SEO Tips

A fairly random selection of tips for webmasters.

SEO Tip #1

Try to provide unique, focussed, and useful content - all three constitute Quality in SEO terms. On the other hand, duplicate content, irrelevant content, and content that alienates users, can all hurt your site - only Quality Content can help it.

See also: Content is King by Bill Gates

SEO Tip #2

If many of your deeper pages fail to appear in Google's index, then you have a real need for an XML sitemap.

Even that is no guarantee, but it can be a valuable and effective way to get new URLs spidered, provided that your site navigation has been previously checked.

If you use webmaster tools (and if you don't, now is the time to start!), then using a Google sitemap can aid diagnosis too.

See also: Google's webmaster Tools

SEO Tip #3

Don't be seduced by Grey Hat SEO.

You often see suggestions that 'gray hat' methods are 'cheats' and 'shortcuts' that enable you to get to the top of the search engine results.

Not so. 'Grey hat' is black hat without the courage of its convictions.

There really cannot be a grey area; either you cheat, or you don't. If you use such methods, you could lose your Search Engine listings - and your income.

The SEO industry is not Black, nor is it White; It's Black and White (like every other industry!). Every webmaster has a clear and free choice.

See also: White Hats, Black Hats and SEs

SEO Tip #4

Over-optimization is a leading symptom of sick site syndrome, and one of the hardest to treat - it requires loads of willpower, and often unlearning outdated (or slightly outdated) advice.

See also: Quadrille's Laws

SEO Tip #5

The point of the <H1> tag is to identify the heading for a page.

If you select, say, 200 words, then you are effectively arguing that there is no heading for the page - if everything is #1 priority, then nothing is!

Plus it is quite possible (probable?) that SEs have seen H1 abuse so often that they simply pick your first x characters, should you fail to place the </H1> appropriately.

See also: How important are H1 tags? - A discussion from Webmaster World that's still useful after all these years!

SEO Tip #6

Think carefully before submitting articles to article farms.

Most article farms give you few or no referrals, and a link from deep on the farm is nothing compared to the gift you have given to them. Worst case scenario - no referrals, no link value. And that is not at all unusual.

Even that Very Rare Thing, a Quality Article Farm, will give you only a few referrals, and a minor link. That's the very best case scenario.

But rich, unique content on YOUR site is much more likely to attract visitors via search engines to exactly where you want them to be ... on YOUR site.

Who gets the most benefit from farming, the turkey or the farmer?

SEO Tip #7

It can take months for a whole new site to become assimilated; the time often referred to as the sand box. New sections or content on an existing stable site usually settles down and joins the rankings in a matter of weeks; shorter time for sites that get frequent spidering.

Changing domain names can undo all the work you have ever done to make your site a success - and at the very least, it's a major cause of sick site syndrome!

See also: Cool URIs don't change

SEO Tip #8

Non-related linking is a risky strategy with doubtful benefits; in the longer term, you may harm your primary site - especially if somone reports you for paidlinks, which it may resemble!

I routinely use my existing sites to 'kickstart'new ones, and I'd do exactly the same with bricks'n'mortar (indeed, you'd be a fool NOT to!). But these days, I withdraw the links, once the site gets moving - the risk of collateral damage is just too great. And the benefits no way justify that risk.