When developing a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy there are two
main factors to consider;
'On page optimization' and 'off page optimization'.
We will focus on on page optimization for this tutorial. The term on page optimization covers the SEO strategies
that are utilised within your specific web page, in your HTML code. Whilst your on page optimization will not skyrocket
your web page into the top of the Google search results, if you have comprehensively covered your off page and
on page optimization you shouldn't have too much trouble getting a good Google ranking. However, it is actually
possible to get yourself into the Google results with no off page optimization if your on page optimization is
done correctly and the keywords you have optimised for are not extremely popular, ie; 'pizza shop Newcastle' instead
of 'pizza'. Ok here goes:
1. First and foremost, make sure you are going to optimise your web page for the most appropriate keywords, there
is a very handy search term suggestion tool located at: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/.
It is important to choose your keywords wisely, especially keeping in mind how often those specific keywords are
searched for, as it will be much easier and beneficial to get your site as a number one search result for a phrase
that is searched for 5,000 times a week, and almost impossible to get your page in the first few search result
pages for a term that is searched for 500,000 times a week. It is important to note that approximately 90% of web
users do not navigate past the first page of Google's search results.
2. Secondly, ensure your keywords appear once (more than once is not necessary) in your meta tags in your HTML
code. For example, if the only keywords you are optimising for are 'pizza shop Newcastle' your meta tags should
read as follows:
<meta name='description' content='Harry's Pizzas is a pizza shop located in Newcastle...' />
<meta name='keywords' content='Harry's Pizzas pizza shop Newcastle take away food..' />
3. Thirdly, ensure your keywords appear in your title tag of your web page, ie; <title>Harry's Pizza's -
Pizza Shop Newcastle</title>
4. Fourth, ensure your keywords appear in a heading <h1> tag in the specific page. ie; <h1>Pizza Shop
Newcastle</h1>. It is more beneficial if this is your only <h1> tag on the page, and it occurs only
once.
5. Another factor that affects your on page optimization is if your keywords appear within bolded or italicized
text. It is important not to go overboard with this by having your keywords bolded or italicized everywhere throughout
your page because Google will consider this a 'black hat' method of on page optimization and may result in banning
your site from their index. But if it occurs once, or maybe twice, it will increase your on page optimization and
Google will not frown upon this. Example: Pizza Shop Newcastle
6. It is important to have your keywords occur at least once within the content text on your website, within paragraph
< p > tags. And is more beneficial to ensure this occurs closest to the top of your web page, and at the
bottom.
7. It also helps to put your keywords within the alt tags of the images that are embedded in your HTML file. A
good example would be if you have a logo that occurs at the top of the document, put the keywords in the alt text.
Ie; <img src='imgs/logo.jpg' alt='Logo Harry's Pizzas - Pizza Shop Newcastle' />
8. If you have any links within your web site that link back to the page you are optimising, or any external links
that link towards your web site it is very important to contain your keywords within the anchor text and the title
text. Example: Harry's Pizzas - Pizza Shop Newcastle. The anchor text is the text that occurs within the <a>
tags. Hover over the link to view the title text that pops up, or click on view -> source in your web browser
if you need to brush up on your HTML skills.
9. Other factors that improve your on page optimization include having your keywords contained within your domain
name and file name of the specific page. For example the following fictional url would help: http://www.harryspizzashopnewcastle.com.au/pizzashopnewcastle.html.
However this is not 100% necessary.
10. This point is probably the most important point you should consider when optimising your page- stay away from
'black hat' on page optimization methods. They may increase your on page optimization temporarily but Google frowns
upon this and could ban you from their index. So if you go over board with keywords that do not relate to the content
of the page, have your keywords occurring more than 3 or 4 times in <h1> tags and < b > tags all over
your site and repeat your keywords unnecessarily throughout the content text of your web site, you risk having
your site banned from the Google index. Google really does keep a close eye on this so be careful.
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