Search Engine Optimization: How to Get Your Web Pages Noticed If you want to make a living working online you first need to have a web page. Of course, there are millions of web pages out there, so just because one of them is yours doesn’t mean people will be able to find it. The way people locate web pages is by searching for a subject using and search engines such as Google or Yahoo!
So it’s important when designing your web pages to use techniques that will make them more likely to be noticed by these search engines. This can be done by using techniques that are referred to as search engine optimization, or SEO.
Search engines want to know what your website is about before recommending it. To do that they go out and scan the Internet using programs called spiders. When Google scans your site, their spiders can’t actually really read, but they are looking for keywords and phrases.
When you post a new web page it is important to make specific keywords stand out. This can be done by including the keyword in the title and repeating the keyword two or three times. This will tell the spiders what your page is about. When doing this, it is important to be accurate and specific.
For example, let’s say your website is about dog training. One of your pages is about how to train German Shepherds to roll over. You want anyone searching for the term “how do I teach my German Shepherd to roll over?” sent to your page. If, however, your page is named “Getting dogs to roll over,” you are not optimizing your keywords for the search engines. You need to include the keywords in your title, for instance: “How to Teach German Shepherds to Roll Over.” Now your keywords, which are the subject of your article, stand out to the spiders.
Good search engine optimization also means that your article will contain informative information about the subject you are optimizing. You will hear this referred to as “good content.” Therefore, your article should include several instructive tips on how to get a German Shepherd to roll over. Never name an article one thing when the article is about something entirely different. It will only get you in trouble with the search engines.
Another good trick is to use words related to your keywords in your article or post. The spiders are sophisticated enough to recognize related words. For instance, your article might include phrases such as “dog training” “dog obedience” “teaching German Shepherds”, etc. As the spiders scan your page they will be looking for words and phrases that are related to your subject.
It is difficult to get ranked in the search engines for a broad topic, such as “Dog Training.” But when you pick a specific niche, such as “teaching German Shepherds”, you stand a much better chance of achieving high rankings because you will be fewer competing web pages. Think about it, a lot more people write about “dog training” than write about “how to teach German Shepherds.” We call these niche-specific phrases long-tailed keywords. They are called this because they are usually made up of four or five-word phrases that are very specific.
Search engine optimization may be a new term to you, but if you want to make a living online it is a term you will need to get very familiar with. There are lots of tricks of the trade that will make your website stand out for the search engines.
