For those of you who arent subscribed :::*ahem* see link in signature::: or for those of you who didnt receive last week's issue due to full mailboxes or the fearless filter, below was my SEO Task List as published in Self-Starters Weekly Tips:
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I've learned a new dance this week... the Google Dance that is
You can watch me hit the floor with two left feet on this one as a discussion moved from the General Discussion forum to the SEO forum this
week:
http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/f ... .php?t=182
(a special thank-you to Henrik Flensborg, of
http://www.keyword-optimization-tools.c ... dHawk.html for helping me kick off the new SEO Forum at SSWT!)
I've learned so much about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) this week that my head is spinning! I have figured out one very important thing, though: If you want to market your website through the search engines (you should be nodding yes), be prepared to either dig in and spend some serious time researching & learning SEO... or hire a professional!
I personally recommend subscribing to Henrik's newsletter at the link above, and attending Sharon & Roy Montero's SEO Class at
http://www.eclecticacademy.com/websitedev.htm#seo . You can also get a no-cost 1 Hour SEO Telephone Consultation with them by calling 760-378-2539.
On to my SEO Task List!
The first three things that Lynn has to do to
optimize her websites for search engine ranking:
1) Target Market and Keyword research
While I know my target market for both websites, I admit that I need some serious fine-tuning of my keyword usage. Am I reaching my targeted market with the keywords and keyword phrases I am using now? Wait...*which* keywords and keyword phrases *am* I currently using? Once I get a list of keywords compiled that I am sure are better suited to reach my target market... then I must research those keywords and narrow it down to the ones that are used in *many* daily searches but have the fewest results (to achieve a top ten - and hopefully number one - spot on the major search engines).
Once I get those final results... you guessed it:
2) Redesign all pages to reflect new keywords & keyword phrases
This includes paying close attention to the text that is used in Backward Links, HTML Title Tag, Meta Description Tag, Meta Keywords Tag (If you use one), Heading Tag, Strong/Bold Tag, Italic/Emphasis Tag and the Underline Tag. (thanks again to Sharon & Roy for posting this information at the forum!)
I have also been advised to use appropriate keywords and keyword phrases on each page - to reflect the content that is on that page. This will be a tedious, page-by-page project... but *well* worth it!
3) Rename all of my files (ouch! All 200-something of them?!)
Yup... all of them. The "Underscore vs Hyphen Debate for Filenames" was a real eye-opening topic! You can view it online here:
http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/f ... .php?t=183. I am guilty of not using anything to separate keywords so that they are recognized as such by the major search engines, using for example "newsletterpromotion.htm" when I *should* be using "newsletter-promotion.htm". Of course, I found out why even that is not the best filename to use, which takes me back to my research phase
It was said in the forum (by James Mann of
http://www.2ezguides.com/swamp-email-course.html) that "it pays to be the newbie" - hehe, I'd definitely agree! Reworking an entire site (or two, like me!) can be tedious... but at whatever phase in web development you are - take this serious!
I hope you found my musings helpful in opening your mind to a few ways that you can update your own website to achieve a higher ranking in the major search engines. This is by no means "complete" - To learn even more SEO strategy, and how to implement it, visit the new SEO Forum at SSWT:
http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/f ... m.php?f=10
by Lynn Terry » Tue Jun 24, 2003 11:48 am 
