SEO Checklist - Part I

On Page Optimization

Search engine optimization is more than simply implementing specific code and “keywords” here and there throughout a website; it’s a bit of science, art and marketing mingled together. If you are new to SEO, or not wanting to hire a specialist, here’s an SEO checklist regarding on-page optimization to get you started.

1.    Plan your website well. Understand and decide what information you want your site to cover, and what goals you want to accomplish. Then make sure you have a page for each topic.

2.    Perform keyword research. You need to know what keywords and phrases Internet users are typing into the search boxes to find the products and services you provide. You can utilize the free or paid versions of Keyword Discovery and Wordtracker, or the Google keyword tool which is free.

3.    Utilize long tail keywords. Be specific; don’t base your keyword strategy around general or generic keywords such as “food”. Instead, make use of long tail keywords such as “gluten free food” etc. Optimizing your website for these types of searches will garner more qualified visitors.

4.    Allocate specific keywords to each page of your site. Decide which keywords you want to target on each page of your website. Doing this ahead of time ensures you create content for all of your keyword topics and create and link the pages in a logical manner.

5.    Write unique title and description tags. Each page of your site should have a distinctive title and description tag. This is one of the main ways to alert the search engine spiders to exactly what your page is about. This is also what will appear in the SERP’s (search engine results pages) to entice searchers to click on your listing. Be descriptive; then deliver. If your title tag says “Natural Childbirth Photos”, than you better show natural childbirth photos.

6.    Write excellent, informative content. People use the Internet to find information; if you provide a product or service, give people the information and facts that will get them to your site and keep them there; information surrounding what you do/provide. If you are a Massage Therapist, write content on “the benefits of massage therapy” or “infant massage therapy” if that is a specialty of yours, etc.

7.    Incorporate keywords into content. Within the content of each page of your site, easily blend in the keywords you have chosen to target on a specific page; do not stuff. If it sounds funny to you, then remove some instances keywords.

8.    Minimize Flash. Flash is good in small doses; but an all Flash website erects a barrier for search engines. Search engines “read” they do not “see”.

9.    Give images descriptive alt attributes. Search engines can’t “see” images, but they can “read” text. With an alt attribute you can tell the search engine what you are displaying to your visitors, and increase your websites relevancy to a given topic.

10.  Create a sitemap. There should be a page on your website with text based links to every page on the site; and every page on your site should link to the sitemap page. This ensures that search engines have an easy to navigate path through a website so as to index everything. This is also good for your site visitor.

This is just a beginning SEO checklist, but will get you started. Always keep in mind that search engine optimization should first be for your website visitors; as this is who the search engines are in business to please. If you consider implementing something that will have no positive effect on your visitor's experience, than it probably isn’t a tactic the search engines will approve.
                                                                                                                                                                                                     Read SEO Checklist Part 2 >>



Author Bio with html
Josh Bill is the Owner of E-Learn About and an accomplished writer and Search Engine Optimization Specialist. Find more articles on <a href="http://e-learnabout.com/seo-checklist-1.php">internet marketing</a> as well as a variety of other topics at E-Learn About on the web at http://e-learnabout.com. 


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