SEO: Start Here

Some of the many variables search engines consider when ranking pages:
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• keywords found in domain name, page title, and header
• keyword density in body text
• age of the domain registration
• DNS record change recency
• page update recency
• number of pages with links to the page
• keywords in the links on other pages linking to the page
• popularity of the pages linking to the page

Some SEO Tips to Get Your Web Pages Listed in the Search Engines

BEST PRACTICES

Choose a keyword related to your page content. Remember that your web page and your website are not ranked as one. Your web page will be ranked of its own accord.

Write unique and relevant content related to that keyword.

Use that keyword in your title tag.

Use that keyword in a header tag. Preferably an “h1″ tag.

Use words and phrases related to the keyword you chose and use them throughout the content of your web page.

Write a description for the web page that contains the keyword you have chosen.

Within the content, link to another page on your site using keyword-focused anchor text.

Remember that your website is for your site visitors first and foremost and the search engines second.

Link to well-known, high-quality web sites.

Always create a sitemap for your website.

Submit your sitemap to the search engines.

Use an RSS feed for your website. This will allow people to get notified whenever you update your website.

Do use a blog on your site and update it as necessary.

Don’t use content from article directories any more than necessary.

Do continually add unique and updated content on your site.

Do use a robots.txt file for your site.

WORST PRACTICES (TO AVOID)

Do not stuff your pages with keywords. Keyword stuffing means that you use the same keywords multiple times throughout the content of your page.

Do not use underhanded techniques in order to get better rankings in the search engines. This is oftentimes referred to as “black hat SEO” or even “gray hat SEO”.

Do not submit your web page to link farms. Link farms are website set up specifically for the purpose of allowing anyone to post links.

Do not purchase links to point to your website.

Do not link out to bad neighborhoods. Bad neighborhoods are: link farms, known spam sites, gambling sites, porn sites, phishing sites or hacker/cracker sites.

Do not engage in linking schemes. Linking schemes are those schemes created specifically for the purpose of gaining more links to your site.

If you must use reciprocal linking, keep it to a minimum. Reciprocal linking is the act of trading links with another website.

Don’t use hidden text on your web pages.

Don’t use hidden links on your web pages.