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We all know that being on page one of any search result
is good and Google’s Panda update
tells us what we need to get there.
It’s not everything, Google guards
its secrets closely, but it’s enough
to help out professionals (like
Jasper Consultants’ SEO specialists)
help out websites.
But what is SEO? Simply
put, SEO (which stands for Search
Engine Optimisation) is the process
of making sure that your
website works really well
with what the search engines are
looking for. This involves making
sure that the code is good, your
content works and your pictures
match the words.
What I just
said is a very simple and
even more basic breakdown
of something that can become quite
complicated. SEO is not easy
and it’s harder to do if you have no
idea what you’re doing. It is always
best left to the professionals.
The point of this
article is not to tell you
how to SEO your site yourself (we
don’t have the time or the space and
it gets really complicated). This
will be a list of do’s and
don’ts, a guide
to the world of SEO.
Let’s get started. When contemplating SEO, DON’T:
• Use
black hat
SEO techniques. These
will get you caught and un-indexed,
in that case, you might as well not
have a
website.
•
Try to cheat the
system. SEO takes time and
you won’t necessarily see results
overnight.
•
Try this at home.
I’ve said it before and I will say
it again, let a professional handle
your SEO.
•
Use a fly-by-night
company. If anyone ever
tells you that they can guarantee
first page results, they’re lying to
you. The most any SEO specialist can
do is try to get you up there. SEO
is an art, not a science.
•
Let anyone convince
you to use a
link farm.
Link farming is bad. You will get
caught. Link farming is like a
pyramid
scheme and the only people who
benefit are the ones at the top.
•
Ever use
spam
to get your message across! You know
you hate spam emails or spam content
and so do your
readers. Don’t do it. Users don’t
like it and neither do the search
engines.
•
Use Flash.
Search engine programmes can’t read
it, it takes too long to load and
not all of your users will have the
necessary browser settings or flash
players installed.
While we do recommend that you leave your Search Engine
Optimisation to us, there are a few
things you can do to make SEO work
for you. When thinking about SEO,
DO:
•
Get your website
built by a
professional. A
professional web developer can make
sure that your website is built
right the first time. This will make
the SEO specialist’s job a little
easier.
•
Have good quality and
relevant
written content. Make it
easy to read and get your point
across well. Content is
everything these days since search
engines look at content. So do
readers. Focus on your readers and
you’re getting
there.
•
Build high quality,
relevant and trustworthy
links.
The better your links, the better
your site. The types of links
you get on your site determine how
well your site will do.
•
Start a blog, a
newsletter or a news page.
Updating your content regularly
keeps your website fresh and
interesting. If your site is 4 years
old or older, think about re-doing
it. New things are exciting and
internet users like
being excited.
•
Use social media.
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are a
good way to get your site and your
company out there.
•
Think about your user.
If you don’t like it when a website
does something, chances are your
users won’t like the
same thing on your site.
Next
week we’ll discuss Social Media
Marketing (SMM) and we’ll walk you
through making one of the best
Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and
YouTube channels ever.
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