Hummingbird, Penguin and Panda are the names Google has coined for its most recent algorithm updates. Why should you care about this? Well, you shouldn’t. Not if you would like to keep your sanity.
So why even write this post if these silly names don’t matter, and all I care about is ranking on the search engines?
All you really care about is getting more targeted traffic to your website, which of course brings you more business and helps you feed your family.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of optimizing your website with the goal of obtaining more qualified traffic via Google, Bing and Yahoo.
How do I make my site more SEO friendly?
There are lots of things you can do. For the sake of time though, and to ensure this post isn’t the size of a novel, try doing these 10 things:
- Learn the basics of HTML, and actually look at your site’s source code to spot things that don’t look right (e.g. duplicate canonical tags, too many CSS/JS files, etc.).
- Write good, quality, and unique content for your site. Make it useful for your readers.
- Create an XML Sitemap (or use a WordPress plugin), and tell Google Webmaster Tools about your Sitemap.
- Review the links that are pointing to your site, and your competitors; find new linking opportunities. Use Majestic SEO to easily find these links. Sadly, we have to deal with negative SEO these days. Make sure your site isn’t getting link bombed!
- Avoid duplicate content. If you have duplicate content on your site for whatever reason (e.g. PPC landing pages), properly use the canonical tag.
- Make sure your site doesn’t have broken links (try this free tool).
- Ensure your site isn’t too Flash or JavaScript heavy. Decrease your site’s load time. Use a minimalist approach to your site: less is more (please don’t install a million plugins if you have a WordPress site!).
- Don’t go overboard with links; instead, try natural link building.
- Link to other content within your own site.
- Avoid working with a bad SEO Company.
- What the…nevermind, just read this guide! 🙂
What type of SEO has worked for you? Please leave your comments below.