5 Extremely Valuable Search Engine Optimization Tips

By Carmen Jackson

Search engine optimization is the most cost effective way for a company to market their products and services. Below are 5 extremely valuable search engine optimization tips:

1. Content is Key
Webmasters are extremely concerned with optimizing their code and as a result, they often forget about optimizing the content. As optimization tips go, this is one you should pay close attention to. The first 200 words of your home page should be loaded with keywords, this includes your headline. Some search engines, particularly those that ignore meta tags, will actually use the first few lines of text (including the headline) as your site description.

2. Utilize Static HTML
You don't need a “dynamic” website unless you have dynamic content, such as airline seat availability and pricing which needs to be dynamically published from a database because it constantly changes. You may store your website in a database but you're better off publishing it as a static HTML website. It's cheaper, the pages will download faster, and search engines will find it easier to comprehensively index your website.

The less HTML code you have, the better, as it makes it easier and faster for the search engine to index your page. Aim for a total page weight of 50 KB for any page (that's including graphics). Certainly, anything over 100 KB is going to be slow, and some search engines don't like pages that are over 100 KB.

3. The Title Tag is Critical
The title tag is the single most important piece of content for people who search. Keep it short: Don't have more than 60 characters (with spaces), which is roughly 8-10 words. Lead with the most important careword for that particular page. Always start off with what is specific about the page and move to what is general. Many websites begin their title with their brand or organization name, and then follow with what is unique about the page. (This is a very common mistake, so check out your website.)

4. Optimize Your Images
This is another optimization tip that many people forget about. However, through use of your "alt" image attribute tag, you can slip in an extra keyword phrase or two that describes the picture users are about to see. The text only shows up when the user has turned off the 'view images' option in their browser or the image fails to load. But some search engine robots will pick it up too and the extra keywords could help your ranking. So take a few seconds to implement this optimization tip on your site and you could see improved results soon.

5. Why You Shouldn't Optimize Your Own Site
While we have given you some basic optimization tips to help you quickly boost your search engine ranking, we still recommend that you hire a Search Engine Optimization professional for the best results. Search engines change their guidelines regularly, making it impossible for any one or two people to stay on top of all the changes while still running their business. What was a great optimization tip yesterday, could get your site blacklisted today. Your SEO professional will watch over your site as if it was our own, ensuring your site is always running in peak form. For example, we predicted many of the guideline changes Google made in November of 2003, saving many of our customers from the massive fall in rankings most experienced.

About the Author

Carmen is the VP Client Relations of Ms. SEO Inc., a Calgary based Search Engine Optimization & Internet Marketing Company.

Ms. Seo Inc. works with their sister company Ms. Hype Inc., a Calgary Web Design Company, to offer their clients a powerful online presence.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/s

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A Google Bomb takes advantage of the fact that Google uses Back Links as a Key Part of their Page rank Algorithm. If you want the number one ranking for a Keyword like "Google" all you need to do is get enough web pages to link to your page with the Anchor Text "Google" and you will rank #1 for Google (even if the word Google appears no where on your site.)

To see a Google Bomb in action go to Google and type in Failure and hit enter. The Very first search result will be 'Biography of President George W. Bush' Yet the word Failure appears no where on the Page. The reason for this is Google Bombing. A Group of People got together and created web pages with links to The Presidents Biography with Anchor text Failure.

Using the same technique you can dominate any Keyword you want. A simple way to do this would be to post comments to blogs linking back to a web page of your choice using the anchor text of your Choice.

The Downside of this method is that it could be very time consuming Posting Comments to blogs and then Pinging those Blogs. The Next problem of course is as the Blog Posts get archived and Roll off the page you loose the effectiveness of the Google Bomb.