Basic SEO Theory
As a Web design professional, I am often asked by clients if I can help them with search engine optimization (SEO), to which I almost always say “not really”, and then spend 20 minutes typing out the information I am about to share.
The truth is, I am certain I could help them with their SEO needs, but I am simply not willing to manage their expectations when it comes to SEO results, and so avoid it.
Using my client-base as an example, I would say that most non-/semi-technical folks have a rather skewed idea of what good SEO means. I blame this largely on the seedier side of the SEO industry, which tends to utilize the layman’s lack of knowledge and implausible slogans (”Let us put you at the top of Google’s listings overnight!”, etc.) for profit.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t good SEO experts, it’s only to say that in an industry with so many charlatans, it can be a painfully time-consuming process determining who to trust. All the more reason to at least have some understanding of SEO yourself, if for no other purpose than to know what you should expect.
I personally hold value in a few key things when looking at setting up good SEO on a site I am creating, they are:
Content
Having good content on your site may seem like a no-brainer piece of advice, but it’s a bit more complicated than it sounds.
There is a bit of an art to writing content with a healthy balance between keywords (read: terms people would search for at a search engine), marketing-ese to sell your topic to visitors, and useful content that people actually want to read.
Good content will present itself in an organized manner that stays on a well-focused topic. It should be rich in keywords, but not so much so that it takes away from the prose itself.
Page titles
By page titles, I mean the <title> tags in the <head> of your HTML. I’ve seen SEO gurus load these with a straight list of keywords, but I dislike this as its SEO value is questionable and it takes usability away from the site. Rather, I suggest making sure your page titles are on-topic to the keywords you are looking to attract, and relevant to the specific page they are being displayed on. They should be relatively short and to the point, with the most relevant keywords at the beginning.
Example:
GOOD: “Cat care tips for pet owners”
On-topic, short, solid keywords
BAD: “cats, tips, pets, dogs, cat food, dog food, house cats”
Keyword rich, but not unique to the page, plus fugly for site visitors
BAD: “Petland Food Inc.”
Many sites have the same page title (often company name) on every page. This will do little to help your SERP ranking
URLs
You’ll notice when you search for a term in Google the results display the keyword (in bold) as found in the page title, a relevant chunk of the content, and in the link’s URL.
With straight-HTML created sites it was easy to maintain decent URLs that contained keywords. If you had a page about cat grooming, you called it “cat-grooming.html” and you had inherent SEO. However, most modern Web sites are built on content management systems (CMS) that are often built in PHP or ASP. Because of this you can get some very ugly URLs that have no connection to the content.
Fortunately, any CMS worth its weight will have built-in (or add-on) Search Engine Friendly (SEF) functionality to re-write the URLs into something friendly to search engine bots (and site visitors).
HTML structure
This is something that may be more difficult to adjust if you are not the one designing your site. However, if just getting started with a site’s design, it is worth mentioning to your designer that you want to make sure your markup is semantically laid out.
What this means is, you want to be using proper heading tags (<H1>,<H2>,<H3>, etc.) in a hierarchical way. The page’s title/topic should be in the largest heading tag on the page (<h1> or <h2> usually), and subheading should be in a gradient transition to higher-numbered tags (<h3>, <h4>, <h5>, etc.).
Additionally, you will want to make sure the page’s overall structure also fits this ideal. To the bots that search your site don’t get the benefit of your ace designer’s well-crafted eye candy. To them it is a simple list of code. Where that code falls can effect what it views as important.
Take the following common design mistake as an example. You have a site with a header, left sidebar, content and footer. a pretty common setup (see visual representation).
A designer not concerned with semantic markup may simply layout the page in the following order: HEADER, SIDEBAR, CONTENT, FOOTER. Unfortunately, this causes the bots to believe the text, links, etc., of the sidebar are more relevant than that in the content area - which rarely is the case. It is therefore important to layout the page as HEADER, CONTENT, SIDEBAR, FOOTER in the HTML, while using CSS to control the front-end display.
Semantic layout is not black and white, but rather very much a sliding scale. Sometimes it is simply not possible to have the most logically hierarchical markup and maintain particular features of the site. Take the hits where you need to, and just do your best.
Linkbacks from other sites
I should say, linkbacks from other authority sites. The principle goes something like this: Site A is a great and powerful site that has been around for ages (think NYT.com, Yahoo, TechCrunch, etc.), Site A links to Site B for whatever reason. Google sees this link and figures, “hell, if Site A thinks Site B is good, and we think Site A is good, then Site B is probably good too.” And the value of linkbacks for SEO is born.
Now, any fool can go out and get your site linked to on a hundred thousand sites overnight, and many fools will try to charge you bags of money to do just this. Don’t buy it. Getting natural linkbacks from other sites is tough work, but is the only truly valuable form of linkbacks.
There are a number of ways to do this, but really, in principle they all relate to creating content that people are interested in reading.
Age of site/Page Rank
This goes back to the “authority” bit in the section above. With new sites created and abandoned every day, it makes sense that some attention is paid to sites that have been around for a long time, or have earned a higher Google Page Rank. It doesn’t necessarily make them a better source of information, but as a fuzzy rule, it does hold some weight.
Additionally, this is often the reason sites that have followed all the rules above still aren’t owning their desired keywords - particularly when those keywords are in highly competitive markets (travel, web, consumer electronics, etc.).
If you feel you’ve done everything perfectly, and still you’re not getting the SERPs you feel you deserve, perhaps a bit of patience is in order.
Meta Descriptions and Keywords
Ah, meta tags. If I had 10 cents for every time I’ve had clients sweat about their meta tags, I would be writing this from a tropical beach somewhere and not worrying about the piles of work I still have to get done today.
Well, here it comes folks - they don’t matter. I think I just heard the SEO community collectively frown and growl. So, perhaps an explanation, before I get hate mail.
There was a time when the top search engines used meta descriptions and meta keywords to determine what a Web page was about. The meta keywords tag was the first to be dropped as a decider, and for several years now has not been used by any major search engine to help index the page. Why? 1. because they’re too easy to fake, and 2. they’re just not needed, bots can scan the entire contents of a page and get their own keywords. In short, they are valueless.
Though it has taken longer, the meta description tag is quickly going the same way. When the meta keywords tag became obsolete many webmasters/designers/SEO folks turned to the meta description as a way to bulk up their site’s keywordiness. Somewhat predictably this caused search engines to develop better ways to determine what a site is really about. As, remember, a search engine has a responsibility to the end user - the dude searching for “all-natural woven monkey-hair toupees” - not the company trying to make sure their listing is at the top of the SERPs so they can sell more toupees.
And that brings us right back to content. Without much value left in the meta description and virtually no value in meta keywords, it makes it all the more important to ensure that your content is well written and keyword rich.
Certainly there is much more that makes up the rather complex “science” of search engine optimization, but that should give at least a basic overview of what I feel are the key elements to good SEO. I look forward to additions, corrections or questions in the comments.
@Danny: This post is way old. Definitely check out SEO Simple, the updated version and see if that works....
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Great article Ryan, how do you get pagination to work with this setup?
It is extremely annoying trying to figure out what you have going on there when your code spills out over...
Hi, thank you very much for the useful plugin, it will save me a lot of time. I’m still trying to...
Nette
If you’re a beginner and you ever wonder how internet marketing helps businesses well you will get good amount of information here.
November 26, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
Abdul
yes.. This is very useful for beginners. and then we need more concept in bulletin format like keyword research
November 27, 2008 @ 1:48 pm
Matt Kennedy
Haha, I can just imagine you thinking…’here we go again’ when I started asking questions. Maybe you should keep a FAQ page on your body at all times.
December 11, 2008 @ 7:55 am
Ryan
Haha, Matt. Not at all. More, “Damnit, I need to create something I can refer people to.” Which after getting the same questions from a couple other clients last week, I decided it was time to sit down and do.
I didn’t stress it enough in the post, but expectations are the toughest things to manage. A lot of people believe that with “good SEO” or paying a certain amount to an SEO Expert you can completely control your ranking in the organic search results, and that’s not a reasonable expectation.
However, what you can control is assuring that you’ve got everything right and that you are improving your rankings all the time by offering what good rankings require - a more authoritative site. That’s something a good SEO expert will help you build, over time.
But not a bad idea for me to slip that FAQ in my wallet
December 11, 2008 @ 11:58 am
Christopher Kata
Hey Ryan -
I came across your site looking for a particular answer to a wordpress issue I’m working through. While reading I came across this post and was well, impressed.
We’re a completely transparent SEO Firm founded by individuals in the industry who were sick and tired of working for charlatans stealing money from clients.
As a result we go to EXTREME lengths to keep our clients informed. In some cases we train them to do their own SEO - which is not rocket science, contrary to what many charlatans would have our clients believe.
If you want to chat more about it - we can do it on the blog post, or we can IM, or chat on skype. Either way - I’d be interested in hearing more of what you have to say about the industry.
On a side note - I hired a developer in Australia (we are in Toronto Canada) who totally called me out on our blog. You never know - we may be able to send you some design work!
P.S. I’ve added your blog to my feedreader.
December 12, 2008 @ 1:28 pm
Jen
I just found your blog today and have already learned, like, 20 things I had NO idea about (I know I sound like I’m 15.. but seriously - THANK you!)!
January 13, 2009 @ 10:49 am
pokamanwin
Just thought Id introduce myself,
Names mic. I like warcraft,jogging, and this forum! =]
January 18, 2009 @ 10:22 am
benji
I am a beginer when it comes to SEO, I was searching SEO information when I came across this Blog. Now I am going to stop worring about it and am going back to puting up good content on my blog.
Thanks
Benji
January 18, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
Kathy
Haha - I can’t believe I am only finding this for the first time. Also surprised that you haven’t yet stamped this on my forehead the last few times I’ve asked you about this.
I had a few suspicions of my own when coming across alot of the SEO jibber-jabber. Thanks for putting it in simple terms.
January 31, 2009 @ 10:16 am
Bradrail Blinds Nottingham
I was lucky to come across your website and it this article made for very interesting reading.. one thing i would like to pick your brains regarding your quote content
“Unfortunately, this causes the bots to believe the text, links, etc., of the sidebar are more relevant than that in the content area - which rarely is the case. It is therefore important to layout the page as HEADER, CONTENT, SIDEBAR, FOOTER in the HTML, while using CSS to control the front-end display.”
the statement is such a simple one and seems common sense once reading it.. i am currently redesigning a new site with joomla and i see you are using wordpress for here and that your menu is on the right hand side.. and a lot of template seem to be doing this..
but i cant see how google and joomla can work together since the sidebars are usually set up before the content.. is it a downfall of using the systems or something that can be tweaked.
look forward for any comments or ideas about this issue.
many thanks
Nick
Bradrail Blinds
February 16, 2009 @ 12:05 am
Ryan
@Nick: I use WordPress and Joomla and layout-wise there is very little difference. If you’re starting from scratch on a design, you’ll have no problems. However, if you are using a stock template of some kind you are somewhat at the mercy of the template’s designer.
This isn’t to say you can’t hack the template to better suit semantic design principles if it falls short, but it can be more difficult to do if the site is already laid out.
I have done plenty of Joomla designs with left sidebars and right content. If you have modules above the content though, there’s not much you can do about it - aside from perhaps using Google’s comment code to tell the search engine and contextual advertising engine where the relevant content is.
February 16, 2009 @ 12:22 am
Bradrail Blinds Nottingham
Ryan
Thanks for the fast response.. but again you left me wanting more ..lol..
i am currently using a template but i am sure i can probably move around the code but will have to try but you mentiend about googles comment code which i have never heard off and wonder where i can find some docs about it as it seems well worth knowing anyway regardless of any type site .. anything to help to follow what google want to know when it goes through a site.
look forward to your reply .. and thanks
Nick
Bradrail Blinds
February 16, 2009 @ 1:11 am
Ryan
@Nick: Sorry to tease ya. As soon as I have time I’ll do a post on semantic markup and some tricks I use.
As for the Google targetting thing - I misspoke a bit - it’s only for adsense, and not for search. But if you’re curious, check out this page on how to use:
<!– google_ad_section_start –>
<!– google_ad_section_end –>
February 16, 2009 @ 10:31 am
Ben Ross
Ryan-
Thanks a lot for this information. It’s very helpful. I think you’re right that a lot of people make a bigger deal of SEO than it is, and that ultimately the real determining factor is quality content. By the way, I am now in the process of SEO for my new all-natural woven monkey-hair toupee site. Any suggestions?
March 24, 2009 @ 8:51 pm
Expatriate Games
I have been lurking here off and on for months Ryan. I am finally ready to make some moves with my blog and web presence and feel much more comfortable in doing so with your insightful work here. Thanks.
March 30, 2009 @ 11:11 pm
Gernot
does anyone how a good pagename looks for a chines site?
is it: domain.com/hello or domain.com/ni-hao?
May 19, 2009 @ 5:15 pm