Okay, folks, get ready, because this is kind of a long one. . .

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not like a Magic Eye Painting, where only programming nerds and web designers can see the sailboat behind the chaos. It’s not an esoteric concept or a unicorn or something that only techie geeks can understand.   SEO is a real thing, honest, and if you take note of some of these simple tips, you can build a successful site that will ably promote your business or cause.  No matter how web-savvy or experienced you are (or are not), you can improve the SEO practices of your site.

1.) Choose Keywords Wisely

Picking keywords is an art and a science.  There are many tools online (like WordTracker and the Google Keyword  tool) to help you with keyword research and guide you through the process.  Spending a little time enhancing your keywords, in text and tags, will result in increased traffic that is specific to your business and your website.  I find keyword research to be extremely fun and satisfying- even if you have a couple of false starts with keywords that don’t really pan out, the strategizing and investigation required to revamp or develop your keywords and phrases is pretty edifying.

Below is a video tutorial on how to do keyword research using the Google Keyword Tool.

2.) Title Tags

Your title tags need to be different on every page.  Most search engines, most of the time, will use the title tag on a webpage as the link text that pops up as search results so it needs to be in sentence form, human-readable, 65 characters or less (including spaces)and keyword specific.  It’s crucial to SEO success to spend the time to make sure you’re titling each page with an appropriate and accurate description of the information available on that page.  Your title tags should reflect your keyword strategy-what you discover in your keyword research, you can apply here, to solicit specific appropriate to the corresponding pages of your site.  SEOMoz is pretty much the ultimate resource for SEO tips, blogs and tutorials, and here is their owner, Rand Fishkin’s clear and instructive description of best practices for title tags.  Also, if you have a content managed site (i.e. one built on a Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, or others) there are ways (contained in the above links- you’re welcome!) to work around your CMS and personalize your title tags.  Dudes, you might not want to know about ‘em, but there are ways. . .

3.) Image Tags

Be sure to include keyword-rich alt-tags on images.  You never know when an image might break on your site or be unviewable by someone’s browser your image tags need to be in complete sentences, rife with keywords and descriptive of what the image actually shows.  The search engine crawlers cannot see the images, but they can see the alt text.  Your images add enormous value to your web content; you know that, but the search engines have no way of knowing that (those damn, dirty machines).   You have to tell them what your image is and why it’s relevant- with your alt- tags.  Also, web readers for the blind read the image tags, so this is a chance to make your website accessible to more people.  It’s easy enough to forget to include your image tags (I have been guilty of it many, many times myself on this very blog and others-do as I say, not as I do, as my mom used to say), but you will be doing your business or NPO a great disservice if you do so.  Here’s a more detailed how-to, if you’re so inclined.

4.) Link Building

Link building is a trick of the trade that can easily go awry.  Two relevant links from related sites are exponentially more valuable than ten links of dubious quality.  The search engines algorithms are complicated, but the basic deal is this: Google casts it’s expansive eye all across the web, looking at which sites are connected to other sites, and considering each in-link you have to be akin to a political endorsement- sites with the most links generally show up high on the search engine results pages.  Like political endorsements, some can help, some are neutral and some can badly damage your search engine standing.   Never pay for links, as this is, well, frowned upon by the search engines.  The best, easiest and most enjoyable way to link-build is to continuously update your site with interesting content and link to other industry blogs and sites; the more relevance your site has in the ongoing web dialogue about your industry, cause or featured topic, the easier it will be for you to link to other interesting sites and enhance your popularity with the search engines and your presence on the web.  Check out these savvy, detailed tips on how to improve your link building skills.  Also, these.

5.) Site Maps

This is actually an easy thing to do that some newcomers to the web world find intimidating.

Here is a brief tutorial on how to create and submit a sitemap using free tools.

Submit updated site maps regularly to all major search engines.  Just do it, you won’t be sorry.

6.) Directory Listings

Carefully choosing several online  directories specific to your industry can help your site’s search engine standing enormously.  Not all directories that appear initially to be valuable or relevant actually will be, so do a little research before you get on board with one of these.  Some good ones for non-profits are here, here and here.  Also, of course be sure to submit yourself to larger directories like the ones at Google, Yahoo, Bing, Joeant, Dmoz, etc.  But you already did that, right?  Ahem, I’ll wait while you get on it.

7.)  Social Networking

I know, I know, this is a topic that I have beaten to death in most of my blog posts and this will surely not be the last, but, seriously, social networking can work wonders for your site.  I know Tweeting is ridiculous and Facebook can seem like a steaming cesspool of old high school boyfriends and weirdos covertly trying to sell you something (or, ah, services), but for your business or NPO, both those sites can really be a boon to your web traffic.  There are many factors to consider when using social networking sites to enhance your own site, especially for a non-profit.  Be strategic in terms of which methods you choose, post consistently engaging content and your efforts will be rewarded.  Here is an article from the Chicago tribune about the doors social networking is opening up for non-profits (forgive their poor archive formatting.  Also, for laughs, check out Gawker’s sassy beatdown of annoying Twitter users tweeting their causes.

8.) Blog/ Post Relevant Content

Yep, if you want to have a compelling website, you need to have regularly updated, interesting content.  Period.  There’s really no way around this, so just suck it up and do it.  It’s fun, stimulating and makes you feel connected with your web community and it is the single easiest way to have a dynamic site.  When you’re first building the readership on a blog (like this one), it can feel like your carefully constructed posts are like shots fired into the darkness.  The important thing to remember if you are just starting a companion blog to your website is that it will take some time.  But once people start finding their way to you, they’ll have a fabulous archive to browse and a way to further connect with you, your website, and your business or NPO.  Also, the search engines know which sites are regularly updated and can recognize when web traffic is repeatedly returning to your site.  That’s right, search engines are now smart enough to assess whether or not your site is valuable.  Make it valuable.

So, again, man up (or, you know, lady up) and do the damn thing; it’s addictive after awhile and will make a dramatic impact on your web traffic.

Here’s some basics on how to write a blog post using WordPress:

9.) Analytics

One of the easiest way to track your burgeoning web progress is to install a free analytics package on your site.  It will let you track how many views each page of your site is getting, where your web traffic is coming from and gives a daily breakdown of your visitors and site activity.  This is an invaluable, free tool that can help guide your site to greatness.

10.) Be Dilligent

All these tips are fine and good, but SEO is like an endurance trial: it requires a constant, low-level effort that will ultimately bring you to achieve your web goals.  If something isn’t working, if your site is underperforming or your keywords aren’t working . . . well, the best advice I can give you is to try, try again.  Try a new  SEO trick every day, read articles, get proactive with your web presence and you will be richly rewarded for your efforts.

Have fun and happy search optimizing!

-A.J.

Filed under: How-To's, Search Optimization, Stuff We Like by AJ