Category: Search Engine Optimization

Canonical URL management deals with duplicated content by presenting the correct version or the correct URL to the search engine. The first method is the Rel=Canonical tag. This tag is placed in the header of the duplicated pages and points to the actual or primary page. Another method of directing the search engine to the correct…

The organization and structure of a website helps visitors navigate their way through the content, and it enables search engines to develop a contextual map of the content. Typically, the home page is a very general presentation of the organization at a high level. The main navigation contains links to the primary categories of content.…

In larger organizations, the content is developed by the marketing team, and they rarely, if ever deal with the technical aspects of running the website. The larger the organization, the less marketing manages or influences website architecture or technical challenges. This means that the marketing team needs to build influence with those who manage the…

To build high‐quality links to your site, there are a few things to avoid. First are link exchanges, which is simply exchanging your link on another site for their link to be placed on your site. There are times where this may be acceptable, such as a local network or related industry. However, as a…

Attributes have been added to links over the years to combat link spam. Link spam became a problem alongside the popularity of blogs. Blogging software allowed people to leave comments, along with a link to their website, which was great when people would leave legitimate comments and conversation. It was not so great when people and bots…

Of course, when the SEO world learned about links, it started a free‐for‐all. Websites were doing anything to increase the number of links coming from anywhere, simply to boost their incoming link numbers. However, it doesn’t work that way. One quality link is worth more than millions of low‐quality links. But first, you must be…

Before using links, search engines relied on the content of the page to determine relevance. As mentioned, Google changed this with the PageRank algorithm, which employed links to determine relevance when choosing from hundreds or even millions of similar pages. Using an external factor that is largely out of direct control of a website owner…

The second factor in SEO is the link. The links coming into your website are indicators of your credibility and trust. When a website links to your website, it is because they are recommending your content, citing you as a source, or providing your information to their audience. Really, just think of the last time you…

Other On‐Page Optimization  There are many other areas of on‐page content that can be optimized. The key here is that you are not simply stuffing keywords into the content anywhere you can. Rather, you are creating a highly contextual development of content. Content  You should also be using alternative versions of words such as synonyms, phrases, and…

Now, examine the structure of a page. The content on the page will be read by humans and search engine bots. How will you communicate which content on the page is most important? This is done through markup. This is also where my journalism background prepared me for SEO. The most important element on the…