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pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
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SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 3/29/2002 1:54:07
> Continued from Part I
Heading Tags
These tags can be ugly if not used properly. If your site makes extensive use of tables and cells, then you probably won't use these because of spacing issues. But, if you are designing a content rich page, then it is highly recommended that they be used. Heading tags should appear at the top of your page and be well written using prime keywords and keyword phrases. An example appears at the top of this page. You can use an embedded style tag (in the <head> section) as shown below to control the appearance of the heading tags. We prefer using external style sheets (seo.css) as it minimizes the amount of code in the <head> area.
<style type="text/css">
<!-- h1 {font-family: arial, verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;} -->
</style>
<h1>Search Engine Optimization - Web Site Positioning Strategies</h1>
Alternate Tags
This is the line of text you see pop up when you place your cursor over an image. It is highly recommended that you utilize this zone since it is indexed by some of the search engines. It also displays a text representation of the image when the user has the images turned off in their browser. These ALT tags are a great place to position "relative" keywords and keyword phrases.
<alt="search engine optimization">
Hyperlinked Text
This area is overlooked by many when promoting a web site to the search engines. Websites these days use graphic representations of links. These are visually appealing, but they cannot be indexed by the spiders. We always recommend an additional text navigation bar (SSI - Server Side Includes or Front Page Includes) somewhere on the page, usually at the bottom or the left/right hand side. Link text should be concise, use keywords and phrases, and follow the same structure as the graphic navigation.
Visible Copy
This area weighs heavily and is now considered one of the primary areas of optimization. Your copy should be written in a way that grabs the users attention, but also uses keywords and keyword phrases throughout (web copywriting / spider food). There is a method to placement of the keywords and keyword phrases (keyword densities) that will help your web site gain better positioning in the search engines.
File Names
I see many of the engines and directories indexing these file names and have found that using relative keywords in this area will play a role in your positioning with the search engines. Instead of naming your file pagename.htm, you would name it keyword-page-name.htm. Always use hyphens (-) or underscores (_) to separate the words in your file and directory names, we prefer hyphens (-) and all lower case for file names. This same concept applies to your image names (think about image searching). Important Note: This is not an area to stuff keywords, files should be named appropriately as part of the overall theme.
search-engine-optimization.htm
Directory Names
The same concept applies here as does with the file names. Be descriptive with your directory names. Don't get carried away, but make sure at least one keyword or keyword phrase appears in the directory name and try to put it at the beginning. Don't forget to use hyphens (-) to separate the words.
Robots Exclusion Protocol - robots.txt file
It is imperative that you have a robots.txt file present in your root directory. For beginners, all the file needs to contain is this...
User-agent: *
Disallow:
If for anything else, it will stop the 404 errors you see in your statistics.
In addition to the areas mentioned above, targeted linking strategies should also be incorporated into your search engine optimization campaign. Google is a prime example of how link popularity can influence and improve your search engine rankings.
SEO Consultants Directory
http://www.seoconsultants.com
Edited by - pageoneresults on 04/03/2002 17:21:48
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pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/6/2002 0:36:15
Good day everyone! I will be expanding each of the 11 sub topics in these two threads as time permits. Keep these threads bookmarked or subcribe to them so you know when updates have been posted.
SEO Consultants Directory
Search Engine Optimization Tips
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paperfish
Posts: 184
From: None
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/6/2002 5:46:32
pageoneresults,
Thank you once again for another thorough (and thoroughly readable) explanation. Is your preference for hyphens rather than underscores purely aesthetic or is there a technical reason as well?
Regards
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paperfish
Posts: 184
From: None
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/7/2002 12:03:27
Thanks again,
I promised to become a hyphenated webster!
Cheers
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Mojo
Posts: 2441
From: Chicago
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/9/2002 23:08:17
Pageone -
Thanks for your posts. I have been following links on this subject from your earlier posts and am enjoying these last two on SEO.
Joe
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pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/9/2002 23:24:31
Thanks jbennett, I'm glad that people are reading and learning. The information I've been sharing here at the forums my clients pay top dollar for. Once you understand the overall concept of search engine optimization, everything starts to click.
I'll be expanding on each of these areas as time permits and I believe Mr. Brunt has some things in store for everyone!
SEO Consultants Directory
Search Engine Optimization Tips
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kboy
Posts: 38
From: Ellijay GA USA
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/10/2002 12:50:33
Thanks so much, very informative. I have been doing most of what was stated, exept, I have been using underscores. Needless to say that I'll be using hyphens from now on.
Many thanks.
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pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/10/2002 12:53:10
Thanks kboy! There really is no need to switch over from underscores to hyphens. They are both treated the same. I do it mainly because of the hyperlink issue where underscores become obscured by the line that underlines most hyperlinks.
SEO Consultants Directory
Search Engine Optimization Tips
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cyberspider
Posts: 2
Joined: 4/10/2002
From: Boulder CO USA
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/10/2002 14:45:53
Hi...Just wanted to say thanks. I really appreciate your informative postings.
Cyber Spider
http://www.cyberspiderdesigns.com
"Weaving The Web"
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pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/13/2002 2:25:42
I almost missed this one! Thanks cyberspider and welcome to the Outfront! Have you been lurking?
SEO Consultants Directory
Search Engine Optimization Tips
Edited by - pageoneresults on 04/13/2002 02:29:41
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cyberspider
Posts: 2
Joined: 4/10/2002
From: Boulder CO USA
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/13/2002 10:56:02
Hi,
I've been receiving the newsletter for awhile now and visiting the forum from time to time. I never really responded to anyone, but after looking through some of your posts, I felt compelled to express a little appreciation. It's nice the way you take time to pass along some useful information. Do you write tutorials and educational materials for a living or just to entertain us here?
Kim
Cyber Spider
http://www.cyberspiderdesigns.com
"Weaving The Web"
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pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
Status: offline
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RE: SEO - Search Engine Optimization Part II - 4/13/2002 13:22:47
Hi there cyberspider, you are the second one to say something like this in the past week...
>Do you write tutorials and educational materials for a living or just to entertain us here?
Hmmm, maybe I should make a career change! No, I actually write them to help solidify in my mind that I know what I'm talking about. And, to help educate others when it comes to working with FrontPage and the Internet. Thanks for the compliments! My hat rack just grew another size!
SEO Consultants Directory
Search Engine Optimization Tips
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