The Birth of a
Professional Web Site
Part Seven Web Page Optimization
by Shelley Lowery
Selecting the right keyword phrases
for each page of your web site is the first step towards ranking high in
the Search Engines. However, it is only the first step.
In addition to selecting targeted keyword phrases, you must also strategically
optimize your page including:
• META description tag
• META keyword tag
• Title
• Image ALT tags
• Heading tags
• Image names
• Hyperlinks
• Body text
<META>
The META description tag will contain a description of your site. This
description will be visible in some of the Search Engines when your site
is returned in a search.
Your description should include your site's most important keyword phrases.
Example:
<META name="DESCRIPTION" content="Providing dog
grooming tips, supplies and training.">
The META Keywords tag will contain a list of your keyword phrases separated
with a comma. Your primary keyword phrase should be first, followed by one
or two secondary keyword
phrases.
Example:
<META name="KEYWORDS" content="dog grooming tips,
dog grooming supplies, dog grooming training">
<IMG ALT>
An image Alt tag follows your graphic address or URL in your HTML code. These
words will be displayed in place of your graphics through an older browser
or when your visitors have their graphics turned off.
To fully optimize your graphics, insert your keyword phrases within the Alt
tags of your graphics. At a bare minimum, make sure you use enough images
to display all of your keyword phrases. Remember...your primary keyword phrase
should always come first.
Example Images (Notice the images are named using the three primary keyword
phrases):
dog_grooming_tips.jpg
dog_grooming_supplies.jpg
dog_grooming_training.jpg
Example:
<IMG SRC=WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=105 dog_grooming_tips.jpg
ALT=dog grooming tips>
<IMG SRC=WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=105 dog_grooming_supplies.jpg ALT=dog grooming
supplies>
<IMG SRC=WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=105 dog_grooming_training.jpg ALT=dog grooming
training>
<TITLE> Tag
Just as you must place your keyword phrases within your META description
and keyword tags, you must also use your primary keyword phrase as your web
page title. Nothing more should appear between the <TITLE> and
</TITLE> tags except your primary keyword phrase.
<H?> Tag
Heading tags are used to separate topics and range from <H1> being
very large and bold to <H6> which is very small and bold. Some Search
Engines place relevance on text displayed within the heading tags. Top priority
is placed on the highest listed heading tag.
Your keyword phrases should each be used as a heading for sections within
your web page (placed in the same order as your keyword phrases within your
META keywords tag) and placed within an appropriate heading tag. These headings
should be followed by some descriptive text.
Your headings should look something like this:
<H?>Dog Grooming Tips</H?>
Your descriptive content containing your keyword phrase.
<H?>Dog Grooming Supplies</H?>
Your descriptive content containing your keyword phrase.
<H?>Dog Grooming Training</H?>
Your descriptive content containing your keyword phrase.
<A HREF> Tag
When creating links on your web page, your links should be displayed together
with a small image in front of each link. This image might be a graphic bullet,
arrow, or whatever you'd like. These images will not only enhance your web
page, but they will also enable you to place your keyword phrases within
the Alt tags.
When you begin creating your links, make sure the page name, image name and
page description text all contain your keyword phrases.
Your HTML code might look something like this:
<img src=dog_grooming_tips.gif alt=dog grooming
tips>
<a href=dog_grooming_tips.htm>Dog Grooming Tips</a>
<img src=dog_grooming_supplies.gif alt=dog grooming supplies>
<a href=dog_grooming_supplies.htm>Dog Grooming
Supplies</a>
<img src=dog_grooming_training.gif alt=dog grooming training>
<a href=dog_grooming_training.htm>Dog Grooming
Training</a>
<BODY>Text</BODY>
Optimizing your text is another important step towards ranking higher in
the Search Engines. Your web page should contain plenty of text and should
contain each of your keywords and keyword phrases used in different variations.
If all of your keyword phrases you've listed within your META tags aren't
found within your text, the Search Engines will simply ignore them.
Search Engine Submissions
Once you've optimized your web pages and uploaded them to your server, your
next step will be to submit your main pages to the Search Engines. However,
don't submit your pages to Google. Your pages will rank much higher if you
allow this Search Engine to find your pages on its own.
You may want to consider creating a site map for your site and submit this
page to Google instead. A site map is a page that outlines how your pages
are set up and linked together. If you design a site map with links to all
of your pages, the Search Engine robots can easily spider and index them.
Taking the time to optimize each of your web pages is the most important
step you can take towards ranking high in the Search Engines and driving
your more traffic to your web site.
(Continued in part seven)
Copyright © Shelley
Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design
Mastery. http://www.webdesignmastery.com
And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book. http://www.ebookstarter.com
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