Top 5 SEO Tips For 2010

10 January 2010

Recently I was looking for SEO tips... and I've seen a lot of out-dated information and although my SEO experience is rather limited, I want to share what knowledge I do have with The Great Public. Here's my Top 5 Tips for Search Engine Optimisation.

1. CONTENT
I really cant emphasize how crucial it is to make your content the main focus of your website. Your website should be designed to be completely Search Engine friendly. Try and make your content at the top as that means the Search Engine doesn't have to read through lots of unnecessary code, with CSS using DIVS makes this complete feasible. Make sure your HTML and CSS is W3C valid!

2. KEYWORDS
I'm not only talking about META keywords but keywords in general. Make sure the keywords you use in your page title, Meta description and the Meta keywords directly RELATE to the web content. Also make sure your content contains the keywords but does not spam them! Plus DO NOT use hidden divs or any other method to spam keywords - you will just end up getting black-listed. Google has a SEO people resource of over 16,000 full-time employees - they really have caught on to the whole "keyword spam" thing.

3. CSS (CASCADING STYLE SHEET)
CSS really helps the Search Engines read through the content of the pages quickly and efficiently. CSS is also brilliant for accessibility - you can change the whole site colour and design through one file. It saves bandwidth and load time and if you've not jumped on the CSS bandwagon already - you must!

4. HEADING TAGS
Heading tags are very underrated in my opinion, I've seen a lot of debate in whether they are useful/not useful but I've seen a lot of SEO companies and experts use them efficiently. I personally believe that H1, H2, H3 help a great deal as you are telling the Search Engine where the heading of the content is - and with CSS you can make headings look visually the same as your other content.

5. BLOG / NEWS ARTICLES / POD CASTS / TWITTER
It really is the 21st Century and we've all got to remember that SEO is constantly changing and we simply have to keep up with new methods and tricks in keeping up with ongoing and proactive marketing of your website. Content is key and with constantly updating blogs/pod casts/news articles you are making your website more up-to-the-minute for potential and existing customers. After all you are not just trying to SELL to them... you are trying to actually help keep them totally informed of the latest news, product updates, and other informative matter of interest that will make them return and stay on your site for longer if any 'click- throughs' from the news area to a specific series of web pages leading to the much needed customer order form!

An ongoing e-newsletter emailed to prospects and customers alike will ensure that people are kept up to-date on a regular basis. This exercise calls upon maintaining a database of individuals' names and email addresses and full respect of Data Protection, opt-out clauses and contact detail accuracy.

Just remember all these techniques can be very useful but if over-used will make your site worse off. There's a very fine line between spamming and using the most appropriate techniques both professionally and correctly.

Useful links:

http://www.google.com/webmasters/
http://validator.w3.org/
http://www.submitexpress.co.uk/tips.html