Google SEO - A Search Engine Optimization Tutorial

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Introduction - Search engine optimization is many things, it's an art and it's a a science. SEO is creative and it's technical. It's logical, parasitic and opportunistic. The aim of seo is to maximise targeted types of valuable traffic to a website from search engines by improving the visibility of said website in Google organic or unpaid SERPS. Traditionally, this has meant aiming for no1, or top ten positions in Google but SEO has evolved and now a SEO needs to be more a marketer than just a tech geek. A seo needs to be concerned, not just with high positions in Google for relevant keywords, but with analysing competition, traffic and analytics, and converting traffic to leads and sales. I like to draw a line between SEO and Linkbuilding. One (SEO) is on-page (on-site), the other, off-site (Linkbuilding).

SEO is not gaming Google (for us anyway). It's about trying to understand how and why Google engineers want to rank pages above others. SEO is about optimising a site to give Google what it wants, and at the same time, meeting the requirements, the intent, of a specific search engine visitor i.e. to buy something, to learn something, to store something, to communicate with someone.

This search engine optimization tutorial is aimed at beginners who want a start point for learning the basics of Google SEO without being suckered into buying regurgitated SEO Ebooks not worth the bandwidth to download never mind pay for. Google changes how it works, slightly, every day. You never know which Google DC you are seeing. Nobody knows exactly how Google works. But the principles of SEO are pretty longstanding.

In the end, Google success comes down to quality links from real websites, good content, and good syndication networks be they automated or human. SEO is not free. It can take weeks and even months or years to see the fruit of your labour. And there are no guarantees with SEO. It is however potentially the most rewarding online marketing effort you can make for your business.

This SEO guide to Google is an ongoing project - I thought it would be a useful edition to the site. I'll be adding links to relevant seo related websites often. Contact me here (email link) if you want to contribute to improve the page. Subscribe to the Hobo feed to learn about new SEO stuff. A lot of this is my honest personal opinion about SEO or it wouldn't be here so clearly no warranties. Test everything you read.... yourself. Every site is a different set of circumstances. You don't stop learning SEO. Google Ranking factors change over time.

Shaun Anderson

Remember deployment of SEO is the art! Hope you enjoy our SEO tutorial.

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Creative Commons SEO

The Hobo SEO Blog and it's original content is licensed through a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Scotland License. You are permitted to republish and rework content on your own blog if you link to the original article on the Hobo website.
Created in April 2009 by Shaun Anderson

Google Guidelines

Always Consider Google Guidelines
Google Guidelines change from time to time
Onsite, be squeaky clean with SEO! Consider these tips - SEO - what not to do or seo techniques to avoid!
Don't hide text or links, don't keyword stuff
Don't Game Google too much, Give it what it wants
You're not smart enough to Game Google
Remember every algorithm was an idea first
Think like a Google engineer, what are they trying to achieve? And why?
Consider Google SEO Starter Guide
Google webmaster guidelines can be interpreted differently but ignore search engine SEO guidelines at your own peril

Getting Into Google Free

Getting free placement in Google is easy - you don't need any kind of software
All you need is a link from another website to your website
Google needs to understand it is a full link to include you in it's database (index) of websites
You can submit your site to Google, but I think it is pointless - I have never used this method
Some seo companies charge for 'submission' to Google and other search engines - I wouldn't bother
Be wary - SEO can be a mysterious business - ensure you do not get scammed by unethical seo firms

Domain Authority

Domain authority is among the most important ranking factors in SEO
To rank in Google for a keyword your site needs to have online business or domain authority
Other real websites need to link to your website
You can't fake authority, but you can grow Google authority over time
The BBC for instance could rank in the top ten for anything - a new site cannot!
Consider this SEOmoz video on Authority
Becoming an authority in your niche is what it's all about - check out The 10 Rock Solid Elements of Effective Online Marketing

Original Content

Original content is something you create yourself, write and express yourself, and is not present in that form anywhere else on the internet
Original content is generally rewarded by Google with fast indexing and good stable rankings usually above copies of that content.
Popular timely content can quickly find it's way to the top of Google especially if it has been promoted well or gained traction in Google friendly social media sites like Digg or Mixx.
Make no mistake - content is the future of SEO and it's here already and only going to get more important.
Consider Chris Garrett's Flagship content.

Google Pagerank

Google Pagerank is one metric Google uses to rank pages in it's index
IMO You only need a lot of pagerank if you have a lot of pages - Consider this on Google PR
Having a high pagerank page is pointless unless you are spreading that Google PR to other pages on your site via internal links
It's thought Google Pagerank is a deciding measurement that allows pages to rank in Google's main index.
Pages without Google PR may end up in obscure, hidden supplemental results
'In The Wild' A High PR page alone will not necessarily outperform a low PR page

site Structure

A google friendly site structure spreads builds link equity to internal pages and allows them to rank better in Google over a prolonged period.
Link to important pages on your site often IN TEXT CONTENT.
If you have a large ecommerce site, consider a directory structure setup - Home > Category > Sub Category > Product (and link to related products on product pages).
Be careful not to create spammy looking internal link structures and be rewarded with a 'penalty'.
It's incredibly important to add a great diversity of keywords to your internal link profile (I think)

A Sitemap

Every site should have a plain html site map, just in case
Sitemaps help Google identify your pages
Sitemaps are good for keeping your pages in Google SERPS
Large sitemaps should probably be broken into pages of no more than about 100 links to be on the safe and usable side.
Sitemaps should be linked to from every page on your site
Sitemaps help spread Pagerank throughout your site ensuring pages are included

Link building

Key to better ranking in Google is getting lots of real sites to link to your website with desired keywords in the anchor text.
Link building should be a mixture of organic and manufactured links,
its important to vary anchor text in your linkbuilding or Google might respond negatively.
Just about every form of linkbuilding is grey hat, and sometimes then defined as black hat by Google at a later stage.
Consider our Introduction with Jim Boykin

Anchor Text

Anchor Text is the text that makes up a link. It's the actual words in the link, and this is what Google will rank you for in SERPS when other sites link to your website.
That's why it's good to get targeted anchor text from either a lot of sites or a few very high quality sites.
Make your internal anchor text keyword rich too but do not overdo it.
Keep links to under 55 characters

Search Engine Operators

Google (and other search engines) can be instructed to return results via Operators as a means of querying site-specific metrics
site:www.hobo-web.co.uk - How many pages Google has in it's index - Tip
Google's link operator is an inaccurate public measure of the number of sites linking to you
See List of Search Engine Operators
The Yahoo link operator is actually more useful than Google's equivalent for viewing backlinks
Live /MSN/Bing has a useful tool for tracking links OUT

Trust

Google places a lot of trust, in trusted sites
Trusted sites can get away with a lot more
Trusted sites are generally careful who they link to
Trusted sites (I think) can pass trust to other sites
Trusted sites can inject content on many topics almost directly into Google SERPS
Trusted sites seem still susceptible to on page filters and penalties
An aim of SEO is to get a site trusted!
Consider this SEOmoz video on Trust

Keyword Stuffing

The fastest surest way of getting a page penalised is to keyword stuff
It's a sign of the very most amateur spam sites - you don't want to look anything like spam.
Keyword stuffing can nuke a page in Google SERPS instantly if the algo determines there is real intent to do something fishy
Keep language unique and original
Use keywords and keyword phrases as well as related terms throughout the page generally where relevant

Where Can You Get Links?

Adding useful content to your site to compel others to links to you!
Dofollow Blogs
Social Networks
Directories
Partner Sites
Review Sites
Forums
PR Sites
News Sources
Consider our link building tutorial for beginners and learn more about links that affect your Google ranking.

Quality Links

What Is A Quality Link?
A link from a real site
A link from a trusted site
A link from an authority site
A link from a relevant page on a well structured domain
A natural link, Think DIVERSITY & AGE
A manufactured link on any of the above
Hint - Get links from pages that in turn have links pointing to it - Get Links That Stick & will age.
Consider - How To Get Quality Links The Competition has

Crap Links

Rule Of Thumb: The easier a link is to get, the less value it has
Links Pages
Social Media Profiles
Forum Signatures
Sitewide links
Article links
Crap links are good for new site discovery, that's about it
Reciprocal links from less trusted sites
Consider - Don't Build Crap Links

Domain Names & SEO

Exact Match Domain Names still work
Generally speaking you still need to deliver on other factors to rank, it's not a magic bullet
Less Than Exact Match Domain names are a LOT less effective
Over time, a well optimised, content relevant exact match domain is a very powerful asset
It's undoubtedly easier to linkbuild to an exact match domain
In the end, popular or highly relevant content can beat exact match domains in SERPS

Bad Neighbourhoods

Who you link to matters
If you link to a network of sites Google has identified as spam, your site runs the risk of being judged spammy
Google has warned webmasters if they link to bad neighbourhoods, they can be penalised.
Trusted sites can seem impervious to actual penalties linking to bad neighbourhoods
Link to a site that is really bad (i.e. injects Malware etc) is a one way ticket out of Google's SERPS.

Anatomy Of A LInk

Links For Different Purposes - Identify Why You Want A Link From A Site
Pagerank
Trust / Reputation
Relevance
Topical Neighbourhood?
New Site Discovery
Diversity
To Muddy Your Link Profile
Anchor Text Boost
Traffic(!)

Neighbourhood / Co-Citation

Co-Citation may be a similarity measurement used to establish subject similarities between two or more websites - maybe.
If Y and Z are both cited by X, they could be said to be related to one another, even though they don’t directly link to each other.
If Y and Z are both cited by many other websites, they have a stronger relationship.
The more websites they are cited by, the stronger their relationship is.
In short, you don't want unrelated Casino and Viagra sites linking to you if you're not in those industries.
Consider - SEO Heat Theory

Google Sandbox

The Google Sandbox is highly debated
Does the Google sandbox exist? Who knows - a 'Sandbox Effect' certainly exists
For sure, new sites don't rank well in the beginning, especially if they have been optimised and don't have any quality sites linking to it
I've seen 'effects', but do think it is about the niche, onsite optimization, specific key terms and it could be anything from PR itinerating to a complete lack of trust or online business authority
Got a new site? Get some links from real sites - quick.
Consider - New sites take time to rank

Buying Links

First rule about buying links is don't talk about buying links
Second Rule is....
Buying links is against Google TOS
Google really does not like you buying links
It's generally easy for Google to find most link networks
Don't buy links from text brokers
If you do buy links, be careful
Don't send out emails asking to buy links right off - stay under the radar
Advice: No need to buy links to rank in less than competitive markets.
Consider - Should I buy links to get better Google listings?

Selling Links

Google will penalise your site if it discovers you are selling links that influence Google's SERPS
Most commonly, you will have a Toolbar PR penalty. This is bad if you sell links of course.
Google penalises pages a lot more than it penalises sites
If you do sell links, you are supposed to NOFOLLOW them
Google does not want the links you sell to influence or interfere with the way it ranks pages (via links)

Links Pages

You don't need a Links Page
'Useful Links' pages are often not useful at all
Be careful taking part in link exchanges via links pages - some are nearly worthless unless from already trusted sites (or sites with more authority than yours)
Links from these pages are next to useless for established domains
Google easily identifies such pages, and in my opinion, ignores them \ penalises them.
Ensure no page resembles a links out page - if you don't have site, trust, chances are, Google will ignore your page

Cloaking

Most websites never need to cloak
Cloaking is against Google TOS
Cloaking is when content presented to the Google is different to the content which is presented to a user's browser.
The purpose of cloaking is often to deceive Google so it displays a page when it would not otherwise be displayed on signals that would merit a high ranking.
Often considered a black hat technique

A SearchErs Intent

Optimising a page to satisfy a USER's Intent is a very important aspect of seo
You can't please all the people all the time
Really target your seo around a specific user group, and a specific search
give them exactly what they, the targeted group, need
Short tail searches are too competitive - go longtail and niche - optimise for longer keyword phrases and increase traffic now!

Vary Anchor Text

It's important to vary links in your linkbuilding efforts
pushing too hard for one term might get your site penalised
backlinks need to look 'natural' or 'organic' for maximum benefit and safety
It's surprisingly unlikely you'll have a lot of similar organic anchor text, so this footprint is often easy to spot and devalue.
Consider which links Google will count!
Consider Eric Ward's EXCELLENT Anchor Text Best practices article

Hidden Links & Text

Hiding links and text on a page is an age old spam technique. Google has measures in place to penalise pages or ignore pages if it detects such 'abuse'
don't hide a lot of text or links even using CSS as a design feature on a page if not absolutely necessary as Google might flag it as an abuse of spammy techniques
To Be Safe, don't hide text

Google Analytics

GA is a free tool to help you find out more about your website
Use Google Analytics to analyse;
No of Visits
Visitors
Referrers
Bounce Rate
Time On Page
Conversions
Rankings
Check out things you can do with Google Analytics

"Over optimization"

Over optimization is a dirty phrase - more accurately, it's sloppy optimization
If you optimise EVERY single element of a page you think Google uses to rank a page, all you are doing is inviting a filter that pushes your site down in Google, or a penalty which sees your page relatively ignored in Google
Keep your optimization tweaks simple
Stick to natural looking links, page titles & simple internal links and concentrate on the content - not everything ALWAYS needs to be "keyword rich"

Link Farms

A link farm is any group of web sites that all hyperlink to every other site in the group
Although some link farms can be created by hand, most are created through automated programs and services.
A link farm is a form of spamming the index of a search engine (sometimes called spamdexing or spamdexing).
Google is really good at spotting and devaluing most link farms

Pagerank Leaks

Google Pagerank is for pages, not sites
Pages have a certain amount of PR they can give to other pages
It's been theorised a page donates PR, it doesn't leak PR
Some think sites may 'bleed' PR through the natural process of linking out to other sites
Instead of internal pages getting PR, these external pages share in it too meaning less PR for your pages
Don't worry about linking to trusted sites - the benefits of linking out to a neighbourhood of trusted sites outweighs the pros of hoarding your Google PR
Do ensure your site structure is adequately spreading most of your PR to your pages

Pagerank Sculpting

The best way to sculpt pagerank is to consider a useful user centric site navigation structure in the first place
While you can sculpt PR using nofollow for instance, the benefits on most sites are very small - and consider, Matt Cutts has recently said Google has changed how it treats nofollow
Link to important pages often in your navigation links, in navigation arrays and in text content
I only consider this tactic on large sites with little PR and a horrendous navigation system I can't quickly change
Matt Cutts says PR sculpting is a second order effect on rankings
You are probably better focusing on getting more PR in the first place i.e. get more links from real sites.
Consider this experts discussion on Pr Sculpting

3rd Party Statistics

3rd Party Statistics are often inaccurate unless the website is actually participating with the 3rd party.
3rd party stats sites can be of use to determine popular content or popular keywords on a competitors site
They can be used to determine popular keywords driving traffic to a competitors website
Typically these sites buy their data from hosts, ISP and toolbars (like the better known Alexa Toolbar)
Consider Compete
Consider Alexa

Page Penalties / Filters

Pages get penalised a lot more than sites do
Don't optimise every available element of a page focused on one keyword
Do not keyword stuff or Google will ignore your page entirely (especially on a less trusted site)
Don't overuse a page title to cover too many keywords
Don't overdo it with the same word in internal navigation and linkbuilding
Bad words get filtered in Google safe search so careful which words you use or contributors add
Watch out for boilerplate text and links in your template especially when they outweigh the single page content

Site Penalty

Your site really does need unique content
Sites can be penalised for particular keywords, typically if the site has a identifiable manufactured or worse, paid for, link profile
Your entire site can be removed from Google if it contravenes Google webmaster guidelines
Typically this is because your site has been hacked and links to malicious software injected into old code and scripts (watch contact forms)
If your site is removed, you need to clean it all up and issue a re inclusion request in Webmaster Tools
Be careful getting sitewide links from most sites - IMO take a couple of links from strong pages on the site instead with varied anchor text

Competitor Research

Examining established competitors can often reveal tactics you can use for your own site
Find out where they get their back links
What keywords they are targeting
How they are keeping site visitors engaged
Methods they use to convert visitors to sales
Tip - Use Yahoo Link Operator to see who links to your competitors
Use Link diagnosis for a quick way of checking for search engine friendly links to competitors

Unique Page Titles

Highly relevant to the page content
The ‘crown’ of a keyword targeted article with keyword once (maybe twice)
Probably 5-12 words, but ideally under 70 characters, so the full title appears in Google SERPS (search engine results pages) but it depends on the page content - character counter.
A call to action which reflects and satisfies exactly a searcher’s intent (i.e. to learn something, or buy something, or hire something. Remember this is your hook in search engines!
The perfect title tag is unique in relation to other pages on the site
Google displays 70 characters in it's SERPS and will truncate anything over this limit
See more on Google Page Titles.
If Google for instance has an issue with your page title, it will ignore it and use the H1 tag (or another Header tag) as the page title in the Google SERP snippet.

H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 H6 Tags

Headings are good for accessibility and readability - Consider Headings Correct Use
there's no evidence I know of that headings are very useful for Google SEO
it is however one of the marks of a well structured page
I regularly use Header tags
See this website headings starter guide
The H1 and H2 elements are reinforcing signals for the relevance of a web page. They are not a magic bullet, but in tight competitive situations, they might help a page to rank better than a custom styled text will. One of many, many signals that Google watches.
Heading elements are a best practice, IMO - there's no reason not to use them, and they enforce a kind of semantic discipline on your page template. You can use CSS to style them any way you need to fit with your page's visual needs.
Consider too Google Will Use H1,H2,H3,H4,H5 & H6 Headers As Titles For Page Snippet if for whatever reason it chooses not to use the Title Element

Meta Descriptions

It's highly debated whether Meta Descriptions actually help rankings
It's possible Google uses meta descriptions to determine relevance but it does not return unique text in SERPS results if it is not on the page (why some think Google are ignoring it)
Write meta descriptions for humans with the keyword in it so Google displays it in results
Keep meta descriptions under 160 characters
On longer tail searches Google attempts to display more than 160 characters to get more out of sites it already trusts rather than have you dig down into spammy depths of the SERPS
a good meta description with the keywords in it can be the difference between a visitor clicking your snippet in the SERPS or not - make it a call to action especially on important pages.

What Is Nofollow

rel="nofollow"
A link condom, nofollow effectively tells Google not to pass any benefit of any kind
Nofollow links don't pass link 'juice' like anchor text benefits, pagerank or trust
Google wants you to use nofollow on links you don't know you can trust and for paid links
When getting links to your site, ensure they are not links with the nofollow tag present - it won't help you at all in terms of Google placement.

Keyword Density

There is no probably NO optimal keyword density
I don't think KWD is used as a metric
Keyword prominence, placement and repetition is most definitely a factor at some level, but not keyword density
Consider this article on the Hobo site where we asked a great many SEO experts, writers and bloggers if they used Keyword density as a ranking measurement - NO was the consensus
I have tested it - I can't find it's use anyway

Keyword Research

Keyword Research is a pivotal aspect of seo
Examine competition - see what they are targeting
Consider the Google Keyword Tool or Wordtracker for analysis
Manual keyword research techniques are best
Optimise keywords specific to a very targeted user groups intent
Consider Aaron Wall's Keyword Research Tips For Beginners on the Hobo SEO Blog

Linking To Other SItes

Link out to other related sites at least on certain pages on your site
It's thought this may help define your site in a neighbourhood
Linking out to relevant pages may increase the quality of your page as a resource - it micht even help your own rankings in some way
Be careful to link to only sites you trust in some way, although your site is unlikely to be tarnished in this manner if you make the odd link to a shady neighbourhood
Check links for link rot - links that break over time

Robots Meta Tag

You do not need a robots meta tag
The robots meta tag can be used on a page level to tell search engines not to reveal the page content in search engines.
It can be used to tell Google not to rank the content but take into account the links on the page
Example (consider http://noarchive.net/ for more):
<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX, FOLLOW">
<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW">
<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="INDEX, NOFOLLOW">

Robots TXT File

You do not need a Robots.txt file, but I use them to try and prevent Google indexing particular parts of my sites
Offers some measure of control of search engines when they crawl your website
Read the beginners guide to Robots.txt
If you want to read about Robots.txt, read Sebastians Pamphlets
Recently there has been some discussion on Twitter about Robots TXT and Robots Meta - See this roundup on Sphinn

Meta Keyword Tags

Google seems to ignore Meta Keyword Tags
Placing keywords in meta tags does not help your site in Google SERPS
Some say meta keywords can be useful for other search engines, but I don't bother thinking or even auto generating meta keywords
I don't use Meta Keywords (generally) and expand here: Best Meta Keywords

Word COunt

There is no optimal word count, no optimal amount of words for Google SEO
Consider: Google SEO - How Many Words
Only be concerned with adding unique content with target keywords on the page
Use as many or as little words it takes to communicate effectively
There is a 1000 word limit on Google News syndication

Bold & Italic Keywords

If bold and italics are measurements in Google SEO, I can't find it
Use bold / italics only when it's relevant
if it is a factor in seo, it is minimal and behind a lot of other factors
Rule of Thumb - if everything is bold, nothing is bold. Use it carefully. Emphasise when there is emphasis to be made.

Canonical Issues

"Canonicalisation is the process of picking the best URL when there are several choices…” Matt Cutts
Every site can have canonical issues but not every site suffers
When it is an issue, on larger, more dynamic sites, it can really cause trouble
Effectively ranking benefit is spread over multiple urls, so weakening the canonical url, or the url you want to rank
I redirect using 301s in the HTaccess file
Consider What Is A Canonical Tag?

ALT Tags (Attributes)

Alt Tags (attributes!) are useful when used correctly
Use Alt Tags for humans first, Google second
Describe the image in an accessible manner
I surmise Alt Tags would be heavily policed - spam them at your own risk
Use empty ALTs for design elements, descriptive text for pictures
Opinion - Optimised ALT tags are about as useful as a link to a page without the word on it that's in the anchor text. It's second order.

SEF URLS

You don't need to rewrite URLs
Google says not to rewrite URLS, if you don't know what your are doing
From a user point of view it can be better
From a search engine visitor point of view it can improve click thru
when people link to your url, if it is rewritten, it will have important keywords in it that only improve rankings.
I prefer to rewrite URLS when I have a good measure of control over things

XML Sitemaps

You do not need a XML sitemap
XML sitemaps alert Google to the list of urls on your website
There is no guarantee Google will crawl or index these pages
xml sitemaps are useful for large sites
Not a substitute for a good navigation system and solid information categorisation
XML sitemaps don't help you rank higher, they help getting more, to rank

301 Redirects

Redirect 301 (HTACCESS)
301 redirects transfer the pagerank and ranking of a page to another page
You can transfer entire folders, or indeed whole domains - useful for re branding
Google may be examining 301 redirects more closely and not always delivering expected results
Keep pages as complete and relevant to the original as possible for best results

W3c Accessibility

Your page does not need to validate (HTML& CSS) to rank in Google
Valid pages don't necessarily rank better than invalid pages
Valid HTML and CSS is the sign of a well crafted site
If valid HTML is a benefit, it's tiny where relevant to actually ranking better in Google
Valid code is not a seo magic bullet - There are far more important pointers for Google

Getting New Content Indexed

If your website is set up to 'ping' various services and search engines, you can inject new content virtually immediately into Google
RSS is for me the single best way of injecting new content into Google instantly (nearly)
Most blogging platforms and CMS are enabled with RSS
Register the website feed at Feedburner
Setup to Ping Google Blogsearch for a start
Consider The Fastest Way To Get Pages Indexed
Consider - Syndicate Your Website Content

Link Title attributes

You don't need link titles and you certainly don't need them just to repeat anchor text already present
A good link title can be useful if the anchor text of the link is your URL or 'more' for instance.
I think they are as useful as a word in a link that is not on a page sort of thing
I don't think Google would give these any weight for the target page unless they were forced to take this into account because of other poor signals

Ranking in Google

To rank a page in Google for a specific query the word should be in;
1. Title
2. Keyword Rich Text
3. Internal Links (diversity)
4. Incoming Backlinks (diversity)
5. Headings
Think keyword diversity!
Rankings constantly fluctuate in Google - It has been designed that way

SEO To Avoid

choosing a title that has no relation to the content on the page
using default or vague titles like "Untitled" or "New Page 1"
using extremely lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users
using a single title tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages
stuffing unneeded keywords in your title tags
writing a description meta tag that has no relation to the content on the page
using generic descriptions like "This is a web page" or "Page about baseball
cards"
filling the description with only keywords
using a single description meta tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages
SEE SEO To Avoid on the Hobo search engine optimization Blog for more
Rule of Thumb - Keep It Simple Stupid. Everything you are about to try to game Google has been done before. Google knows what to look out for. Onsite - keep it simple.

Benefits of Blogging

Blogging can drive thousands of visitors to your site if you do it properly
Blogging for SEO benefits is a long term commitment
Blogs let you add focused content to your website easily
Blogs allow visitors to easily interact with you via comments
Blogs let other sites know you have new content on them
A blog could be used to keep up with industry news, company news, and offer beginner guides and how to articles
If it is a company blog, host it in a subdirectory of your main site rather than sub domain or alternate URL
The more you put into a blog the more you will get out of it
Successful bloggers live in their blogs
Consider ProBlogger, CopyBlogger or Chris Garrett's blog or book if you want to begin blogging
Successful blogs cover an area that existing blogs don’t do already, they stand out and can often be unique in content or attitude.

Linkbait

Linkbait is a term coined about content that compels other sites to link to it
Successful linkbait is a holy grail of organic SEO - consider How Easy Is It To Bait For Links?
Consider: It's more useful to linkbait particular companies or websites, usually by writing about them (gosh!)
Breaking news, Tools, Interviews, How To Articles or Beginners guides or top ten (20, 30....etc) lists usually make for decent linkbait
Successful linkbait can be one or two blogs in your niche linking to you.
If you are interested in Linkbait, consider Lyndon's introduction to linkbait for beginners on the Hobo blog or indeed his linkbait coaching service.
If you set out from the beginning to make your site a resource for your industry, you'll attract links from other sites naturally (especially if you tell them about it).
In the end successful linkbait is about useful or interesting content and usually who you know in the networks.

Social Media

Social media is conerstone search engine optimization these days.
Social media sites are sites where people hang out online, interact, and more importantly for us share information of interest.
There are many social media experts out there - anyone can make friends online - not everybody can make the right friends and leverage that for the benefit of business in a viral manner.
Consider this Introduction to Social Media by Shana Albert.
Social Media is content driven - make a lot of contacts and help them leverage your content (and theirs) - in many ways it is a two way street - unless of course your content is stellar or timely!

Google Local Business

Google local business (part of Google Maps) is the first place you should register your small business
It can provide nearly instant first page, even number 1 rankings, even for new sites
You can choose 5 keywords to rank for
You can have multiple listings if you have multiple addresses and websites
You can also add opening times, coupons and images to your profile (which you should)
Beware some companies may have already registered your business to drive traffic to their site - So Claim Yours ASAP.
Consider our beginners guide to Google Local Businessbloc center listings

Reciprocal Links

Reciprocal links may be devalued although I think it largely depends on the quality of the links and the pages/sites/ they are on.
Recip links are natural to have in moderation - risky to have in entirety
Never worry about reciprocating links from relevant websites in your niche when the other website is more trusted (older, more PR, lots of links) than yours
I do not use Recip Linking as a search engine optimization RANKING strategy
One way backlinks are best
Consider - Should You Get Reciprocal Links?

Google Base / Products

Google Product Search "helps Google shoppers find and buy products across the web".
You can submit your product feed to Google Product Search, allowing Google shoppers to quickly and easily find your site.
It's not just for e commerce sites and shops - you can add services
Google Product Search / Base is a Google One Box feature and another chance to rank in Google as well as in the organic and paid listings.
You can add your products here - you don't even need a website.
The bonus of Google product search is that sometimes specific products appear in Google SERPS - sometimes at Number 1,2 & 3 spots.

Double Listings

Sometimes Google returns two pages from the one site in SERPS - a double listing.
Generally speaking, this means you have at least two pages with enough link equity to reach the top ten results - two pages very relevant to the search term
Getting double (or indented) placement in Google can be dependent on the relevance of your pages, the strength of your domain and the competition for the actual term
Go for double listings for long tail phrases which already bring traffic to your site from one article
It's easy to achieve, and improves traffic
See How To Get Double Or Indented Listings In Google SERPS.
See also this article by Aaron Wall

Accessibility

Google needs to be able to find all the pages on your site
Traditionally Google found your pages by crawling links, visiting them and collating the information.
A good accessible site structure is still incredibly important, even though we now have RSS and XML syndication
Keep navigation simple
The most important thing to remember is Google needs to find your pages - so make it easy using plain text links
Keep in mind if your site is 100% Flash, you will probably find it harder or more expensive to rank your content than you would with a HTML &CSS website.
Although a bit out of date, our accessible wesite design tips page is still worth a read I think.

Duplicate Content (On-site)

Google can run into duplicate content issues with your site if it finds info in more than one place.
Ideally you want targeted information found on single sources you can optimise fully with page titles etc and optimise to convert visitors
Google sometimes can display content on other pages less optimised for SERPS and visitors
Rankings and visitor conversion can be severely hampered if Google chooses pages less optimised to rank
Minimise dupe content issues by ensuring Google can find the information only or 'on the whole' on optimised pages
Minimise boilerplate repetition: Don't repeat large portions of the same text on every page.
Many search engine optimization professionals now agree there is no such thing as a 'duplicate content penalty' on site.

Website hacking & Cracking

Hacked sites are becoming increasingly common.
Not all black hat seo are comfortable actually hacking sites, but some are
Lost rankings are a common side affect
Hackers or Crackers compromise your website, some deface your site, some leave hidden links behind that link to bad neighbourhoods and Google flags them with the infamous "This Site May Harm Your Computer" message.
As a result of often black hat seo techniques, like hidden text and keyword stuffing, Google can and will remove your site from it's SERPS, or demote them down pages.
Tip - Block Google from indexing plugin or open directories, check your site often. Know who you link to. Ensure your website is on a well maintained server. Keep plugins updated. Back up.
If your website hacked, it can be reincluded in Google by signing up to Webmaster tools - www.google.com/webmasters/tools

Google Sitelinks

Sitelinks are awarded to sites Google trusts for a particular term
It can take months to acquire sitelinks
You need incoming links, citations which time and time again tell Google the same information about the site
Most brands will have sitelinks
Any site can get sitelinks
Sitelinks win more space in the Google SERPS, and therefore improve click through rate to pages Google deems important on your site
Tell Google which pages are important by linking to them often
Sitelinks come in different varieties.

White Hat SEO

White Hat search engine optimization is keeping your website squeaky clean - it generally means following Google guidelines.
White Hat SEO focuses on content and getting as many natural editorial links as possible
White Hat SEO in my opinion is focused squarely on what you do ONSITE and ONPAGE.
Just about all other forms of SEO including Ninja Linkbuilding are Grey Hat SEO, because Google guidelines change pretty frequently - what's grey today is black tomorrow.
As i learn more and more, I don't think there are any 'hats'. It's about doing what's right in the environment you compete in.

Black Hat SEO

Blackhat SEO is techniques that if discovered will get a site or page de indexed - they are clearly violating Google TOS
Google calls this 'unethical seo'
Black Hat SEO isn't a quick fix - black hat seo is also time consuming and something big brands and regular companies should not consider if they depend on traffic from Google
Black hat seo is more advanced than the basic keyword stuffing and hidden text you hear about and can include Parasitic hosting and cloaking.
Don't be seduced by black hat scams - they exist too.
Big brands 'seem' to get away with more, so because a tactic works for them, it might not for you

Beginners SEO Guide

This is a beginners introduction to SEO (search engine optimization) - a lot of it is my opinion - I still try and learn everyday
The best way to really understand Google is to build a crap site and make it better
There's no short cuts, and no single seo magic silver bullet to success
Nobody one person knows how Google works exactly
Google was reported to have changed it's algorithm more than once a day last year
Build a site for users, not just for search engines (you have heard of that before!?)

SEO Blogs

I've learned a lot from reading SEO blogs and other sites. I'm going to list places you can dig for a more comprehensive seo education - check out our Best UK SEO Blogs roundup.

Hobo Sebastian's Pamphlets Bill Slawski Aaron Wall Rand Fishkin Edward Lewis Andy Beard Half’s SEO Notebook Michael VanDeMar David Naylor Search Engine Journal Blumenthals Daily SEO Tips Tim Nash Jim Boykin Matt Cutts Weip Knoll David Harry SERoundtable Search Engine People Andrew Girdwood Tad Chef Kalena Jordan Patrick Altoft Hamlet Batista Michael Martinez Seoptimise Lyndon Antcliff Fantomaster SEO Black Hat Slightly Shady SEO Joost de Valk Donna Fontenot Rae Hoffman Eric Ward Matt McGee Michael Gray Ann Smarty

SEO Tools

Google Webmaster Tools Backlink Analyzer Backlink Watch Link Diagnosis Xenu Link Sleuth Hittail PageRankBot

More DIY SEO Resources

Wikipedia What Is SEO SEO Fast Start SEOmoz Beginner Guide

Merits