Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of those things that every one says they know how to do but every one has different ideas on how to do it.
Some people claim that they have spent years studying and figuring out the best way to do SEO (and of course charge for their findings most of the time). These people do search engine specific tweaks, trying to cheat the engines to get their websites higher. The problem comes when one of these search engines change, and all those little tweaks suddenly aren’t effective anymore. Bummer. How do you avoid that?
First of all, what do search engines do, or rather try their best to do? Find relevant results for peoples search queries’ and list the best websites first and the worst ones last. There’s our cue, best websites are on top!
Duh? Maybe. But if so, why would people make search engine specific tweaks that don’t really make your website better? Search engines try their best to put the best websites on top, not the ones with all the latest and greatest tweaks.
So how do you get your website on top of google? You make your website better than everyone elses! But how do you do that?
Good question. One that I can only talk briefly about here. Is it all about content? Some people say it is, others just scoff at the people that say it is. What do I think? Yes, I think it’s important. Why do people come to your website? Lots of content isn’t the point though, it’s enough of the right content! Your pages should have as little content as possible and only the content that people want to see. How to do that is for another post.
Yeah yeah yeah, heard it all before! It can’t be just about content can it? Well, their are other factors. Like put the most important content on top of your page and least important on the bottom. This actually will effect your rank in google, but it’s not a tweak, it’s part of making your website better for your visitors. Most visitors won’t reach the bottom of your pages. People don’t read, they scan. Their are a few exceptions, like if they are reading an article like this one and get past the first two paragraphs without leaving, then they will likely get to the bottom. But in a way that is different than like your home page because this whole page is about one thing, SEO, the home page will likely have several different topics on it. That’s why on a blog the newest posts show up top.
So the best way to do SEO is simply to have good content… not too much but just enough of it and have it in the right spots. But wait, having the right content isn’t all there is to it!
It will probably be the number one factor to getting your website ranked higher (too simple? Who said it had to be hard?) but that isn’t what counts the most. Let me put it this way: Who cares if your website is on top of google if your website stinks? Care about your visitors.
You need to make your website usable! You have to make it work the way your visitors (not you, there’s a big difference) expect it to work. You have to make your website self explanatory and make it easy for people to find what they want without having to think! I’m not going to get into all that right now, and until I do (and even after I do), I would like to point you to the wonderfull book Don’t make me think by Steve Krug. It’s an excellent and short(!) book on web usability.
Making your website more accessable will help your rank on search engines. If not directly yet, it will inderectly. Well made and easy to use sites often get more incoming links. Google obviously likes that one, and probably always will.
Well, that’s all for now folks! Theirs allot to making your website usable, so don’t forget to check out the book Don’t make me think… it’ll make you think!