Basic On-Page SEO For New Websites

One problem that every webmasters are concerned about when launching their new websites is their rankings in search engines such as Yahoo!, Google, and MSN. This is because search engines give more weight on websites which have been online for years, or in short, older websites. Now even though some of these websites' designs are outdated compared to the new ones that features the most up-to-date and in-demand styles when it comes to designs and layouts, older websites or pages has already made its reputation when it comes to providing quality services and informations to web users which is why search engines gives much credits to these sites compared to new, uploaded sites.

We all know that when it come to a website built for marketing purposes, exposure should be one of its main features. Online advertisements are some of the many ways for a website to gain its purpose. Though somewhat effective, putting advertisements all over the web isn't enough to provide the necessary exposure a website should have. Other than advertisements, search engines are some of the primary websites used for gaining exposure. What better place to start raking in the traffic than the use of search engines. Majority of internet or web users today use search engines to search the web for what they are looking for. Utilizing search engines' capabilities is one effective way to gain the exposure every website needed for its success when it comes to online marketing. And what better way to do this than to apply simple SEO basics.

Although many have been using SEO for years to gain their exposure through every search engines, some webmasters or companies applying their first websites have not yet gained acquainted with the use of SEO. According to SEO Philippines consultants, though there are many companies out there that provides SEO services, one could learn the basics on how to optimize their own websites for search engines. Basics of SEO usually involves the optimization of the whole website, or making necessary changes to the design, layout and codes of the website. Here are some of the most important basics that every webmasters should prioritize to optimize their websites for search engines.

Priority #1: Keyword Research

Above all, researching on your keyword is very important if you want to make your website SEO friendly. Though this type of SEO is better to be left with the professionals, there are tools that can help anyone in their keyword research. Usually, keyword researching tools are free such as the use of Google Adwords which provides several keywords, their strength and their popularity in terms of their searchability in Google. Other than the use of Google Adwords, there are other tools used for keyword research.

Note: It's very important that the keyword researched is relevant to the website. Choose a keyword that is relevant to the website's services or products such as "buy foot wear" or "cheap apparel" for an online clothing shop. According to SEO Philippines consultants, this is one of the many guidelines that search engines have set for every websites. Failure to adhere with this guidelines would risk a website to be penalized or banned from a search engine.

Priority #2: URL Optimization

It is very important that the URL should be as keyword rich as possible. We have seen many URLs containing "?, % or =". Optimizers or SEO specialists as they call themselves frequently avoids these special characters and exchange it with the use of their researched keywords. This is important because search engine spiders usually crawls a website's URL first before the content of the website. By embedding our carefully selected keywords on URLs, search engine spiders would know if this website is more relevant that other websites, thus adding more weight on the website's capability to provide the necessary information.

Note: Do not overdo it. Keep it as simple and understandable as possible. If the page is about foot wear then is much more appropriate to write http://www.clothing.com/foot_wear.php than to write http://www.clothing.com/clothing_apparel_foot_wear.php.

Priority #3: Content Optimization

When it comes to content optimization, it doesn't only involve the things that visitors see such as texts, links or images, but also the coding used for the website. Content optimization usually includes the content (text), images, links, meta tags, alt tags, and sitemap.

* Content (text) - The content, texts in this case, is one of the most important basics of on-page optimization. This involves optimizing the content for both the visitors and the search engine spiders. One way of optimizing the content is to add multiple major and non-major keywords inside every content on every page of the website. According to SEO Philippines consultants, major keywords are those optimized researched keywords such as "buy foot wear" or "cheap apparel", and those non-major keywords are keywords that usually involves general words such as "clothing" or "apparel". Another thing to consider is putting keywords on headings. Aside from using the tag <font size> to make the texts larger, SEO specialists and consultants prefer using headings such as <h1>to make their texts larger. This is because <h1> is much more shorter than using <font size="15">, thus making it easier for search engine spiders to crawl the headings.
* Links - The usual approach that we see when we're navigating a site is through the use of the words "Click Here" and "Read More". Though visitors know what is inside that link, search engine spiders does not. SEO specialists and consultants usually use their keywords on links. Instead of using the usual "Click Here" or "Read More", they use "Check Out More On About Foot Wear" or "Buy Addida Rubber Shoes Now".
* Meta Tags - Meta tags are those content not seen by the visitors but are important for search engine spiders. Meta tags usually contain the title, description, and the keywords for the website. SEO specialists and consultants embed major and non-major keywords on these elements as a way for search engine spiders to know what is inside the website. Though search engines give less attention on meta tags nowadays, SEO specialists and consultants still use is as part of their on-page SEO techniques.
* Alt Tags - Alt tags, like meta tags, aren't seen and used by visitors, but for the search engine spiders. Alt tags are codes usually seen on image tags such as <img src="photo 1.jpg" alt="buy foot wear">. Though not as important as the text content itself, alt tags is one of the many places in which an SEO specialist or consultant can embed their major keywords.
* Sitemap - Ensure a sitemap is included in your web design and linked from your homepage. This enables search engines to navigate your whole site. XML sitemaps are also a great way to inform search engines of all of your web pages.

Margarette Mcbride is a copywriter of Optimind Web Design and SEO, a web design and seo company in the Philippines. Optimind specializes in building and promoting websites that are designed for conversion..