Over the past few months I’ve been asked time and time again “What steps can I take to perform SEO on my site?”

Generally, I ask about the site they are talking about (all sites need something a little different), have a nice little consultation with the person asking the question and then give them a list of things they may want to do (ideally), what they should do (mid-ground) and the things they need to do (must-do). So under those headings I’ve created a Top 10 list of the most common occurrences that I’ve found.

Must Do – Keep It Simple Stupid

Every site should generally have all the following completed.

1. Each page should have a UNIQUE title tag – add a keyword/phrase and your company name for good measure. – This is your primary marketing tool on search engines.
2. Each page should have a UNIQUE description – this should emphasise the main subject on this page – Its your main marketing tool on SERP’s after your Title.
3. Use CLEAN CODE – this at a basic stage just means that you make styling and javascript external where possible.
4. Use a valid STUCTURE to each page – use Heading Tags appropriately … don’t use the H1 tag more than once.
5. Use ABSOLUTE LINKS for internal linking – a few reasons but I like it for safety reasons, if someone copies your content they copy a link to your site (most people who copy your content are too lazy to realise this link).
6. Create and Update a SITEMAP – this is in essence an aid, it means search engines can see a list of pages and relevant details about them. (there are a few places that will create sitemaps for free)
7. Define your URL – www. vs non- www. decide which you want and add a 301-redirect – tutorial.
8. Be SOCIAL – get yourself on twitter, facebook, myspace, digg etc – link up a little, but more than this just build connections, talk to people ask opinions and build a network. Search Engines love people to be SOCIAL, but don’t spam social sites else they may ban you.
9. Where possible output to RSS feeds – you can submit these feeds to many sites, increasing your readership vastly.
10. Use ALT text on images – this attribute means google can index more about your site, meaning again more people can find you, and makes your site more accessible.

Mid – Ground

Still fairly simple stuff here – but requires a little more time, commitment and skill.

1. CONTENT is king – Give as much detailed info on the page topic as possible – do NOT copy this from another site – be unique.
2. REPLACE all “click here” links – links should be as descriptive as possible, anchor text is used by search engines and helps with accessibility.
3. Setup and send regular NEWSLETTERS – e-mail marketing is a fantastic way to reach your audience, encourage sign up and send out a newsletter on a regular basis.
4. Sign up to Google WEBMASTER tools – this is a nice little bunch of tools – sign up now for these tools.
5. Sign up for Google ANALYTICS – and any other analytics packages – get Google analytics.
6. Update your META tags – do this at least once a month until you get the best results possible for your site.
7. Find LINKS – ask your friends, family and anyone else for a link (or two) then go and ask other people too.
8. Content DENSITY ratio – this means less coding and more content!
9. Keywords in the DOMAIN – often this will help your SEO efforts, but only if your content is good.
10. Avoid FRAMES – they can’t be indexed and there are CSS/AJAX alternatives that are better for search engines and from a usability view-point.

Ideally – Getting Advanced

This is where it can get complicated and it will need real time and effort, as well as skill at a higher level.

1. Do NOT use Flash –  flash cannot be indexed, it won’t harm your SEO efforts (unless its your navigation) but it certainly won’t help it.
2. Link OUT – but only to sites your trust, this generally means the links will be of a higher quality.
3. Implement extra META tags – this includes the robots and expire tag.
4. Link new pages from your HOMEPAGE – doing this means that search engines and users will find it sooner.
5. Host on a REPUTABLE webhost – get a good referral and don’t jump into a deal that looks good, quality over price means you will always see more traffic to a reputable host than a host whom is questionable.
6. Start using PPC advertising – normally through Google Adwords (though MSN and Yahoo have similar programs), depending on your market this can be dirt cheap quality-traffic or high-cost quality traffic.
7. Submit PRESS releases – there a several sites that allow you to do this for FREE.
8. If your content SYSTEM is “out of the box” use the SEO plugin available – eg wordpress has “all-in-one SEO”, it cuts your work down.
9. Update ALL content on a regular basis – dependant on the size of your site you should update each page every few months (this doesn’t include blog posts).
10. Finally, keep clear of BLACK-HAT techniques – keep the right side of the Guidelines.

Free Sitemap Tools

• If you use WordPress I advise you use – XML Sitemaps plugin (it also creates a robots.txt file and submits the sitemap for you).
• Another nice little tool to generate XML sitemaps (though a little limited).
• Also there is this tool which generates the sitemap in a slightly different way to the one above.

Free Press Release Tools

• I use Press Box quite a lot – not the best or the worst of the bunch.
• Click Press is another nice tool – though quite limited.
• Finally, my favourite Press Release tool is PRLOG.org – it has the best search engine pick up i’ve found for any site like this.

One of the many things i’ve discussed over the past few months are various Search Engine Myths. So i’m writing this article with the aim to dismiss & correct several Google! myths.

Why Google ?
To be blunt, Google is the most popular search engine and website in the world. It draws much more attention and incorrect conclusions from its surroundings than any other website. From PageRank to penalties and how they work … there are a LOT of myths.

1# – High PageRank, means High Search Ranking
This myth is the most common myth i hear. Even some SEO’s believe in this… but they are wrong! Many a webmaster or website owner has moaned that someone with a lower PageRank has ranked above them … on Google! To understand this there is one thing you must understand first.

Taken from “what does PageRank mean to your site?“
I asked Matt Cutts (”head of webspam” at Google) - My Tweet to @mattcutts
And his response:  ”not at all” - Matts Tweet

PageRank is one of around 200 factors that Google uses for search ranking, and a close examination will show that the idea of PageRank simply means the quality of the links you are achieving (and nothing really more than this). 

So, don’t rely on PageRank to tell you how your site is doing … no search engine does.

2# Google will “ban” you for being linked to by a “link farm”
This is completely and utterly wrong. 

Yes, Google has a policy against joining a link farm, however there are farms that automatically create links adding your site.  A Link farm is a site or service set up to artifically adjust PageRank. Although there are some farms you join you won’t be penalised – because a search engine has no way of knowing if you joined your site, someone else did or it was automatic. So no you won’t be banned for this or penalised, because you have no control over it.

However, if you link to the link farm (and maybe hide the link) you will be in trouble. This is where you may get a ban or another punishment.

3# – Google Doesn’t index Dynamic Pages!
Wrong – dynamic pages are generated on the server …they load as static files (php or asp mainly). These files are able to be read by search engine robots! 

However a few warnings should be taken:

• Throwing google into a loop query with no end will mean you don’t get indexed (generally).
• Google will not remember cookies or session ID’s.
• Google cannot login to your site.
•  Use of Search Engine Friendly URL‘s is advised (if only for users).

4# – Using the “link:” search in google shows ALL incoming links
People ask why they see no backlinks when they try this, knwoing they have at least a few from other sites… the reasoning is simple in some cases (for example the site using a “nofollow” attribute), in other cases is down to Google. By this I mean that Google doesn’t like showing everything it knows about your site(s), if it showed you everything it knew (your history and predicted future) you could manipulate this to gain a higher search ranking. 

Want to check a link has been spidered (another reason for it not appearing)? 
Search the exact page in google and view the cache – if you see your link you know its been spidered and google has seen this page (if you don’t but you view the live site and its there) either there is some cloaking happening (doubtful) or the page has yet to be spidered … be patient. 

5# – DMOZ listing gives you a  PageRank “special bonus”
Another myth! – Google uses DMOZ simply to power (some) of its search power … for example if your listed in dmoz but your site script has no description Google turns to DMOZ for the description. I’m often told of how miracles have occured after someone has been accepted into DMOZ. However, in truth the mircale of an increase PR is non-existant. The only thing occuring is that your site is being linked by many hundreds/maybe thousands of sites which also use DMOZ. The links from these sites are seen and spidered… they do count – so many hundreds more links are seen to a site and this increases PR … it is NOT a special bonus.

Do you have a question about a Search Engine? Do you want to know why something has happened in a search engine to your site? – Leave a Comment.

Dear ALL,

Over the past few years andykinsey.com has grown and evolved from a simple website, into a successful business, AK Designs. AK Designs now has multiple branches based around the web, from SEO (our main hold) to the obvious design and development aspects.

However the end of this era has arrived. I am moving on from this business, moving into another growing business. This means all services* will cease with effect from May 14th 2009 (12 noon GMT).

ALL existing clients and associates have been notified of this closure, should any questions arise please email me (admin@andykinsey[dot]com).

With this closure comes a sale (usually) and this is no different. I have 10 domains to shift (I am of course keeping a few, such as this site for my SEO blog which will continue!), these are listed at the end of this letter – highest offers will be accepted as of 12 noon 18th May 2009.

Before I sign off, I would like to let all existing customers know about an alternative service provider. The lady in charge (emma) has much the same ethos as myself and services along the same lines. So why not visit QVA – seo today.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has be involved in the success of my workings. From the people that just pop-by and read a few lines of a blog, to those who have contributed a bit more and help a lot with my business.

Kindest Regards

Andy Kinsey

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(domains are listed on 123-reg – email: admin[at]andykinsey[dot]com)

*hosting services are unaffected (though migration will occur).