Search engine optimization is possibly the most important aspect to your websites success in the search engines. There are really no concrete rules, but the best optimization experts simply gain their knowledge through years of trial and error. I will try to go over some of the most important aspects that everyone needs to know to properly optimize their site for all search engines. Enjoy...
The best way to optimize a website is to start from scratch, and before you create each page, sit down and think about how you will implement your keywords into each page to attain the best possible rankings in all search engines.
Google is the most important search engine out there, and if you have high Google rankings, youll most likely also have good rankings in most other search engines. Google uses an extremely complex algorithm to compute where each of your pages will be ranked for each keyword. A couple years back I was the first person to create an accurate PageRank calculator, by *cracking* a good portion of this amazingly detailed algorithm. Since Google changes, and updates the algorithm everyday, it became a head-ache to maintain constant updates to my unique system. Not only that, but Google wasnt too happy that I was making this information public. So needless to say, I can get pretty in-depth when it comes to Optimization!
So I promise not to get into any confusing algorithms in this tuturial, and keep it simple enough for all to understand.
Now, hmmm... where to begin :)
Lets start with the keywords that youll be using, and implementing into each page of the optimization process. Lets say you own a sports website, with 4 major categories: FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, BASKETBALL, and HOCKEY. Your first decision youll have to make is how to divide each of the categories, and then how youll create each individual page inside each of those categories.
There are two options here:
1. Directory Separation
1. All/Most files listed in main folder
This refers to the file structure & organization-
MAIN --> CATEGORY--> SUB-SECTION --> Individual Pages.
This is something that has split views on, whether to split each of the heirarchial sections into different folders i.e:
(SPORTS HOME) --> (FOOTBALL) --> (FOOTBALL TEAMS) --> (Info of each team) --> (stats, players, records) etc..
Every website should be created in this type of [General->Category->Specific page], but the debate is whether or not you should use directories or simply list everything within your root directory.
Heres an example of a well-made directory setup:
Sports Website --> Basketball --> Miami Heat --> Players --> Shaq.
Each level being a new directory/folder located with the last section, Id reccomend having a heirarchy like this 4-5 levels deep... with a total of 50-100 pages in the end.
Each of these levels will all have their own specific, unique targeted keywords moving from very general -to- very specific & targeted.
In my research Ive found that listing as many of the pages within the root directory, instead of separating it into many folders, yields a higher ranking in most search engines.
Like this...
www.SPORTS.com/miami_heat_shaq.html
Instead of using many directories like this:
www.SPORTS.com/BASKETBALL/MIAMIHEAT/PLAYERS/SHAQ/stats.html
This has NOTHING do to with how the website will appear, but its more of an organizational aspect which is becoming extremely important in the recent months.
If you, like me, dont really care about having 100+ pages all listed within the main directory; instead of seperating with a bunch of folders, then this next option is best for you!
CONS- Can be confusing to sort through the files yourself when editing, but thats not too big of an issue if youre not a neat freak.
PROS- Increasing visibility in search engines, better chances of getting all your pages listed, and with better rankings (this is what I like to do most of the time... and have found much better results in doing so.
EXAMPLES:
#1- www.SPORTS.com/miami_heat_shaq.html
---- VS. ---
#2- www.SPORTS.com/teams/miami/heat/players/shaq/stats.html
Option #1 is the best way to do it... with a large number of files, it can get confusing sometimes, but it will yield the best results in Search engines. Listing it like #1 makes search engines think that since it is listed in your MAIN folder, it must have a high importance.
Notice how in the filename I use an Underscore to separate each Keyword in #1, this is something I cannot stress enough to do. Heres why:
A- miami_heat_shaq.html
B- miamiheatshaq.html
Search engines will take high consideration in your actual filenames & Complete URLs to determin your ranking. Lets say A & B are the EXACT SAME HTML PAGE... just named differently. The one with the underscores is more likely to acheive higher rankings because it separates each individual word & this results in a much more searchable phrase.
Now that you understand the best way(s) of structuring your site... lets move on to the rest of the factors to decide for each page.
You should select 3-5 of your most important keywords to target on each of the individual pages on your site, and then build each with those keywords in mind. Your #1 Keyword should actually end up as the filename of that page, if your keyword was Search Engine Optimization; then name the HTML page search_engine_submission.htm. And include that same keyword in the title, headers, and all throughout the body of the page. Make sure to keep it tasteful, and never appear to be too repetitive. Keep the keywords within logical sentences to avoid being accused of keyword-spamming.
Search engine now have filters to detect keyword spamming, and search to see whether or not each of your phrases make logical sense & arent just an attempt to spam the page with a plethora of repetitive keywords.
Use each of the keywords within bold, italics, or underline formats also... sometimes this will add extra weight for those keywords.
Thats all for now, Ill be posting another article very soon going into detail about each of these aspects. I hope this article can help make your website a little better, keep checking out our new articles posted daily/weekly. Thanks for your interest, most importantly... Good Luck :)
- Bryant Smith
