SEO, Where Do I Begin?

[paulhuccle]

I am a real and total Newbie. I just can not get my head around SEO and I have a website that I tried to put together (not very well) and of course it is not doing any business and not getting clicks. I am now really short of money and therefore can not pay anyone to do the SEO or make the site look better. Oh well!!!

[bj]

Then perhaps you need to do Search Engine Marketing instead of Search Engine Optimization. That's the "next step" and I actually think it's the more important of the two.

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by bj

Then perhaps you need to do Search Engine Marketing instead of Search Engine Optimization. That's the "next step" and I actually think it's the more important of the two.

I am not getting that link to work right now BJ.

[bj]

It's working now, Jaan. Actually, I'll most likely be switching hosts since I've been having intermittent problems with this one. Thanks for letting me know.

[shutters]

Great stuff. I will take all of the points seriously.

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by harrychef

Hi, look at my website please i have two www.hecp.org.uk & www.budgetwebs.co.uk I have just read about half the above thred and i am bewildered by it all. I thought i had made a couple of half decent sites but your techno talk is unknown to me, is it as im in uk & you are all somewhere else in the world.

harrychef please post your questions in another in its own thread. I going to delete this post.

[harrychef]

I dont realy know how this works yet. appologies to you all

harry

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by harrychef

I dont realy know how this works yet. appologies to you all

harry

No worries harry, post a new thread and we will try to help!.

[priyo]

Great Post...

[pnelson]

Very useful, thanks :-)

[fletchermak]

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

Well it seems we are getting some fresh blood here lately in the WPW which is a great sign of the forum growth. I think some of the recent posts on WPW are pointing to the need for Newbie thread. I have usually pointed people to the HR newbie thread but I think we could create a useful one here.

I was thinking this thread could serve as great starting point for a recommendations on newbie thread. So if you have a few things that you would tell newbie to do to get kick started in SEO what would it be?

Here are mine:

1. Internal Navigation
Sure the search engines are getting better at learning to crawl complex websites, but you need to make as easy as possible. Avoiding JavaScript, Image Maps, Image Based navigation and session IDs are just a few of the pitfalls many newbie's miss. Create your navigation in CSS or standard text. One way to see if your navigation is easily crawlable is to check the Google cache and click on the link "Click here for the cached text only." If you can see your links in hyperlinked form you are probably ok. This is probably the most universal issue I see as a problem on SEO newbie's and even some of the largest online companies have in common. Get this fixed and do nothing else and you could see large improvements.

2. Why Are you The Best?
Maybe the 2nd most important item in marketing your website online is setting yourself apart. If your just another website that offers DVDs (or whatever) online for the same price as BMG, Best Buy, etc what makes your website better? The internet is network of interesting content, products and services. You must make you content, products and services stand out above the rest. How you do that is another story all together.

3. Links
OK in a perfect world you could make a great website with awesome content and it would rank fine. Our world is hardly perfect and the search engines not even close. The search engine will more than likely use some sort of linking weight in their algorithm, so after you build this great website, let the world know. Contribute in blogs, forums, messages boards relating to your website. Write articles. Contribute to the internet. Become an authority on what your website deals in and before you know it you will be getting those one-way links without even asking for them. This is truly the link you want. Remember their are no short term link building strategies, that work long term.

4. Content
a) OK obviously you cant just have a website made up of images and one sentences on each page. Text is the meat that those search engines love to cook and grub on. The more relevant text you can write on each page the better it is for the search engines and the better it is for your end users. One thing to remember here is not to squeeze to many subjects onto one page. Break pages out as much as possible. Check out this example:

http://orchidsbyohlman.com/Care.htm

What a great page full of great content, but much different content. The search engines rarely associate many keyword combinations to one page. So break it down for them. Each of the caring tips for the orchids should be broken down into its own page and expanded on even more.

b) I think a second point to consider when writing content is natural langue queries, personalization and local search. these will be the future of the search engine algorithm, so consider them when writing.

c) I will tell you right now. If you don't have a blog create one now. Blogs mean easy in-bound links to you, fresh content, and are easy to crawl, nuff said.

5. Title Tags
Another no-brainer. Looking at the example above, the website owner is not using unique title tags one each page. You must have this throughout your website.

6. Duplication
Sure we have heard all kinds of confusing horror stories on content duplication. Sure you want to avoid doing it, but I have yet to see Google or other search engines actual penalize for it. What the search engines do is rank one page over another and yes sometimes if they find a duplicate they will toss it in the supplemental index. If you call that a penalty fine, but I call it Google choosing one version to rank over another. Make sure you provide them with only one to rank! Also if you write an article just make sure to publish it on your website and WAIT a couple of weeks and then syndicate it. it will give the search engines time to associate you as the author/owner of it.

7. Competition
Please recognize who your competitors are. If you are going head to head with websites that have been online for years and maybe even decades then you should realize your SEO battle will be uphill and difficult.

8. Finance
If you are on a shoe-string budget or just have been burned by SEO's in the past and don't want to invest more money into now, this is OK. But please understand the leg work is now on you. Only expect "high-level" ideas and recommendations from forums. The best thing to do is to dive in and do the work yourself with the support of the forum. Don't rely on the forum as cure for your website marketing sickness, but rather a antibiotic that works within your body to heal.

9. Tracking
You better do it! If you don't know if your website is making you money, then who cares if it is optimized. Who cares if it is ranking? Who cares what Google PR it is? Two hundred #1 rankings mean nothing if you not making money off of them. That mind set is important. If you not tracking leads/sales then start now.

10. History
How long have you been online? Less than a year? More then 5 years? This makes an ENORMOUS difference. I don't care what anyone says. The longer you have been online the more likely you are to have good results. If you still don't have good results and you have been online for a while, don't fret. Your fixes should be take hold quicker in the search engines once you make them.

11. Code Bloat/Download Time
OK I understand you might be a SEO newbie, what do you know about coding websites, let alone inline CSS or JavaScript? Bottom line, your either going to need to learn or get someone who does know. No excuses here. It is becoming more important to have valid and easy to crawl code. I am not saying it is absolutely necessary. I see websites that rank all the time that are ridiculous when it comes to valid code, but if you can fix this, then do it. If should hire someone that will. The second part is to make sure you pages download in a reasonable time. Once again you will find slow websites ranking all the time, but get it fixed not only for the search engines, but for your end users.

12. One Change At Time
Sometimes even minor fixes of one of the concepts above is enough to make the jumps you target in the search engines. Take your time and evaluate changes one at time. Changing to many things at once can cause "Chasing Your Tail Syndrome"

These are just a few off the top of my head. I sure some other super members of WPW will have more.

Useful information for begeners..

[mechanicalventilators]

thank you very much, the information here is unmatched.

[pogung177]

Optimazing on Backend, difirent with Financial..there are no relation between them

[Paul Gates]

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

7. Competition
Please recognize who your competitors are. If you are going head to head with websites that have been online for years and maybe even decades then you should realize your SEO battle will be uphill and difficult.

Or get rid of your competitors using SEDD ;)

[g2]

Thank You! As a newbie at SEO you've given me direction and I appreciate it!

I do have a question though. Concerning submitting to search engines. At one time I read that it wasn't a good idea to submit to google because google likes to find on its own links to your site. But now Google is beta-testing their new Sitemaps submission protocol. SENew as of 2005. Is this the way to go or is this old news and out of date.

Thanks for the help - if this is posted in the wrong place just let me know and I'll repost.

[madjohn]

Invaluable advice even to old hands at the Internet (but still not very good ones..! ;) )

[Web World]

Its amazing and educative

[Pilana]

I also found some new info. Cognizable, ths.

[hzuberi]

It is really nice article for the newbies like me. SEO is market standard these days without SEO a commercial website is a bin of trash.[/google]

[indoman]

excellent post friend... keep share to all people... no secret in science... thanx

[Ne0]

Great Thread Jaan! and great tips as well! Brian Mark and I started a Beginners SEO Podcast last month and have about 18 episodes from the very beginning up and ready for folks to listen to :)

There's also an Ask a question section where we'll do a sort of site lab for your site regarding SEO basics...

And Jaan (we're always looking for people to be on the podcast) ;)

DB

[maria22]

Great post...Thanks =)))

[Money Man]

WoW - what a mind full!

That's an excellent post that will definitely give the Newbies
to Web SEO an extra 'hand up' for sure. You packed so much
excellent stuff in there.

I've paid money to folk's and received far less :0)

Thank's (for an unknown Newbie)

- Garrett Dann

-------------------------------
By Far The Finest SEO Tool I've Ever Used - Highly Recommended!
http://urlfreeze.com/OnDemandProfit/SEOElite/

[sharoncreech]

Thank you.It is great stuff and the information is really valuable.

[ArthurNYC]

I own a network of review sites (40) and all the content is unique and very fresh but we still have "crappy" search engine rankings.

Is there a tool to check whether your coding is appropriate for optimal organic search results?

Arthur

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by ArthurNYC

I own a network of review sites (40) and all the content is unique and very fresh but we still have "crappy" search engine rankings.

Is there a tool to check whether your coding is appropriate for optimal organic search results?

Arthur

Arthur please start another thread.

[jonnadal]

u covered all basic task or content of SEO
i give u best wishes!

[idansh]

IS there any chance that new website with competing keywords will get close range to the oldest websites ?

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by idansh

IS there any chance that new website with competing keywords will get close range to the oldest websites ?

Sure it takes time.

[idansh]

Is there any way there is a software that does the job for you , just part of it at least

[incrediblehelp]

I dont use SEO software.

[fimc2007]

Originally Posted by bobitza

Thanks for the tips ...

*takes a chair in the newbie area of the conference room*

owesum post man
thanks

[skysoldier]

WOW! What a post! I've learned a lot from there! Thanks people!!

[idansh]

no , just the sitemap XML file

[mfleischner]

Thanks for the info. I also think you should include tips on building external links such as directory submission and article marketing. Thanks.

[edhan]

This is indeed a great overview for newbies about SEO. Your contribution is always direct and helpful to many of us newbies. I have always concentrating on content for building up a good SEO site but miss some of the points you have made. Thank you!

[Furlongs]

I think the best thing I did was to add content & lots of it. Search engines are getting better & better at finding the difference in quality. Want to get ranked? Be high quality!

[mjtaylor]

As always, your screen name is apt, Jaan. This is a great thead for those who don't have a clue about SEO - and for those of us who think we do, as well.

If asked, Where do I begin with SEO, I would have a one word answer: Keywords.
Whether I am creating a new site or optimizing an existing site, Keyword Research is always my first step. Part of that process is, indeed, asking the questions "Why am I best?" or "What sets this site or its product apart from the rest?" But knowing what the market is in terms of search is going to strongly influence everything else I do.

So if asked where I begin, I would start with:

1. Keyword Research - The List
Make a list of all the keywords you think someone *might* type into a search engine that should logically bring them to your site or one like yours. Brainstorm on this with colleagues, friends and family members. Better yet (assuming you have a website and traffic) ask customers what words they searched to find you or if you don't have a website yet, ask customers what they think they would use. Look at competitors sites to see what terms you may have missed.

2. Keyword Research - The Numbers
Once you have your list plug them into a search term tool like a Keyword Discovery's Free Search Term Suggestion Tool. (You may eventually want to get a subcription to a service like this so that you can access longer tailed phrases and learn more about the competition for terms). Put the results into a table, or better yet, a spradsheet, editing out terms that don't apply to your site.

3. Keywords - The Decision
This is often the hardest part - narrowing down your list to just a few phrases - say one per page of the web site - and one to two phrases for your home page. Part of this decision, of course, has to do with whether you have the content to back up the keywords or whether you are willing to generate new content.

4. Content
For a new site, I would suggest your keyword research should guide your content. After all, the research, if done well you now know what your market is searching for. Create a page for each keyword phrase and write keyword rich, original and useful content. Consider having a blog.

5. On Site Optimization
This is by no means a comprehensive list but here is a checklist of places where you will want to place your keywords on the page. These are not in order of importance, particularly, but I have italicized those I think are most important. Place your keywords:

• in the first few words of the title tag;
• in an h1 tag at the top of the page;
• in h2 and h3 tags (your longer tailed phrases are great here)
• in the first sentence or paragraph on the page;
• in bold somewhere on the page;
• in italics somewhere on the page;
• in the anchor text of a link from the page to another internal page;
• in the anchor text of a link from the page to an external page preferably of an authority site;
• in the anchor text of an absolute link from the home page to the home page;
• in the file names of graphics and their alt tags;
• in the file names of pages
• in a bulleted list

This list is by no means comprehensive, but is where I would begin.

[mjtaylor]

Originally Posted by idansh

Is there any way there is a software that does the job for you , just part of it at least

I bought and tried out WebPosition Gold almost ten years ago when I was starting to learn SEO, but I didn't care for it; I found I was more effective without it. A few years ago I picked up IPB and I do find that I can learn something from that occasionally. I tend to use IPB when I think a comparison with other well ranked sites would be useful, but it's rare that I open it up. I think relying on software would have prevented me from learning what now seems instinctual.

Cheers, MJ

[incrediblehelp]

Great post MJ!

[venkatreddy]

Great Tips .........

Thanks
venkat reddy.V
SEO&Web Analyst

URL: Hyderabad Software,Education,News,Business,Real Estate,Cinema,Secunderabad updates,Cyberabad Software News at Hihyderabad.com

[egzone]

Undoubtedly nice article not just for newbies but even for experienced web professionals and SEO experts alike, you know sometimes we know all the tips and techniques but when it comes to enumerate them in a short and concise form we stuck somewhere between the lines.

Being an experienced copywriter and SEO expert I strongly believe that such stuff creates awareness, as most people fall victim of so called SEO gurus.

Anyone interested learn more, visit: http://www.egzone.info, also visit my blog at: www.egzone.info/blog to discuss such topics.

Thanks,
Rakesh Sharma Jack

[egzone]

Undoubtedly nice article full of tons of useful information not just for newbies but even for experienced web professionals and SEO experts alike, you know sometimes we know all the tips and techniques but when it comes to enumerate them in a short and concise form we stuck somewhere between the lines.

Being an experienced copywriter and SEO expert I strongly believe that such stuff creates awareness, as most people fall victim of so called SEO gurus.

Anyone interested learn more, visit: http://www.egzone.info, also visit my blog at: www.egzone.info/blog to discuss such topics.

Thanks,
Rakesh Sharma Jack

[marketstrat]

thanks for information dear...lol............

[mirza]

very useful thanks a lot

[coolguy27]

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

Steven,

I agree Fresh Content is important, but it is confusing for newbies. Do I need to change my product pages or add to them? No, not at all. You cna build them and leave them alone, but having something like a blog (4.c) can greatly help in search engines like MSN.

I agree SE always crawls pages contents that is fresh...They love crawling it.

[mjtaylor]

Originally Posted by songtexte32

I would like to add that ppc advertisigh is best, for ex adword (pay and you will be up)

Yes, thanks, but that is not relevant to this thread, which is about optimization for organic free search engine results ...

[alegriadj]

This is for the ultimate newbie. Make a copy of your website and work on the copy. I know it's a serious no-brainer but sometimes I forget and find my self going back one generation because I tweaked something too much and it broke.

[MichelRobinson2]

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

I know I post this everywhere, but it is so useful for newbies in SEO. Check out this post from SEOmoz.org called:

SEOmoz: Beginner's Guide to SEO

for some beginners help.

Thanks for providing link. This is a good book for Beginner SEO. This thread is also telling more about the SEO beginning.

[Seo Master]

Nice post, thanks for the tips. But what do you think about PPC?