Probably the most important single investment any website owner can make is search engine optimization, also known as SEO. Every year the strategies that go into effective SEO become a just a little more advanced and a little more specific. Search engines themselves are constantly refined, responding to user queries more accurately, and recognizing more spam sites. And as search engines evolve, website owners everywhere need to review their SEO strategies every year to make sure they are still the best available.
Once upon a time, in the 1990's, SEO was very simple. You built your website. You added some meta tags. You chose keywords, probably repeating them over and over, hoping to draw traffic. Ten years ago and more, spider technology was relatively new, and users were easier to please. The Internet was sufficiently new that users were satisfied with simple matches that were just "kind of close" to what they were seeking.
In 2009, however, search engines have evolved to make search more accurate. Google is the prime example. Ten years ago Google's algorithm counted back-links and prioritized. You got more credit for a back-link to a desirable site, and, as the system developed, you were penalized for having back-links to a spam site. Putting keyword anchor text into links would optimize your site for those keywords, even if they did not appear in your content.
Keyword-rich links from high-value external sites is still the most effective way to raise your page rankings on Google. Nowadays, however, content also counts. Google and the other search engines have been working hard to discern quality content from content that may not be spam, but isn't original and informative and really worth a visitor's time. To a certain extent, your website still has to win a popularity contest, because back-links continue to count. But the new natural language filters don't just differentiate between natural language and spam. They give you increasing credit for increasing readability and originality of your content.
The speech patterns Google and others have started extracting from literature, news reports, and online sources have been incorporated into their algorithm. The new algorithms will exact a heavy penalty on your sites if you stuff keywords. Page rankings can disappear if you add too many keywords. Website owners once would stuff a page with 7% keywords, but in 2009, 3 to 4% keyword content is optimal. More than 3 to 4% keywords looks unnatural to the search engine, even if the content is not spam, in fact, even if it is original and unique on the net.
The top SEO strategy in 2009 is to make copy that is keyword optimized, but reads naturally. Copy should not just house keywords; it should also be appealing to the reader. Keyword-rich external links, however, are still important, and you still need to keep your keyword density up to 3 or 4%. Maintain a natural flow of meaningful text with just enough keywords and Google with reward you with higher page rankings.
Once upon a time, in the 1990's, SEO was very simple. You built your website. You added some meta tags. You chose keywords, probably repeating them over and over, hoping to draw traffic. Ten years ago and more, spider technology was relatively new, and users were easier to please. The Internet was sufficiently new that users were satisfied with simple matches that were just "kind of close" to what they were seeking.
In 2009, however, search engines have evolved to make search more accurate. Google is the prime example. Ten years ago Google's algorithm counted back-links and prioritized. You got more credit for a back-link to a desirable site, and, as the system developed, you were penalized for having back-links to a spam site. Putting keyword anchor text into links would optimize your site for those keywords, even if they did not appear in your content.
Keyword-rich links from high-value external sites is still the most effective way to raise your page rankings on Google. Nowadays, however, content also counts. Google and the other search engines have been working hard to discern quality content from content that may not be spam, but isn't original and informative and really worth a visitor's time. To a certain extent, your website still has to win a popularity contest, because back-links continue to count. But the new natural language filters don't just differentiate between natural language and spam. They give you increasing credit for increasing readability and originality of your content.
The speech patterns Google and others have started extracting from literature, news reports, and online sources have been incorporated into their algorithm. The new algorithms will exact a heavy penalty on your sites if you stuff keywords. Page rankings can disappear if you add too many keywords. Website owners once would stuff a page with 7% keywords, but in 2009, 3 to 4% keyword content is optimal. More than 3 to 4% keywords looks unnatural to the search engine, even if the content is not spam, in fact, even if it is original and unique on the net.
The top SEO strategy in 2009 is to make copy that is keyword optimized, but reads naturally. Copy should not just house keywords; it should also be appealing to the reader. Keyword-rich external links, however, are still important, and you still need to keep your keyword density up to 3 or 4%. Maintain a natural flow of meaningful text with just enough keywords and Google with reward you with higher page rankings.
About the Author:
Justin Harrison is a leading Internet Marketing consultant responsible for the Internet Marketing strategies behind some of the biggest online brands including Amazon, BBC, MasterCard and many others.
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