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These days, search engine optimization (aka SEO) seems to be a top priority for anyone with a website. Whether you are running a top notch online newspaper or a simple home owner's association website, showing up in the top of Google's search results is a goal that everyone seeks to achieve. Many of us search and search for the tips and tricks that will allow us to beat Google's algorithm, but with so many articles out there it is hard to know what is important and what is just filler.
The developers at Bondware have been researching this topic for quite some time, drudging over the reports and white papers, and have some tips that are sure to help give you a boost.
1. The Title Tag - The title of your page is the most important on-page element of SEO. Each page of content on your site will contain keywords. You want these keywords to match what a user might type into Google as closely as possible. Your title tag is some of the first text on the page that Google will see while crawling your site, so it only makes sense to have your chosen keywords in the title of the page. In addition to that, you want the keywords as close to the beginning of the title as possible, as this makes for even better optimization.
2. The URL - The url of your page is one of the most important elements of SEO that doesn't deal with the content. Just like the title tag, you will want to use the keywords that most closely match what a user might type into Google to find your page. A lot of sites will use the same text they used for the title tag or a slight variation. A common format would be something like http://www.bondware.com/online-newspaper-website-software-cms-251. Remember to keep in mind that the keywords should be as close to the domain as possible and Google prefers multiple words to be separated with hyphens.
3. Your Content - It doesn't matter how well you optimize a page, if your content isn't good, then its not going to work. Make your content interesting to users. Also, find ways to insert your keywords naturally throughout the text. Don't overdo it though! Generally, 3 - 4 times throughout the page will do.
4. Alt Attributes - Each image within your page can have an alt attribute assigned to it. This allows you to enter text which can be used if the image cannot be loaded. However, it also turns out to work very well for SEO. So, any time an image is used on your page, be sure to specify an alt attribute.
5. External Links - If others think your content is important, then it must be! So, having links to your content from other sites (especially high ranking sites) gives your site more authority. There are many ways to build your external links including link exchanging, participating in forums related to your content with your link in your signature, online directory, etc. This tip isn't exactly a quick fix, but is certainly worth building up over time.
With the latest version of the Bondware Core (and some of our modules) we are integrating more and more tools to assist you with creating an SEO friendly website. Tips 1 - 4 are easily accomplished and our support staff is always happy to help. I hope that these tips will help with your search engine optimization needs and please post below if you have any tips of your own.
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According to Wikipedia, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is "the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via 'natural' or un-paid search results as opposed to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion". So SEO is a way that you can bring more users to your site without having to pay for them! Anyone with a website should love the idea of obtaining more readers/users without having to pay anything.
Now, you may be asking yourself, do I really need to optimize my website? The answer to this question depends on the type of site that you have. If you have a personal family website, then the answer may be no for you. You would probably be content with your family and friends knowing about the website. However, if you are any type of business or organization, then optimizing your website could help you increase things like new customers, members, etc.
So you are probably wondering how to get started. Well there are plenty of things that you can do to get started. One good tool to help you along the way is Google Analytics. This is a service offered by Google which allows you to track things on your sites such as Unique Visitors, Bounce rates and Entrance Keywords. After setting that up, you can begin making changes to your site and measuring those changes. Our next post goes into more depth on what changes you should make, so keep an eye out!
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