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If you have a website, your goal is to get as much traffic to your website that you can. In order to do that without emptying your bank account you need to rank high in the search engines. To succeed with that goal, you need to learn a few basics of SEO.

The art of creating web pages that will rank well is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short. If you ask a dozen SEO experts to list their top 10 SEO tips you will get 12 different lists. There are a few basics, though, that most SEO experts agree on.

SEO revolves around optimizing your webpage for keywords. That means the number one thing you need to do to optimize your page is to find the correct keywords. It would be a lot of wasted time and effort if you optimized your site for some specific keywords, only to find out later that there were much better keywords you should have used.

Once you find your keywords, you are ready to start optimizing your site. The most important area of the site to optimize is the title. The title of your site is what will show up in the search engine results for your keyword. That means not only does it need to include your keywords, but it needs to be compelling enough or direct enough for someone to click on it when they see it.

The next area of optimization, META tags, is one that there are many disagreements about. META tags are tags put into the header of the html code of your website that is only there for the search engines to read. They are not visible anywhere on the site to your visitor.

The one META tag that is agreed upon, is the description META tag. This description should have your keywords in it, preferably at or near the beginning. It should be an accurate and concise description of your site. This description will often be part of the search engine results, listed right under your title.

There is another META tag that is debated as to its current importance to the engines. That is the keyword META tag. I would include it. It doesnt hurt and many search engines still use it. This tag is where you list your keywords.

One thing you need to be careful of is spamming the search engines with keywords. Use keywords but only as they make sense in communicating your message. Dont use keywords more than once in the title and not more than three times in the description.

The next area of your website that should have keywords incorporated are your headlines and your sub headlines. Now here is where an SEO expert might not have the best advice for a sales oriented site. If possible you should incorporate your keywords in the headline and the sub headlines. But there is one caution.

Remember that your headline is the most important sales statement on your page. It is your headline that will determine whether your lead stays to read your page or clicks away. While you want to have a headline that is keyword rich, you dont want to compromise the effectiveness of the headline to capture your leads attention. Utilize keywords in your headings as much as you can but dont try to put too many keywords in so you loose the effectiveness of your headline.

The final basic principle of SEO is to make sure keywords are used through out the site in the body text. Again dont spam the text with keywords. In most cases if your content is on your keyword subject, the keywords will end up in the text naturally.

SEO is not an exact science. There are many opinions on how to best optimize your site. The basics of having the proper keywords and optimizing the title, Meta description, headlines and body will put you ahead of most of your competitors.

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SEO keywords, meta tag, Search Engines, SEO expert

Meet Ann Smarty, a search engine optimization (SEO) expert who agreed to an interview with BlogHer. The interview was a Q and A session by email.

Q: Lets start with who you are. Youre the SEO expert for Blue Glass, a new marketing firm. You run your own SEO company called SEO Smarty. The article “Top SEO Women” put you in with the top-ranked SEO experts. On your site at annsmarty.com, you describe yourself as an SEO consultant. Ill just sum you up by saying that youre an expert in SEO.

What else can you tell us about yourself?

A: I am not that good at talking about myself, really. This is why my personal blog annsmarty.com looks so neglected. I am terrible at writing applications and talking about myself at interviews because I never know what to say: my private life is hardly interesting to anyone (except probably my personal contacts) and my professional life may seem too boring to start the interview with.

You covered pretty much everything. I also blog regularly at Search Engine Journal, which is one of top SEO blogs in the world. I have also recently started a new project aiming to help guest bloggers to find blog owners accepting guest posts. The site is MyBlogGuest, and it’s a free-to-join community focusing on guest blogging and everything around that.

We have just published an infographic about guest blogging (if you struggle to understand why you may want to do that).

Q: Many BlogHer readers run blogs, websites and small businesses themselves. They want to know what they can do to improve their traffic and their business. If you could only give someone one or two SEO tips, what would they be?

A: SEO is just about improving search engine rankings. Most blogs (as well as most of my own blogs) do not really rely on Google’s traffic. Most of us rely on communities we network in and social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook. I’ll share my SEO tips further on but here I’d share the most effective non-SEO tips:

Build connections (actually, build as many connections as you can.)

Promote other people’s content as sincerely as you can: this always pays back.

Link to other people’s content (this is always appreciated and is by far the most essential way to build connections.)

Q: What is a common mistake you see people make regarding SEO?

A: Overdoing it. Really, blogs are about your voice and your style. Overdoing SEO usually results in keyword stuffing and link stuffing. Just be as natural as you can. Create quality and unique content, network with other bloggers in your niche (to get them link back to your blog) and search traffic will come!

When bloggers start browsing through all those “advanced” SEO tactics and frightening SEO rumor, they forget about the major aim of their blogging, which is creating a unique voice people would follow.

Q: In addition to the most important one or two things I asked about earlier, what are some of the less important things that really help with SEO?

A: When talking about less important tips, I am ready to share the SEO-specific advice here. I did a post earlier sharing some essential basics for SEO newbies:

Mind your post titles. Not only will it grab your readers attention and make him read further, title of the page is also the most prominent place to put your important keywords in. Make sure to create catchy and attention-grabbing titles AND use some post-specific details in them. Those details which will then help your post appear in search engines may include: the product you are reviewing, the person you are interviewing, the place you are describing, etc.

“Interlink” your content (Link to previously published posts within your blog). Search bots discover and index your posts by following links. Thus, before publishing a post, make sure to drill down to your previously published articles, find relevant ones and link to them from within the new content. This will also encourage readers to browse to your older posts and motivate them to stay on your blog.

SEO blogs, Search Engines, SEO expert, SEO tips

While most online business owners know the importance of optimizing their website, few if any, are experts in the field of Search Engine Optimization. Constantly evolving search engine rules as well as the unknown nature of search engine algorithms makes performing optimization very difficult. In fact, for those not trained in the process it can be time consuming and frustrating. In order to ensure that a website is properly optimized it is best to work with a consultant. A web site SEO expert can effectively optimize a website to ensure continuous growth through improved rankings and conversions.

It is a mistake not to consider the unknown aspects of search engine ranking formula. The major search engines, Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask, as well as the lesser-known engines rely on a specific set of formulas (algorithms) to accurately rank websites. Because these algorithms are kept under lock and key, those seeking to optimize a website must rely on industry knowledge, website analytics and even trial and error to determine what actions effectively move websites up the ranks. Experts who specialize in Search Engine Optimization have the advantage of understanding the long-term trends of optimization. Laypeople simply do not have the years of experience to make use of all this knowledge, nor do they have the time to stay on top of changes and trends. At best they can study articles or how-to guides written by experts, but implementing cutting-edge techniques that can at times be counter-intuitive can be quite tricky. Working with a web site Search Engine Optimization SEO expert is the best way to achieve the results that any serious online business seeks.

While it is true that all successful SEO programs are based on solid keyword research, many online business owners also erroneously believe that the most popular keywords are the best words to use during their optimization process. In reality, it is best to shy away from these words. Consider the keyword mens shirts. On average, 1.8 million people search for this term each month. Refining that keyword to mens cotton shirts has two benefits. First, there is less competition, making it easier to appear higher on search engine results pages. Second, because the revised keyword is much more specific, it will typically be easier to convert visitors; visitors who search more specific terms are more focused (serious) about what they want to buy. A web site Search Engine Optimization expert has the experience and knowledge to choose the most unique and relevant keywords for optimization.

Finally, search engines can and do change their formulas and guidelines for websites. These changes are almost always important for SEO experts to understand and to apply to their methodologies. What worked in the past may be completely unnecessary or irrelevant today. For example, at one time, metatags were considered one of the most important parts of an optimization plan. For a few years, they were little more than an afterthought; now they are taken on renewed importance. Professional SEO consultants are simply in a better position to understand these changes because they follow market trends, and continually evaluate the effect in specific online campaigns.

One of the best investments an online business owner can make is working with a web site SEO expert. A successful SEO program will transform a website from a static online brochure into a highly visible, highly trafficked and converting online engine for new business.

Do you seek the benefits of website Search Engine Optimization? Contact us. The initial consultation carries no obligation.

SEO online business owner, search engine, Search Engine Optimization, SEO expert