My Top 5 SEO Tips

La evolución del SEO desde sus orígenes

What’s up guys. Carlton Stith here and I’m back to share with you my thoughts on web accessibility. I will also present my top 5 SEO tips and recommendations to lead you in the right direction to make sure your site and/or blog is properly optimized for web searches.


What Is SEO?

SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the combination of organic techniques that are employed to make your site more favorable to search engines and searchable for web users. Good SEO practices results in increased visibility on the web. Google has provided a great guide to help you started.

Google uses an algorithm to structure the way a site appears and how it is categorized within the search engine. This algorithm is responsible for indexing your site and its related terms to provide the individual searching for your services the best possible experience. Numerous components make up this technology and web sites should be created for the user and not Google.

Google changes this process frequently. Most recently, Google restructured their complicated algorithm and introduced Panda and Penguin. A lot of companies on the web got hit hard and were penalized. A lot of web sites fell victim to this restructure. Companies saw their rankings drop and they were forced to restructure their SEO techniques. SEO should be a weekly process and should be taken seriously if you are determined to market your business well.


Getting good with SEO.

These days everyone with a website, blog or YouTube video wants that #1 spot. That first page on Google, Yahoo and Bing is coveted and there are a lot of ways to get there but most people are unsure how. Search Engine companies are tight-lipped on how they rank sites so it’s up to you to do your own research. I’m not an SEO expert but I’ll share with you several ways…(well actually it’s 5)…I’ve learned that can help you get there. But before I do that, I want to introduce two terms that I think you should be familiar with…


Black Hat SEO vs. White Hat SEO

Black Hat SEO and White Hat SEO are like the Ying and the Yang of web optimization efforts. One may seem good at first glance but is actually harmful while the other may not initially offer the rewards you are looking for but will eventually pay off. Avoid shady companies that make promises regarding your site’s SEO. These companies might offer a guarantee to get you listed on page one in Google in as little as a week. This is impossible! These companies use what is called “Black Hat” SEO. They might do certain things to your site such as keyword stuffing, writing nonsense content, etc. Google does not honor this stuff and will penalize your site if your caught. If you plan on doing your own optimization, concentrate on using good SEO practices and you will get positive results.

“White Hat” SEO is the practice of using certain techniques that are honored and recommended by Google to assist you optimization efforts. Tactics such as on and off site SEO, title tag optimization, good keyword usage, using descriptive image and alt tags, etc. are well regarded and should be used instead.

Why We Don't Do Negative SEO

Link juice is the stuff that will drive up your rankings and bring visitors to your website.

How Do I Get #1 on Google?

In order to get favorable rankings on search engines, there are a handful of best practices that can be implemented. I suggest that you follow these 5 tips that I will mention. Do your homework too and feel free to let me know what you find. Did any of my tips work for you? I’d like to know.


My Top 5 SEO Recommendations.

1. Start writing regularly for yourself and others.

Write a blog and update it regularly. Present quality content that people want. On the web, dynamic content is king. Focus on creating quality, fresh and reliable content for the search engine spiders. Guest blogging isn’t a bad idea either. Writing for a site other your own blog can expose your site to new readers and it also builds a community. This exposure can also equal free advertising.

2. Practice Onsite and Offsite Optimization.

Use social media to spread the word about your blog. Use Google Adwords to conduct your research. Use the title tag to tell the search engine what your page is about. Make sure your titles aren’t duplicated or else you could be sabotaging your efforts. Use your key phrase within your links.

3. Get a Google Analytics Account.

Step One: Sign up for a Google Analytics and a Google Webmaster Tools account. Step Two: Research keywords related to your business or service and use these in your meta tags and content. Google provides several tools to help you make your site more accessible to those searching for the things you have to offer. The interface can be intimidating at first but Google also offers several YouTube hosted tutorials to help you get the most out of it.

4. Make sure you are writing clean, semantic markup in HTML5.

If your markup isn’t using the latest that HTML5 has to offer, screen readers might have a hard time indexing your content. Trust me on this guys, you want to do this or make sure that your web developer is doing this for you. These new tags will “describe” your content rather than simply creating divides. The markup tags are better for your site’s accessibility and ranking. Elements such as <video> and <audio> have replaced Adobe Flash and should be used, along with the other components, throughout your site.

5. Be patient.

Changes won’t happen overnight. Make sure you are active on as many social media networks as possible. Use Authority Labs and Google Analytics to monitor and keep track of your results. It might take days, weeks or even months before you see a return on your efforts. But it will pay off if you follow these simple steps.

keyword-stuffing

“Keyword stuffing” refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results.
via Google Webmasters Tools


Conclusion

The key points to take away from this is do your homework, research will pay off and have patience. Search Engine Optimization is not a one-time thing. You have to keep current and make changes accordingly.

Once again, stay far away from companies or anyone else that guarantees they will get you to the first page on Google overnight. These black hat companies will get you blacklisted on Google and you don’t want to bite the hand that’s trying to feed you. They can ban your site and it might take more effort to get re-listed than you could imagine. I’m not an expert on this stuff. I’m merely sharing my thoughts and recommending 5 tips that I’ve gathered through my research. If you have any tips, please feel free to share. What are your feelings on SEO? Leave a comment below and share this post with your friends.

As always, thanks for reading my blog. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook or shoot me an email. Until next time, peace.

 

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