SEO, Meta Tags and Algorithms

SEO, Meta Tags and Algorithms
By Vickie J. Scanlon

SEO and Meta Tags and Algorithms must be considered when you are optimizing your site. But let's begin with algorithm and it's connection to Meta Tags and SEO.


What is an algorithm?

What is an algorithm? It is the method/formula used by a search engine to determine the relevancy and importance of a web page. Algorithms are, as you have seen with Google in the last year, becoming more advanced. Google is attempting to make the pages more relevant for it customers. There are many things considered within the algorithm, so you have to ask yourself, with all the changes are Meta tags still important in the optimization process? I would say, yes.

But which Meta tags are useful and which are not? It depends who you are talking too.


Meta Tags Useful or Not?
So which meta tags are useful? Let's begin with meta tag robots.

Meta tag Robots

The Meta tag robots tag can be very beneficial. This can tell a search engine how to proceed on your page. The below example tell the search engine to index and follow through:

META NAME="robots" CONTENT="INDEX, FOLLOW"

META NAME=”robots” CONTENT=”NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW”

(Tells robot not index page or to scan it for links on this page)

Note: Though this tag may be useful for robots that follow the rules, in most cases there are robots such as email harvesters that completely ignore the tag completely.

Meta Tag Description - Meta tag descriptions can be either short or long descriptions. The short Meta tag description is great for navigational queries, while the long description is good for SEO.

Meta Keywords - There is a lot of give and take when it comes to the Meta keywords tag. Here's some of the comment I have heard:

1. Some people say that the Meta keywords is obsolete, others say it is not so.
2. Some say the big search engines may not utilize them, but some say the small search engines do.
3. Some webmasters say that they use it as a reference, other say, no-no don't it will give the competition unfair advantage.

So, you be the judge. If you do use keywords, be sure to make sure that your page is within keyword page density.

To conclude, yes Meta tags are still used, and if used appropriately can help you to be user-friendly to search engines and your SEO process, as well as, giving the robots, that mind their manners. the instructions they need when they hit your site.

About the Author:
Vickie J Scanlon -- Visit her site at: My Affiliate Place for tools, ebook reviews, computers, security software and products for business, and SEO how to info for the Affiliate Marketer/Internet Marketer.

Read more...

Newbies and the SEO Lingo

Since I've had articles regarding SEO, I was rather amiss in not letting those new to SEO to have an intro into the SEO Lingo. When I first started, and I heard the word SEO or Search Engine Optimization I wondered what I had gotten myself into. You may be wondering the same. But don't ignore the process, learn what you can in stages, and apply what you learn.

What's most important to the search engines? Quality content should be your base.

I've written an article called "SEO Lingo" that gives you a little lingo, and what some of the search engines look at when they visit your site. Once you got the lingo, go back and look at some of the other available articles on my site, or within this blog to help you with the SEO process.


SEO Lingo
By Vickie J. Scanlon


For the newbie, SEO is well, new, strange or difficult to get a handle on. You may even say to yourself, why do I need this. I just want a website to make money. Right. The answer is simple. You need it to attract the search engines or you will not make money. So what is the lingo, and what is SEO?

SEO

SEO is the process by which you help the search engines find your site, as well as, determine what your site is about. How do you do that? Some of the pieces you need is the domain name, the title, keywords, meta tags, alt attributes and content.

The search engines use an "Algorithm" - which is simply a set of instructions to follow in determining the importance of the web page, and other niceties, such as page rank.


Page Rank

Page rank is determined by the number and the quantity of inbound links coming into your site. If your web page or pages are relevant to other webmasters, then the search engines will reward you for it, with a higher rank. Sounds easy, but the weight of the rank can be diminished if a site that is not all that relevant to your site, links to you.


Algorithms and the Human Factor

Many webmasters in the past had been very inventive at work-arounds with the search engines algorithms -- thus pushing their websites up to the front of the line in search engine ranking. But that is a-changing, Google has made their algorithms a little more unpredictable, making it more difficult for webmasters to predict what technique would work to get the ranking.

But Google has pushed the envelope, so to speak, and has gone a little farther. They are now beginning to approach it from more with the eyes of a human viewer. Granted there are still bugs-and you still see on occasional website that may have some irrelevant data - but it's getting better.

Other Lingo

Meta tags- A meta tag is a tag that is a general-purpose tag. It's used between the "head" portion of the web page.
Keywords- keywords are specific words that identify what your web page is about. Keywords should be within the body of the copy and with the meta keyword tag and title tag.
Title- Identifies the page. If you want the search engines to find you, do not leave the title tag blank, or place your Company name in the tag, unless it is relevant, or leave it as Home Page.

One final note: The meta tags, such as the title tag, keyword tag, and description tag, should be after the head tag, but before the ending head tag.


So what's the bottom line.

The bottom line is this. Yes, meta tags, keywords, title, and domain name are important. But your content is just as, or more important. If the content is not relevant to the keywords, tags,
title, etc. then you're not going to get a ranking by the search engines.

To conclude, know the lingo, and you have a third of the battle won. The other two-thirds requires work on your part and, a commitment to quality content.

About The Author:
Vickie J Scanlon -- Visit her site at: My Affiliate Place for free tools, articles,ebooks, how to info, affiliate opportunities, travel and tech accessories, security software and computers for your home office or online business.
Read more...

SEO Mistakes that Can Cost You Traffic

Well, in my journey of learning SEO I have made many mistakes -- and it's cost me traffic. If you're trying to learn search engine optimization, you know the frustration of not knowing what to do, let alone not knowing what works, what doesn't work and what you shouldn't do.

Here is an article I wrote, it's a quick read, but I hope it helps you. As they say, if you can take even one morsel of information away and utilize it on your site with success -- it's worth it.


SEO-What Am I Doing Wrong?
By Vickie J. Scanlon

When I first put my website up I anxiously waited with high anticipation for the traffic to arrive. And let me say, I waited, and waited -- and got excited when I saw some clicks, before realizing they were my own. Then my patience turned to frustration. I had to find a way to get traffic to my site--for my own clicks were definitely counterproductive.

As with most newbies, I did not have a lot of money to work with, so I was looking for a free option to get my website moving. That's when I came across this thing called Search Engine Optimization. It was free, required a lot of work, but the rewards would be long term. At least that was what I read.


So, what am I doing wrong with SEO?

First, most people tend to want to shy away from Search Engine Optimization. Why? It's seems complicated, they're not quite sure where to begin or they feel the results are too long-term and not immediate (usually). Well, all I can say is, take a deep breath, step through your fear and tackle the monster of SEO, or your online business will suffer.

The first mistake many webmasters make, I included, is to assume that you only need to optimize your home page. Not true, you should optimize for traffic on all your web pages. If you have in the beginning, say, 20+ pages, do you want people to just hit your home page or all 20+ pages? I bet you're saying all 20+ pages. If not, you should be. You must make your website accessible to your target market, thus, open the entry points where you want them to enter.

Second mistake, many webmasters do not fully understand the importance of keywords in their meta tags. Thus, SEO begins first with optimizing your meta tags with your keywords or keyword phases.

Meta Tag Title -- your keywords should be in the meta tag title. Well, let's see, what did I have -- my index web page had the welcome title that I used on the web page.Well, this could be a good thing if it has your keywords in it -- but if it doesn't you're losing the search engines and traffic. Translated, what title you have on your web page for visitors to view, doesn't necessarily have to be the title in your Meta Tag Title.

Meta Tag Description -- your keywords should be included in the description as well. It's almost like writing a concise ad to draw the search engines and traffic. If you go to Google and type in one of your keywords, you may very well see the meta description drawing people to your site. It depends on what the search engines find to be relevant.

Meta Tag Keywords -- some say that the search engines ignore the keywords, while others believe they are giving the competition an unfair advantage. I personally use the meta tag keywords, both as a personal reference and for any of the search engines that may still use the keyword meta tags.

Alt tags -- not all search engines utilize the alt tags, but some still do. So, don't ignore the images, where you can put a keyword in an alt tag. It's rather simple, just put alt="keyword here" within the image.

Content -- you should have keywords within your content. For me, emphasis should be audience first, then keywords. So write your content first, then try to incorporate your keywords.


Things To Avoid

To keep you in good standing with the search engines you should avoid some of the following:

1. Blackhat tactics -- No hidden keywords. Which means, having keywords that are the same color as your background and are not visible to the human eye.

2. Keyword stuffing -- Stuffing your keywords into your copy. You can tell rather easily by the fact that the content does not flow smoothly and may have little or no learning value to the reader.

This is a good starting point, and if you're new to SEO it will keep you busy for a while. So, create the mindset of "getting it done" with long-term goals and you should begin to see traffic coming your way for years to come.

About the Author:

Vickie J Scanlon -- Visit her site My Affiliate Place. She's been on the Internet for two years, learning and sharing information on all the facets of Internet Marketing. Her site, which is ever expanding, offers how to articles, ebooks, tools, software and computers for marketers.


Check my web pages on SEO Information and SEO Keyword Search and Research


Read more...