How To Attain SEO

By: Dan Keen

Break Studios Contributing Writer

Once you decide to create a website, the first step is to attain SEO, that is, to structure your website in a way for "search engine optimization." Many people will find your website by using a search engine and entering a key word or phrase for the information they are looking for. Your goal is to position your website so that it will come up high on the list of search engine results.

Place keywords and phrases repeatedly throughout your webpage as a prime factor in attaining SEO. Although there are many factors that search engines use in their algorithms to determine the most relevant websites for a particular keyword or phrase, placing these terms naturally within the text multiple times is very important.
Position keywords and phrases at and near the top of your webpage. Some search engines use the placement of keywords on a page in their SEO formula. When these words appear at the top of the page more often then at the bottom, they are given more significance.
Use keywords in the title of your webpage. One SEO factor is the additional weight given to keywords that appear in a webpages title compared to the same words appearing in the body text.
Include the most important keywords first relating to your webpage in the page’s Meta tag list. Meta tags are lines of text included with a webpage which contain information about the page such as key words, a title and a description. SEO information is often gotten by the search engine examining the data placed in the Meta tag section.
Use very specific keywords in your webpage’s text whenever possible. The narrower and more specific the keyword or phrase, the better the chance of coming up high on a search engine’s results list. For example, if your website sells pet supplies, specific keywords might include "leather dog collars" as opposed to simply "collars".
Avoid depending on graphics and audio sounds as a way to increase SEO ratings. Search engine crawlers can’t hear and they can’t see. A graphic image of a pet may be a valuable access to the visual design of your website, making it attractive to viewers. However, it won’t help search engines direct searchers to your site. The same goes for including music or speech on your site. These are important factors in keeping people at your site once there, but it won’t bring them to your site.
Exchange links with other websites to attain SEO. Search engines give higher ranking to sites that hve lots of links pointing to the site. These are called "inbound links," and the more of them there are the more relevant the search engines perceives the site to be regarding the specific keyword. Sites that sell companion products to products you offer are often willing to do a "link exchange." They will put a link to your site on their website in exchange for you placing a link to them on your website. For example, if you sell baby strollers, a perfect exchange link would be with a company that sells baby clothes.
Register your website with search engines. Search engines continuously crawl the Internet to find websites to add to their database. You can ensure that they find you by registering your site with them. Not all search engines accept registrations, but Google and Yahoo!, which are two of the biggest ones, do allow the registering of a website’s home page.