This beginners guide to Search Engine Optimization will be short and sweet. We do not really want to explain why we propose some of the suggestions in this Post. Feel free to send us comments if you do not agree with any of the suggestions we are making. We will divide this article into 2 parts. Firstly we will look at Onsite optimization, and secondly Offsite Optimzation.

NB: Before you can even start with Optimizing your website for Search Engines, you need to first do proper Keyword Research.

Onsite optimization

1. Content is King

Without content Search Engines will not rank your site for the keywords you would like to get rankings for. Having unique content is extremely important. Spun articles might seem like a viable option, but in our experience, it might work for the first few months, but after that you will find that your rankings will drop and you will probably receive a penalty on your domain. The are enough freelance copywriters out there that will give you a decent article on most topics. Always test these articles that they are not duplicates or spin articles.

2. Structure your content the way Search Engine want to see it

Search Engines need a way to identify what your site is all about. That is why Search Engines look for specific tags in the HTML code to determine what your page is all about. Depending on the Search Engine, they will assign different weights to each tag, but the basics are as follow (Top most important):

  • Title tag – This is the Title that will be displayed in your webpage. It is extremely important to have the main keywords in the Title tag. Keep it short (maximum 64 characters).
  • Url – The actual url should also contain the keywords you are optimizing for.
  • Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 and H6)
  • Bold Tags and italic tags
  • Internal Links – Links between pages on the same site. Remember to always use descriptive link text. Never link with “Click here” or “More” except if you have no other choice.
  • Description meta tag – this tag does not play such a big role in Search Engine Optimization anymore, because people misused it. However some of the search engines use it to display on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPS) below the title of your website.

    • Offsite optimization

    Offsite optimzation is all about link building. If content is king, then Links are definitely Queen.

    1. Build Links from external sites

    You need links from different domains, and if you want to get technical, from different C Class IPs.

    2. Build links from pages with related content

    Links from pages with related content is extremely important. Any kind of link will help but related links will tell the search engine exactly what your site is all about.

    3. Never buy links

    Search engines can easily determine if you are buying or selling links from your site. If you do this, you will get penalized and can event be removed from the Search Engines’ index. There are many different ways of getting links without buying them.

    4. Keep links natural

    You need to build links to your site in a natural way. If you create a lot of links in one week, and nothing the next, search engines will pick it up, and discard the links that were build in the first week.

    Other resources:

    If you have 7.52 minutes to spare, please watch this you tube video from Matt Cutts (guru from Google):
    What are some effective techniques for building links? – YouTube