| This is yet another topic that deserves a book to be | | | | 3: What keywords are used in H1 tags. |
| written on it. The problem is that I can not | | | | 4: Keywords used in your domain name |
| recommend a book. In fact, this industry changes so | | | | 5: Keywords used in the URL of a webpage. |
| quickly as Google tweaks their algorithm it is difficult | | | | 6: Meta Keywords |
| to determine what the most important factors are. | | | | Off-Site SEO |
| However, I will try to point out those that very few | | | | 1: Links Pointing to Your Website |
| people will dispute as the big ones. Others are there | | | | This is without a doubt one of the keys to having |
| just for your benefit to be aware of. | | | | your website listed in the search engines results page |
| First off, there are two major categories in SEO. | | | | for specific keywords. Google likes to look at what |
| There is on-site SEO and off-site SEO. Generally, | | | | others are saying about your website to determine |
| most everyone will start with the on-site SEO | | | | what it is about. For example, if someone is a huge |
| because you want Google to recognize what your | | | | fan of a unique motorcycle, and you have it for sell, |
| website is about. If they do not, then how are you | | | | they may link to your website with "unique |
| ever going to rank for a keyword? These spiders | | | | motorcycle" as the text that people would click on to |
| that crawl your website will be looking at several | | | | get to your website. This text is called anchor text |
| different attributes on each page to determine | | | | and Google will see that link as a simple "vote" for |
| where it needs to go and how relevant it is to | | | | your website to appear higher than others for that |
| specific searches done at Google's website. | | | | keyword. In short, these are commonly referred to |
| Another note worth mentioning: What is a keyword? | | | | as backlinks. |
| A keyword is basically an elaborate name for what | | | | 2: Quality of the Websites linking to your Website |
| people might search for when trying to find your | | | | Those linking to your website should also have some |
| website. I have been using a motorcycle website as | | | | form of importance. For example, there are many |
| an example throughout, so I'll continue to do that. | | | | websites with loads of outgoing links to many |
| People could search for "motorcycle", but they might | | | | websites. Google does not want to give these |
| also search for "buy motorcycle", "black | | | | websites as much weight in their "vote" in |
| motorcycles", "Harley Davidson motorcycle for sale". | | | | comparison to a link from Harley Davidson's official |
| All of these would be keywords, or probably more | | | | website or something along those lines. |
| properly could be said to be key phrases. However, | | | | 3: The Age of Your Website |
| they are generally all referred to simply as keywords. | | | | I listed this as an off-site related issue but really it |
| Note below that almost all on-site SEO has to do | | | | doesn't fit in either category. This is a simple issue |
| with is placing good quality keywords throughout | | | | that the search engines will evaluate. This is not to |
| your website where Google's robots, spiders, or | | | | say that it is the most important factor, but many |
| software might be able to determine what your | | | | older websites will naturally rank higher than new |
| website is about. | | | | websites that have more backlinks. I am not sure |
| On-Site SEO Factors | | | | why this occurs, but many would say that it does. |
| 1: The Title of the Page | | | | Yahoo definitely puts more weight on this than |
| 2: The keywords used throughout the text on the | | | | Google does. |
| website. | | | | |