There are a number of steps in the search engine process that are important to understand, if one hopes to successfully push their site up in the SERPs (search engine results pages). From the moment a site goes live, these are the steps that take place, to make that site (or one or more of its pages) available to users via search engines.
In this phase, pages are discovered and quickly scanned by automatic prorams, called bots or spiders, that find pages via the hyperlink structure of the web, and “crawl” them, in order to get a rough outline of what the site is about. This process is going on continuously, in an effort to capture the estimated 20 billion pages that exist on the web.
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If asked where to begin with SEO, I would have a one word answer: Keywords!
Whether creating a new site or optimising an existing site, keyword research is always my first step. Part of that process is, indeed, asking the questions “Why am I best?” or “What sets this site or its product apart from the rest?” Knowing what the market is looking for, in terms of search, will strongly influence everything else I do.
So if asked where I begin this process, I would start with:
1. Keyword Research – The List
Make a list of all the keywords you think someone might type into a search engine that should logically bring them to your site or one like yours. Brainstorm with colleagues, friends and family members. Better yet (assuming you have a website and traffic) ask customers what words they searched to find you or if you don’t have a website yet, ask customers what they think they would use. Look at competitors’ sites to see what terms you may have missed.
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There are literally thousands of WordPress themes currently available online, spanning over dozens of genres, so it is generally easy to find a theme that will fit your site’s needs. However, there are times when a custom theme may be absolutely necessary. For someone with very little web experience building a WordPress theme from scratch can be quite a daunting task. However there are ways to do this without any special knowledge or experience whatsoever. The following three methods are the easiest ways to get a custom theme for your site.
Hire a Freelance Designer
OK, this isn’t creating it yourself but it is perhaps the easiest way to get a custom theme made. Hiring a WordPress designer from one of the many freelancing forums online can actually be very reasonably priced. Read More »
Search engine optimisation can be an overly complex task, especially for the novice webmaster. With so many factors to consider, it can be quite difficult to optimise even a single web page properly. Every aspect of the page needs to be structured properly, from keyword density to meta tags and everything in between. Doing all of this manually is time consuming, even after you know how it’s done. Luckily that’s where WordPress steps in, a content management system that simplifies almost every aspect of site management, including search engine optimisation. The following tips will help you to use WordPress to finish those SEO tasks in double quick time.
Important WordPress Plugins for SEO
Every WordPress user knows that open-source plugins are ultimately what makes this particular CMS so powerful. The following plugins can boost your search engine ranking with almost no effort on your behalf.
Ask ten different SEO specialists to list the steps of search engine optimisation, and you’re likely to get ten different answers. Most, however, will agree on the basics, even if they disagree on the number of steps, their sequence or what to call them. Here, I am listing what I consider to be the essential steps, in the most logical sequence.
1. Initial Analysis
You need to know your starting point before you can plan a journey… so first, you must determine a baseline. Aspects to consider here include market potential and type, and the current validity of your page in terms of code, the WAI Guidelines. Consideration must also be given to the competition, both present and future. When you have determined your starting point and your desired destination, you’re ready to begin.
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There are a number of useful tools available to web developers, both on-line and on-board. Some of the most convenient, however, are those that rest on the toolbar, or are integrated into the right-click menu. Here are five outstanding FireFox add-ons that you might want to consider adding to your arsenal.
- Quirk SearchStatus 1.33
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/321/
SearchStatus is an unobtrusive icon on your taskbar, which you can right-click when visiting a webpage, and view information such as meta tags, link report, Archive.org data, WhoIs, robots.txt and sitemap.xml. You can also highlight all nofollow links on the page, view keyword density, highlight keywords, show all indexed pages, and all backward links. Additionally, it allows you to place indicators on the taskbar for PageRank, Alexa Rank, Compete Rank and mozRank. It consumes very little memory, and provides a wealth of information. Read More »
