Web Traffic 411

Essential Element 2: On Page Elements, Part I

There are several things you can do on your web pages that help to improve your rankings. When you hear the phrase Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, it’s referring to these on page elements. These you can directly control.

I’ll start off with two no-no’s. One is using frames. Frames allow parts of the page to remain static, so from a design perspective they’re a handy way to create a consistent navigation structure that you only have to change once. Unfortunately, all the search engines see is the home page. All that keyword research means nothing if Google and Yahoo and the gang never see them.

For the same reason, the other no-no is is using Flash. OK, you can use some Flash, but don’t go crazy. Search engines read text, not images or video.

Now on to the things you should do.

1. File Name: Try to use the most important keywords in the file name itself, while keeping the URL as short as possible.
2. Title: Instead of using your company name, the title should be what the page is about. Use as many keywords as possible, up to ~100 characters.
3. Headlines: Same thing, except you have a little more room. Just make sure the headline actually makes sense. You don’t want to be seen as stuffing your keywords.
4. Formatting: Use bold, underline, and italic. Not only do they help particular words or phrases stand out for the reader, they also emphasize their importance for the search engines.
5. Content: Make sure you have something to say! Even if you just have a list, for example, of products or business listings, include an introductory paragraph.

That’s enough for today. In the next installment I’ll cover meta tags and alt attributes. And yes, I’ll tell you exactly what those are!

Theresa

p.s. If you want to start learning these tips immediately, get my quick, easy to read guide for building traffic for newbies.