Basic Search Engine Optimization | Print |  E-mail
Written by Right Tracker   
Learn some simple ways that you can make your blog more visible to search engines.

To call Search Engine Optimization (SEO) a highly competitive field, would be a major understatement. Conservative Blogs need to do a much better job at applying even the most basic SEO tips. We're going to discuss some of the simple ways that you can make your blog more visible to search engines. If you're wondering how Conservative bloggers can work as a network to increase overall visibility, as well as crank up our individual Search Engine Ranking, check out this article.

Basic SEO

Search Engine Optimization is a fancy term for making Search Engines see my site. Search Engines function by sending out programs called Bots, that scan the pages of a website and look at the site's code, then makes a decision about whether to index that information for its search, or not. Every Search Engine is different, but we're going to concentrate on Google.

There are several things that we can do to create an optimized site. We're going to focus on two of the main points that we can accomplish in just a few minutes, without spending a dime.

On-Page Optimization

There are a few things that we can do on-page to increase our appeal to search engines.

  • Title Tags
  • Proper use of heading tags
  • Adding Emphasis With Tags
  • Alt tags for images

Title Tags

Believe it or not Title tags are extremely important to Search Engines.
For those unfamiliar with editing HTML, you might want to consult with your system administrator, web designer, or us about implementing these tips.

The majority of website Title Tags include nothing more than the Name of the website. This does nothing for potential readers trying to search for your site, unless they explicitly know the name of your site. You have to think about what a person would search for if they were looking for your site.

Let's look at it this way. In order for people to find this site, they would have to search directly for the words Right Tracker. Why? Because at this point, this site has no strength in the search engines. Optimally, I would like users to find me by searching for "Conservative Blogs" or "Conservative Blog Directory"

Let's looks at a common code example for the Title Tag:

 <html>
   <head>
     <title>Right Tracker</title>
   </head>
 </html>

Now, let's look at an Optimized Title Tag 

 <html>
   <head>
     <title>Conservative Blog Directory - Right Tracker</title>
   </head>
 </html>

Pretty simple stuff here. We insert our targeted search terms, along with the name of our site. The Title Tags give search engines an idea of what is contained in the page, so the more specific the better!

Proper Use of Heading Tags

Heading Tags look like <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, etc. Headings give Search Engines more information about what the contents are about, and are properly given more weight when determining where to rank the page in the search results.

If you're using a blogging platform like Word Press, you're probably already using Heading Tags, at least in your articles' titles. You may take the time to check and use subheadings, like <h2> or <h3> to give more weight to individual sections of your articles.

Adding Emphasis With Tags

<b>, <i>, <em>, <strong>, etc. are all used to add visual emphasis for your readers. But they also act as a means to show emphasis to Search Engines. So use them as you normally would, and try to use them in conjunction with your targeted search terms whenever possible.

Alt Tags for Images

Alt tags are incredibly important for two reasons. 1) They allow visitors without Images turned on, to know what was represented by the images they cannot see. 2) They allow you to tell the Search Engines what is inside an image. Here's an example

   <img src="myimage.gif" 
   alt="Company Name - Search Terms - Logo" />

This is absolutely crucial to include. Not only does it help Search Engine Ranking, but it also provides a fail-safe to your viewers in case an image fails to load.
 

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