LAST UPDATED: 3 APRIL 2014
I’ve collected together 66 super simple one sentence Search Engine Optimisation tips to help you get your site in tip top condition for some good Google lovin’.
Just for fun, why not tell me in the comments how many of the SEO tips you’ve already done?
TECHNICAL SEO TIPS
1. Only go for an exact match domain name if it works for your business and you can build a brand with it.
2. Keep your URL under 76 characters.
3. Ensure your URLs include no more than three subfolder levels (i.e. no more than four trailing slashes following the domain name).
4. Use this nifty FREE Link Structure tool to find the broken links on your website.
5. Ensure your domain name works with and without the leading “www.”, and that they both go to the same place. If not, use a 301 redirect to fix the problem.
6. Install Google Analytics. You’ll learn heaps about your site.
7. Download a strong SEO checklist and go on a major bug hunt.
8. If you’re using WordPress, install either Wordpress SEO by Yoast or the All in One SEO Pack.
9. Does your website have an XML sitemap? No? Don’t worry, you can make one here.
10. Set up a customer robots.txt file that tells Google how to crawl your site (and what not to crawl).
11. Add a link to your sitemap in your robots.txt.
12. Create a Google Webmaster Tools account for some nifty free SEO tools to play with.
13. Make sure your URLs and filenames contain hyphens rather than underscores.
14. Don’t worry about your file extensions. Whether you use .html, .htm, .asp, .php or whatever, it won’t make a difference to your SEO.
15. Don’t fret about submitting your site to search engines manually. They’ll find you soon enough, and manual submission doesn’t give you any advantage
16. Check your site speed to ensure your site loads quickly on all devices.
17. Use static URLs, and remove any dynamic parameters. (?, =, etc.) by using mod rewrite or ISAPI rewrite to change the URL.
18. It doesn’t matter a great deal if you host your site in the same country as your business. Speed and reliability are what count the most.
19. Ensure your site is responsive and looks great on all devices.
CONTENT SEO TIPS
20. If possible, choose longer-tail, less-competitive keywords.
21. Use tools such as Google Keyword Planner and Wordtracker to get search volume for specific keywords.
22. Don’t put all your SEO eggs into one keyword basket, or become obsessed with your ranking for a particular term.
23. Include a unique meta description tag for each page. Make sure it’s catchy and includes a call to action. (Think of it as a two-line sales pitch.)
24. Keep your meta description to under 155 characters (including spaces).
25. Include a unique title tag for each page, and put the keyword phrase you chose for the page at the start of the tag.
26. Keep your title to under 55ish characters (including spaces). Use this tool to check them before you push them live.
27. Don’t use the meta keywords tag.
28. Choose a unique keyword phrase for each page of content.
29. Use the keyword phrase at least once in your title tag, headings, body copy, bold copy, alt tags and image names.
30. Use your keyword phrase in the first 100 words of your content.
31. Use keyword phrase sparingly and naturally. There’s no exact keyword density figure.
32. Use keyword phrase synonyms and write around your core subject matter.
33. Try to include around 500 characters (including spaces) of substantive, unique content that will provide value to visitors.
34. Set up a fun, branded and useful 404 error page with links to your best content.
35. Focus on high quality, in-depth articles and blog posts that offer solutions for your readers.
36. Consider different kinds of content—infographics, videos, question and answer sessions, surveys, slide shows, interviews, etc.
37. Try to upload fresh content regularly. Once a week is great, but even once a month is better than nothing.
38. Consider using software such as POWTOON to create a shareable, engaging explainer video.
IMAGES & VIDEO SEO TIPS
39. Read and understand Google’s image publishing guidelines.
40. Optimise your YouTube channel and videos.
41. Use relevant keywords in your image filenames and alt tags. (No logo.png, please!)
42. If you don’t have any images on your page, consider adding one. They’re great for user engagement and SEO
43. Write quirky and relevant captions for your pictures to engage users.
44. Use a fun title generator to help you think of great blog post ideas.
SOCIAL SEO TIPS
45. Set up both personal and business Google+ pages.
46. Link your Google+ profile to all blogs and sites you write for.
47. Pick a nice headshot, as it will appear next to your listing in the search results.
48. Include prominent social media sharing buttons in your posts. (I like Shareaholic.)
49. Use a tool such as KnowEm (which searches more than 575 popular social media networks) to secure your brand name across the social web.
50. Ensure your business name, address and phone number are all consistent across your website and on any local listings services.
LINKS SEO TIPS
51. Avoid an excessive number of internal links. Limit yourself to 100.
52. Include outbound links to related pages and authority sites.
53. Check out competitor link profiles, and find possible link opportunities using tools such as Link Explorer.
54. Avoid site-wide outbound links (e.g. blogrolls in your footer).
55. Avoid registering your site on dodgy directory sites.
56. Register your site on all of these safe directory sites.
- http://www.truelocal.com.au
- http://www.livepages.com.au/
- http://www.hotfrog.com.au
- http://www.dlook.com.au/
- http://www.localbusinessguide.com.au/
- http://www.gumtree.com.au
- http://www.aussieweb.com.au/
- http://www.ineedto.com.au
- http://www.aussiepages.com.au
- http://www.startlocal.com.au/
57. Review your link profile to make sure you don’t have any dodgy links.
58. Avoid publishing articles on dodgy article banks and press releases on fake press release sites to build links.
59. Don’t be scared of guest blogging. It’s not bad for SEO if the articles are high quality and written to engage customers rather than boost SEO.
METRIC SEO TIPS
60. Don’t get obsessed over PageRank. A site with a lower PR can actually outrank one with a higher PR. (My PR is a crappy 4.)
OTHER SEO TIPS
61. Don’t forget your back door SEO.
62. Commit for the long haul, and work on creating great content. SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.
63. Work hard to get positive reviews on Google so in the search results you too can look like this.
MORE SEO LEARNING
64. Find an awesome SEO ecourse in your area, and learn the tips and secrets from an expert.
65. Subscribe to the Google Webmasters Video Channel.
66. Read The beginner’s guide to SEO.
Secret 67: If you like this you might also like my SEO Checklist.
So there you go sixty-six, super smart, super simple SEO tips. What did you think?
How many had you already done and how many are on your to do list?
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