Many people are confused by what SEO is.   SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  In most cases, optimizing for Google is the way to go.  So how do you optimize.  Well there are 3 different types of optimization that you can use.  The first which I will discuss below is Page optimization.  The second is site optimization, and finally, off site optimization.

Search engines use things called bots that search your html for links, pictures, and text.  It indexes the text and stores other pieces of information.  It uses various algorithms to determine what value a site has.  There are many determining factors that come into play here.  Today I will talk about page optimization.

Bots like ordered structure.  They like it when pages provide them information about the topics and structure of the page.   Here are the elements that Google looks for and some examples from a previous post.

1. Title Tags
This is an area in a web page where the text is placed that shows the title of the website on the very top of the web browser window. Search engines use title tags to make a link in search results.   The form I use is having the title of the post with a separation bar and then the name of the blog or url.

<title>Psychology of Personal Branding | ChrisKilber.com</title>

2.  Meta tag description
A Meta Tag Description is a section of web page markup that provides the basic description about the website.   Pay close attention to what meta data get put into this tag.  It play an important role in determining page ranking and indexing.  The contents of your description tag is what you will usually see on the search engine results on Google.

<meta name="description" content="There are a lot of psychological factors
in play that cause people to be “Attracted” to you. Come read what they are
to better understand how to use them." />

I’ve even heard that overriding the contents of meta description and changing it to a call of action will result in more people clicking it.  I plan on doing an experiment to test this theory out.  Look for something soon about this.

3. Meta Tag Keywords
Meta Tag Keywords play a similar role as the description tags to emphasize the terms that describe what the page is about.

<meta name="keywords" content="Personal Branding, Action,  Content,  How To, 
Leadership,  Marketing, Psychology" />

4. Keyword Density
A specific percentage of keywords that are used on a web page are referred to as keyword density.  A keyword’s density must be between 2% to 8 % for page ranking that is considered good.   This technique is the heart and soul of Search Engine Optimization.

5. URL Structure
If you want your website to rank high then the URL structure that you use needs to be related to the context of the website.  You should be able to read a url and figure out what the page is about.  For example:

http://www.chriskilber.com/psychology-of-personal-branding/

See below:  I will reveal exactly how I accomplish the above items.

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• In my next posts will be how I get the best page optimization through the use of several plugins that actually overlap into site optimization.  You may be surprised as to how I do it.  Hint (I don’t use All-In-One SEO Pack).

• If you are using the default WordPress setup then it’s probable that your blog has been banned from many ping services because of ping spamming.  I have a plug-in that stops this.

• The slugs used by your permalinks may be flawed, even using %postname%.  I’ll show you how to solve it.

• Are you ALWAYS filling out <alt> tags with your images?  If not your missing out on a lot.  I have a plugin that will automatically do that for you if you forget.

• And finally, how you can use your followers comments to generate more traffic.  This plugin is a gold mine.

Till later this week…

Have a remarkable day!