Free Website Content - ROMM - The Basics of Search Engine
Optimization
ROMM - The Basics of Search Engine Optimization
The formula for webmasters looking for success
with the search engines is ROMM (Research, Optimize, Monitor,
and Maintain). Here are some helpful tips and details about
each portion of the ROMM concept...
Research
Before you even begin your website design,
give thought to the navigation, structure, graphic design,
and formatting of the URLs. Webmasters should not only have
experience as a graphic artist, but should also be well
versed in Search Engine Optimization. SEO should not be
an afterthought! Websites that are designed with SEO in
mind will have more success in ranking well in the search
engines.
The link depth in a website should really
not exceed 3-4 levels. Any links that are deeper than that
(requiring more than 5 clicks from the original domain)
will be more difficult, if not impossible, for search engines
to crawl.
Design the navigation so that it is intuitive
to the user, and will lead them through the website. Use
a navigation structure that will allow the website to expand
as the content is added. Once you have the general website
architecture worked out, determine how often and where new
content will be added to the website.
The color scheme of the website should be
designed in such a way that valuable content or keywords
are not hidden or obscured from the viewer.
Optimize
Always keep in mind that each and every page
on a website should have a unique page-specific title and
description. The webpage title and description should always
relate to the content of the page. Webmasters should make
every effort to create continuity between a web landing
page and the keyword or keyword phrase that the page is
trying to emphasize.
If there are keywords or headings on the webpage
that require specific emphasis, use "header" tags to emphasize
the words.
Each page should have a different focus, and
contain unique content. Redundant content, with only minor
changes to emphasize specific keywords, are frowned upon
by search engines.
Webmasters are encouraged to use image "alt
tags" to describe the image or link that the image refers
to. Keywords should be used judiciously.
When formatting URLs, use hyphens rather than
underscores. Use related keywords and hyphenated keyword
phrases to name sub-pages on a website. In other words,
a page containing this article might be named "mydomain.com/basic-seo.htm".
Try to avoid excessively long URLs. If the
webpages within a website are being dynamically created,
avoid using "ID=" in the URL, as many search engines will
not spider the pages -- they will often assume that the
'ID=' refers to a session ID and does not refer to unique
content.
Monitor
After launching a website, it is important
to evaluate the status of the site in the various search
engines. Keep in mind that major search engines will often
delay ranking a new website until the search engine deems
the website "trustworthy". Build links to the website and
monitor the site's progress in major search engines for
critical keywords and phrases.
Take a look at the web logs to determine the
popularity of pages within a website. Review the website
logs on a regular basis to determine any trends.
Maintain
Maintain the website by optimizing webpages
that are not performing well, and by adding new content
on a regular basis. Websites should be constantly expanding,
and should be updated regularly.
If the new content is something you wish to
have spidered quickly, be sure to add it to a web page that
is already spidered on a regular basis.
Successful websites require constant monitoring,
maintenance and optimization.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and
podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll
http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of
the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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