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Why Everyone Needs to Learn SEO
Search Engine Optimization or “SEO” is essential for any website that wants to
rank organically at the top of the search results. Unfortunately, this means that
even the less tech-savvy business owner must have a little knowledge of what
SEO is in order to hire the most qualified individual.
Many individuals can talk the talk but will end up taking shortcuts that can
jeopardize your Search Engine Ranking Placement (SERP). In this presentation,
we will discover various techniques that professionals use everyday to maximize
the lifetime of a client’s SEO strategy.
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But first, what is “Black Hat” vs “White Hat”?
The phrase came around in the 1990’s
and while both may accomplish the
same short-term outcome, White Hat
is guaranteed to have greater
longevity. The way we describe it to
our clients is that the difference
between the two is in the strategy and
tactics one takes to get a higher
Search Engine Ranking Placement.
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Page Rank
Google was founded in the 1990’s by two Ph.D students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin,
out of a garage while attending Stanford University. What made Google so great
was that, unlike other search engines at the time, Google sorted a search query
based on relevance and page rank.
At the time page rank was obviously a very important ranking factor. Fast forward to
today and while page rank is still important, it is not as much of a ranking factor as it
once was.
Page rank is determined by various things like: backlinks, keyword specific link text
pointing to your site, title/links/content that your users would be searching for.
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Meta Data
Meta data is inserted in between the <header> tags of your document. Each
document should contain meta tags. The most common forms of meta tags are listed
below:
<meta name="description" content="A short page description which should contain your keyword at least
once and be less than 200 characters" />
<meta name="keywords" content="The keyword tag, is not a ranking factor, like it once was, however it is still
considered, good practice to use it" />
<meta name="author" content="DesignLoud">
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
<meta name="revisit-after" content="3 month">
<title>Example PAGE Title</title>
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Keyword Density
Keyword Density is very important in the sense that it is important you do not over
do it or under do it. Search engines recommend a minimum of 300 words per page.
Ideally, you want to have roughly 500 words if possible. Keyword Density is the
percentage of how often your keyword is used in your content. So for example if
your page has 100 words and you use your keyword 10 times the density would be
10% (this is considered black hat).
Generally, a good rule of thumb is to aim for a keyword density of 2% - 4%. When in
doubt, write naturally and make sure your keyword shows up at least once. The
worse thing is have too high of a density where you are considered spammy.
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Keyword Density (cont.)
Tips for using keywords:
Use Keyword in Permalink (URL)
H1 tag
H2 Tag
Meta title Tag (page title)
Start of the article
End of the article
Bold and Italics your Keyword and other keywords
Image alt tags and use your keyword as a linked text
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Backlinks
Backlinks, or “Link Juice” as we often
call it, is an important ranking factor in
search engines. It establishes authority
and credibility with your website and
domain. An effective backlinking
strategy is thought out with the
longevity in mind. You do not want to
rely on backlinks that will provide a
short gain but rather those that offer
valuable information in exchange for
the link.
Some ways to get backlinks:
➔ Guest Write For Another Blog
➔ Quality & Relevant Comments
➔ Finish Your Social Profiles
➔ Submit to directories like DMoz
➔ Press Releases
➔ Ask to exchange links
Pro Tip: Relevant websites with high page rank
and Educational/Government websites like .edu
and .gov give high link juice.
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In Conclusion
Now you have all of this information you should have the knowledge to start
working on your website, your client’s website, or to hire a professional. Just
remember, a quality website does not come cheap and you do not want to throw all
of that away with a short-term gain or by not educating yourself about an ethical
approach to SEO. Pride yourself on educating anyone who will listen (including
clients) so that they can perform or make informed decisions in the future.
Thank you for following along,
Derek Schmidt
