"Seo Wales" web site optimisation example

A Rough Guide to web site optimisation

Before we begin i would just like to point out that this example only covers the first stage of our three stage integrated approach required to produce a successful web site, that is analysis and promotion

This Rough Guide to SEO also assumes that you already have a fundamentally sound website which means it is not build with frames, flash, is graphic heavy, or has pages served dynamically which cant be easily manipulated with regard to seo. It would also have a clear and simple navigation system, detailed sitemap and the pages have been seperated out to allow for optimisation of one or maximum two products or services per page.

Assuming you have all of the above - it is time to look at the steps that are needed to seo the pages of your website. (Notice i did not say optimise your website.)

Step 1: Research keywords

Keyword selection is what any optimization mission starts with. The rule of thumb is to set off with keyword research even before you start compiling the content for your pages. However, it is not always possible, and the most common situation is when you've got a website with the ready content and need to optimize it.But when all is said and done - if you do not select the right keywords to base your seo on then the whole project would have been a waste of time. So be thorough

The first step is to define your niche and audience in order to determine your keywords or keyphrases. When doing this bear in mind that your strategic keyphrases should always consist of at least two words (but even better is to have 3-5 words, as it's the average length of a search phrase). You should also start with finding the most general terms characterizing your business, then break into more specific ones and optimize each page for a most specific term characterizing this page. Finally, where possible, make your decision in favor of product name.

After you have defined your strategic keywords / keyphrases, you may start the preliminary keyword research. (we will be using the term SEO Wales & SEO Cardiff) In terms of ideal situation, this step should forestall domain name selection,copywriting and content compilation, so that you could create content with the exact keywords for each page already in mind, and form your domain name and file names with an account of these. The aim of the preliminary research is to assemble the base of the keywords with the highest potential, so you can use this material while selecting the domain name and creating the file structure for your website. More important, you get a basket of keywords which form the basis for a latter advanced investigation on the stage where you will need to pick out the keywords to actually use in optimization.

Time for pruning so take your selection of keywords and key phrases and evaluate each one against two basic parameters, Competition and Daily World Searches, thus selecting the optimal ones.

For this example we will be using the following keywordphrase seo wales

Step 2: Get optimization advice

The actual process of editing your pages using the keywords and keyphrases you acquired is rather complex and will be covered here in only a rough guide format. Therefore I suggest you take some time to look at some of the SEO forums and Blogs on the web as they are jammed packed with the generic details of how to optimise a page.

For further reference see our Search Engine Optimisation Guide.

Step 3: Edit your pages for search engines

To achieve basic seo of a web page you should look at inserting your keywords or keyword phrases into all the below areas.

  • URL
  • Title Tag
  • META Tags (Keywords & Description)
  • HTML Headings
  • Links and links titles
  • Image alt Atributes
  • Body Text

Now the common mistake most people make when first optimising a web page is to overdo the insertion of keywords or key phrases. A good rule of thumb is if it doesn't read well then you have gone over the top.

To get an idea this page has been optimised for the keyword phrase seo-wales select "VIEW" on your browser menu and "PAGE SOURCE" and use the browsers find capability to locate all the instances on the page.

If you have multiple pages you want to optimise, then follow the same procedure for each page as has been done in this example using SEO wales & SEO Cardiff.

Step 4: Submit your site to search engines and directories

Once you have optimised your pages with your keywords you need to let the search engines know that you have something new for them to look at. Generally speaking you only need to submit your top level URL to most search engines and they will do the rest. As for which search engines to submit to - you cant go wrong if you submit to the top 4 of Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.

Step 5: Check your rankings in search engines

Even the professionals don't get it right first time every time so make sure you go back to all of the above search engines to check where your page ranks for your chosen keywords.

If you find you are not showing up on any of the search engines after a month (bear in mind that it may take up month for you to appear on Google)then it may be necessary to look at the seo techniques you used and amend where you feel necessary.

Step 6: Analyze your link popularity

Most people still do not realise how important links are to search engine rankings and only go as far as optimising their web pages. To give you some idea it is thought that Google weights links as much as the actual pages optimisation. So getting quality related links to your site is as important as optimising it.

To check how many links Google registers to your site go onto Google and click onto advanced search and enter your URL into the field "Find pages that link to the page".

There you have it - a rough guide to web page optimisation

Brinley Williams is a Director of Welshop Marketing and writes frequently on internet marketing, search engine optimisation and website promotion issues of interest to small and medium sized businesses.



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