If you have a website and a business number listed online, I’m sure you’ve received the phone call from your “local Google expert” selling “SEO” to get you on top of google. First let’s address the fact that these people are actually just going to take your money and run ads. Now that we’ve addressed that there is another group of people out there who are web marketers trying to do legitimate SEO work (like us). SEO is a rough market but by learning a few key terms you can get a leg up over your competition.

1) Search Engine Optimization

This is an easy one, but it’s important, according to my friends at the Digital Estate Marketing Agency. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the act of optimizing things on your website so that it ranks better on common search engines. This is done through producing good content and properly following a few of the other tips we’re about to outline!

2) Black Hat SEO

This is all the no-no’s for SEO. Either these techniques are new and discouraged because Google will blacklist you or they’re old and no longer a viable way to keep your website in good standing. This includes:

  • Backlink spamming
  • Duplicating meta tags across site
  • having “keyword” or “link” farms

and many other practices. In general you should google any sketchy sounding services that are offered to you before you make a decision.

3) Alt Text / Tags

This is a small snippet of text that you can use to tag your pictures and is how search engines find relevant pictures. It’s also the text that appears on hover over most images. Proper tagging lets you add some specific keywords to your page and increase its visibility.

4) Meta Description

This is a 160 character or less description of your website in the head that displays on search engines. Keep it brief and describe your page.

5) Referral

When the world of the internet is about getting people onto your site, it’s great to know where they came from. That’s what referrals show you in analytic tools, where a person came from which in turn shows you where your site is located around the web.

6) Keywords

After writing most of this article the thought came to me, “Does everyone know what a keyword is?” So let’s tackle this and make sure you understand the most basic but one of the most useful tools out there; keywords. Keywords appear everywhere on a page and they are the target phrases or words that you want to associate with your website, keyword research services are a must when it comes to your SEO efforts. Keywords may appear in:

  • The URL
  • The title
  • The “Keywords” section of your header
  • The site meta
  • The site keywords
  • Image alt tags
  • The body copy of your website
  • As categories
  • As tags

Keywording is about more than just proper HTML syntax or getting the right tags, it’s about having your site SCREAM to the world what you’re about! Now, spamming keywords on a page with no relevant content is an easy way to get yourself blacklisted from search engines and have no site to speak of. So make sure when you type your blogs, tag your images, and update you news that you’re very specific about what you’re doing. Most people will skim across the words they already know, but Google sure won’t!

Wrap up

SEO is a tough world, but we strive to make it as easy as can be. Make sure you get the best help with Pixel Press Media, and if you can or don’t have time to make the updates needed  then be sure to give the experts a call!