When developing a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy there are two main factors to consider; 'On page optimization' and 'off page optimization'.
We will focus on page optimization for this tutorial. The term on page optimization covers the SEO strategies that are utilised within your specific web page, in your HTML code. Whilst you’re on page optimization will not skyrocket your web page into the top of the Google search results, if you have comprehensively covered your off page and on page optimization you shouldn't have too much trouble getting a good Google ranking. However, it is actually possible to get yourself into the Google results with no off page optimization if your on page optimization is done correctly and the keywords you have optimized for are not extremely popular, i.e.; 'pizza shop Newcastle' instead of 'pizza'. Ok here goes:
1. First , make sure you are going to optimize your web page for the most appropriate keywords, there is a very handy search term suggestion tool located at: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/.
It is important to choose your keywords wisely, especially keeping in mind how often those specific keywords are searched for, as it will be much easier and beneficial to get your site as a number one search result for a phrase that is searched for 5,000 times a week, and almost impossible to get your page in the first few search result pages for a term that is searched for 500,000 times a week. It is important to note that approximately 90% of web users do not navigate past the first page of Google's search results.
2. Secondly, ensure your keywords appear once (more than once is not necessary) in your meta tags in your HTML code. For example, if the only keywords you are optimizing for are 'pizza shop Newcastle' your meta tags should read as follows:
<meta name='description' content='Harry's Pizzas is a pizza shop located in Newcastle...' />
<meta name='keywords' content='Harry's Pizzas pizza shop Newcastle takes away food....’ />
3. Thirdly, ensure your keywords appear in your title tag of your web page, i.e.; <title>Harry's Pizza's - Pizza Shop Newcastle</title>
4. Fourth, ensure your keywords appear in a heading <h1> tag in the specific page. i.e.; <h1>Pizza Shop Newcastle</h1>. It is more beneficial if this is your only <h1> tag on the page, and it occurs only once.
5. Another factor that affects your on page optimization is if your keywords appear within bolded or italicized text. It is important not to go overboard with this by having your keywords bolded or italicized everywhere throughout your page because Google will consider this a 'black hat' method of on page optimization and may result in banning your site from their index. But if it occurs once or maybe twice, it will increase your on page optimization and Google will not frown upon this. Example: Pizza Shop Newcastle
6. It is important to have your keywords occur at least once within the content text on your website, within paragraph < p > tags. And is more beneficial to ensure this occurs closest to the top of your web page, and at the bottom.
7. It also helps to put your keywords within the alt tags of the images that are embedded in your HTML file. A good example would be if you have a logo that occurs at the top of the document, put the keywords in the alt text. I.e.; <img src='imgs/logo.jpg' alt='Logo Harry's Pizzas - Pizza Shop Newcastle' />
8. If you have any links within your web site that link back to the page you are optimizing, or any external links that link towards your web site it is very important to contain your keywords within the anchor text and the title text. Example: Harry's Pizzas - Pizza Shop Newcastle. The anchor text is the text that occurs within the <a> tags. Hover over the link to view the title text that pops up, or click on view -> source in your web browser if you need to brush up on your HTML skills.
9. Other factors that improve your on page optimization include having your keywords contained within your domain name and file name of the specific page. For example the following fictional url would help: http://www.harryspizzashopnewcastle.com.au/pizzashopnewcastle.html. However this is not 100% necessary.
10. This point is probably the most important point you should consider when optimizing your page- stay away from 'black hat' on page optimization methods. They may increase your on page optimization temporarily but Google frowns upon this and could ban you from their index. So if you go over board with keywords that do not relate to the content of the page, have your keywords occurring more than 3 or 4 times in <h1> tags and < b > tags all over your site and repeat your keywords unnecessarily throughout the content text of your web site, you risk having your site banned from the Google index. Google really does keep a close eye on this so be careful.
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