Search Engine Optimization Tutorial

This tutorial on Search Engine Optimization (a.k.a. SEO Optimization) will provide you with some easy-to-implement ideas for increasing your website's rankings in the major search engines. This article is intended as an quick, easy introduction to the vast topic – not a comprehensive textbook.

Before getting into any specifics, I'd like to cover these ground rules:

Build your site for your visitors, not for the search engines.
Use as much text (especially keyword-rich text) as possible.
Don't use sneaky "black hat" SEO tricks. They'll come back to haunt you.
Spread the word about your site as much as you can both online and off.

Text is Better

Search engines find sites (your site) by searching for text. They don't search images, they don't search Flash, they don't search videos. So, if you want them to find you, you need to have lots of keyword rich text that they can pick up on. Of course, images aren't all bad. You want your site to be attractive to visitors so that they stay on your site and explore what it is that you have to offer. So, wherever it is possible to do so attractively, replace images with text (especially in titles and navigation menus).

Don't be Sneaky

Read over Google's Webmaster Guidelines and avoid the things they tell you to avoid. There are always sneaky tricks you hear about people using to increase their rankings (like link farming, displaying different pages to spiders, etc.), but eventually the big search engines catch on and penalize the sites that employ them. So, just build a good, clean site as outlined below and the rankings will follow.

Spread the Word

This isn't limited to online – it includes the real world. Mention your site to all your friends and anyone who you come across who seems like they'd be interested. If they like what they see, they might create a link to your site or send your information along to someone else who does. Basically, just generate a buzz about your site.

Of course, promoting your site online is even more important. Post links to your site on your blog(s) and on any social networking sites you are on. Additionally, I have included below a list of directories & search engines that you should submit your site to. There are many more out there, but frankly, I think your time would be better spent creating valuable, interesting content for your site than filling out submission forms for every directory that comes along.

Other SEO Tips

Everything up to this point has been big, important points. This list is some more specific ideas that will help your rankings if employed. Try to use as many of them as you can.

Use unique, descriptive titles and meta tags (both keywords and description) for each page. The meta description is usually what shows up on the search engine's results page. So, having a clear, interesting description can help persuade a browser to click on the link to your site.
Use human-friendly URLs with dashes instead of underscores and avoiding question marks whenever possible. Example: /search-engine-optimization.php is a better URL than /display.php?article=seo_opt. More advanced developers should look into mod_rewrite to take this a step further.
Keep your pages at the same address unless it is absolutely necessary that you move them. Search engine spiders don't like being redirected and will often penalize you for too many redirects. Plus, you may lose people who have book marked your pages.
If you do have to move your pages, use 301 Redirects. For more information on this, check out this article.
Register your domain for as long as possible (usually 10 years). Google weights sees this as a sign of longevity and accordingly rewards it with slightly higher rankings.
Create sitemaps and submit them with the big search engines.
Move the title and meta tags as close to the top of your header in your pages' code as you can.

Conclusion

As I stated at the top, this is just an introduction into the world of Search Engine Optimization. If you're looking for more information, I'd suggest that you check out these SEO Books.

This article was written by Robert James Reese of Lantenengo Industries. It was last updated March 2, 2008. If you see a glaring omission on this page, feel free to contact me and let me know.