SEO Optimisation
Search Engine Optimisation also known as Search Engine Optimization (American spelling) and abbreviated to SEO, is the process of manipulating a web page to rank better in search engines. SEO is one of the most important marketing tools that your company can invest in and may soon overtake many other mediums that allow advertising.
The first SEO technique that I use with all my websites is a well structured semantically correct hierarchical site targeting keywords and great content. This has many SEO benefits for you and your users and will result in better rankings in google and other search engines. The second technique is to use quality incoming links giving your website the distinction between you are your competitors thrusting you to the number 1 position in search engines.
Faster loading pages
The time it takes a page to load is very important, if it takes too long a user may just leave and visit another website. Faster loading pages is one important facet of SEO and will not only make you rank higher in google but will please your visitors and keep them at your website for longer.
Easier to update SEO content
Content that has been poorly constructed can make updating your site very difficult. Have you ever tried moving content from an old website to a new website? It generally doesn't work too well and is because poor superfluous tags were used. All websites that I build are easier to update because of the semantically succinct HTML code used.
Title Tag Optimisation
The title tag or otherwise known as the page title, is probably the most important tag in the HTML document. You are only allowed to use this tag once and every page on the internet is required to have one. The title tag is search engine optimised on every single page of your site to maximise the benefits of this important element.
H1 tag optimisation
The SEO H1 tag is used for the largest headings on a web page. As this is the most important heading that you can use, it means it is perfect for SEO. Therefore the h1 heading tag is specifically position and targeted in a way that boosts your page ranking.
Meta keywords tag
Did you know that google and other search engines do not scan the meta keywords tag? Yes it's true and they stopped scanning these keywords a number of years ago. Some SEO companies still use this technique and it even has a negative effect on your website. There the meta keywords tag is never used on any sites that I build.
Meta description tag
The meta description tag is used for search engines to display information about your page in their search result pages. This needs to be appealing for users to want to click on your page but it should also be optimised with your chosen keywords.
Semantic tag optimisation
I've mentioned a number of tags thus far and there are many more elements to a web page. If the correct tag is used for each part of the web page, your page will rank higher in google. This is called semantic tag optimisation and it takes years to perfect. The correct choice for each tag means search engines like your page better and the elimination of superflous elements and tags makes your page load faster.
Image optimisation
Images are great for displaying more information than you could be put into words and is also fantastic at producing emotional responses. Each image on the page is read by search engines except instead of them seeing a picture, they see the underlying code. All images are optimised for speed, accessibility and search engines including the use of alt, title and longdesc if needed ensuring your page gets those extra ranking points.
SEO friendly URL integration
The URL is the address of your web page. For example http://www.marcwatts.com.au/web-development.html. Some URLs aren't scanned by google and other search engines and the ones that are scanned influence how your page is ranked. Keywords and phrases are included in web page addresses ensuring your pages are indexed for the correct phrase you are targeting. My websites use the best SEO friendly URL integration possible.
HTML 5 advanced tags
HTML 5 is the most advanced code that you can use to create a website. Many web development companies have still not even started using HTML 5 and are falling behind. When search engines scan your website, they also check your code and if it uses the latest practices, it means your site is more relevant and up to date and given a higher rating.
Javascript and CSS combining and compression
Javascript and CSS files are used to add animations, effects and styles to your website and web pages. It is important that all Javascript and CSS files are compressed to ensure optimal speed and browsing pleasure. Google and other search engines love fast sites and the optimisation methods that I use are some of the best in the world.
Google sitemap integration
A lot of companies advertise about google sitemap integration and the benefits of doing it. These companies are wrong. A google sitemap is never used for a site that works, it is used in a last case scenario if the site is in some way inaccessible. Therefore google sitemap integration is not needed on websites and doing so is a waste of time and adds extra costs to deployment.
Google robots.txt integration
A google robots.txt file ensures google and other search engines do not scan and store pages in their database that they shouldn't. Other web development companies may use such tactics but what it means is that important files are being store accessible through the web. This is a bad web development practice and why I keep all my important files that should not be scanned outside of accessible website areas, think of it as a firewall which blocks everything out.
Meta robots integration
A meta robots tag tells google and other search engines how to scan a page. But if another website links to the page then this overrides the meta tag. Basically this tag should not be used and is not used with any website or SEO package. Any company using this meta tag does not fully understand the implications of it.
W3C correct pages
Validated error free pages are easier to scan, render faster and work better in more browsers. All custom made pages are validated against errors allowing google and other search engines to scan and collate your keywords easier and more proficiently. In the end, websites are scanned more often and rank better.
Hierarchical parent page navigation
Articles on a web page should not be isolated and should have follow up pages further enhancing and collaborating what you initially stated. What this involves is creating a hierarchical navigation system in which the more important pages are up the top of the chain. This will boost the credibility of those important articles.
Image spriting
Image spriting is the process of combining images to produce a mosaic type image in which only certain parts are displayed when needed. Best used for background images and has the major advantage of reducing HTTP requests and eliminates the flicker you may see in some sites. This increases user satisfaction, speeds up your website and keeps background information in the background which enhances your keywords and core images.
Image naming and alt text
Correct file naming of images helps google and other search engines understand what your images are. The alt text in which you describe the image that is being displayed can also be used for SEO. Find images that relate to your business and which the user wants to see, then name the file correctly and describe the image using your keywords will boost your SEO campaign.
Header tag optimisation
An H1 tag is the most important heading element on your web page. But did you know there are 5 more heading tags in which to use. All up the heading tags range from 1 to 6 with 1 being the most important and 6 the least. This enables us to create a descending header keyword hierarchy with just the right balance to boost our SEO above our competitors.
Internal inbound link targetting.
Pages that are important should be linked to and are the core pages of your website. If you can get many pages throughout your site to link back to your core pages, then this will boost the credibility of those parges that you are targeting. Mentioning keywords from your core page in other pages and creating internal links back to that core page is important for SEO and will ensure search engines rate your pages in the correct order.
Directory submissions
Inbound links are very important for a web pages credibility. Each quality inbound link gives your page extra points under search engines and directories are an easy way to get these points. Using your keywords within these links and the text surrounding the link is paramount to you getting to number 1 in google.
Page Rank
Page rank is an algorithm created by google to give website owners information about the quality of their web pages. It is basically worked out from the quality of links and importance of each link. This can be transferred between web pages around the internet. This is not necessarily an indication that you will rank well but it is an important factor to keep in mind.
Microformatting Markup
Do you have an upcoming event, some reviews about your business, a recipe or even showcasing staff members from your business? Then microformatting Markup is the solution that allows you to appear in search results in a new type of result listing format. These types of extra coding effects that are put into a website ensures you get that competitive each over competitors.
Separation of IP Addresses
IP Addresses are the locations of websites around the internet. By typing in an IP Address into the browser, you will traverse to the server that has that location. Websites can either share an IP Address or they are individually used. For SEO reasons all websites are required to have a separate IP Address so the linking of these sites can be achieved.
Footer link module
Linking sites together is an important aspect of SEO. I have created a linker module that that achieves a sophisticated array of links websites within the websites that are using the module. This ensures each client of mine gets boosted even higher in the search engine result pages.
UTF-8 and multilingual sites
All sites that I build use UTF-8 encoding which is more advanced and can display more characters from around the world. This ensures your site has the ability to become multilingual from a click of a button reaching the widest possible audience. Google and other search engines prefer UTF-8 and when seeing your site as multilingual will give you extra points.
Cross domain canonical linking
Sometimes content for you website may be distributed across multiple domains which can confused search engines into thinking you have duplicated content and also failing to index the right pages. With cross domain canonical linking we can avoid this scenario and enforce google to index the correct page and be ranked correctly.
Australian Data Centres forcing Australian geo location
Did you know that the location of the your website affects where your pages appear in search results? It is paramount for a successful Australian website to be located in Australia. All servers that I use are located in Australia so your position in google will be near the top in Australian results. Some competitors use cheap American data centres which hurt your SEO.