leading contenders.
In case of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), links are the integral part of a website. The popularity of a website somewhat depends on the number of links it has. Therefore, it is necessary for the website to take the initiative in creating, obtaining and exchanging links.