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Important items to implement into your SEO strategy
Using Javascript or Other Unspiderable CodeIf you intend to use Javascript on your web page it is best to use it sparingly, or not at all. Search engine spiders cannot read Javascript, it slows web page loading time, and is prone to browser errors. If you really need to use Javascript you can safely use it by putting the code into a separate JS file and calling it with a single line of code which you place between your <head> and </head> tags within your web page. The code used to include your JS file looks like this:
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"
src="replace-with-JavaScript-file-name.js"></SCRIPT>
Using CSS Effectively
If you are using CSS style commands, do not include them within your actual web page source code. You don't want search engine spiders to have to go through 100 lines of unreadable code before they reach your actual content. Instead, place your style guidelines into a separate CSS file and call them with a single line of code from within your <head> and </head> tags by using the following code:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="replace-with-style-file-name.css">
Primary Keyword Layout
Examine your website from a source code point of view and ensure that your primary keywords or phrases will be spidered first. When search engine spiders read your page they read the source code just like we would read a book from left to right and top to bottom. Search engines place higher relevancy on keywords and phrases which appear closer to the top of a page.
Spiderable Text
Very important part of SEO strategy is quality textual content (body text) of web pages. Every page should have spiderable text content along with images and gadgets. A well written content should contain all important keywords and clearly explain the theme of the particular page.
Proper Use of robots.txt File
Search engines use "spiders" to look for web pages on the net with help of robots.txt file. For help on correctly formatting your robots.txt file, visit robotstxt.org.
File Size and Page Loading Time
Search engines put greather importance now on page loading time which is connected to the sizes of files. To reduce page loading time all image files should be optimized (compressed), unesesary page features removed, and exessive code trimmed.
Dead Links and 404 Errors
There should be no broken links on your website, because from a search engine perspective your site is not regularly maintained and updated. Make sure you have a 404 page set up, and use link checking software and verify your link structure.
Using Text Links For Primary Navigation
Using graphical links does not tell the search engine spiders what that link is about. Using optimized ALT text would be a step in fixing this problem. But for maximum SEO effect you need to use a text link that has your primary keyword or phrase for the page you linking to.
Site Map
Search engines like site maps. It's a great idea to have a detailed site map with links to all of your site's pages, with their respective keywords used in text links.
404 Pages and Redirected Pages
Search engine don't like page redirects. From SEO perspective it's better to remove the outdated content and replace it with something relevant. Make sure you have "Page Not Found" or 404 page set up with links to site's important pages.
Font Sizes and Using H Tags
Font size is an important factor in SEO strategy because search engine spiders assigns relevancy of the content based on the font size used. Heading tags H1 through to H6 are used to define and organize content by importance. Text under H1 tag has a higher relevancy placed on it than text under H2 tag, and so on.
Font smaller than size 2 is usually reserved for copyright information at the bottom of web pages, and is overlooked by some search engines.
Spam, Hidden Text, Door Way Pages and Other Tricks
Search engines are pretty smart at identifying spam and other tricks some webmasters use. Avoid using unethical web promotion techniques if you want your site to be successful on the long run. Using shady SEM tactics could result in search engines banning a site in question, and a loss of site's existing listings.
Using Frames and Flash
Frames are not search engine friendly and should be avoided when possible. Search engines can not read framed documents properly, and indexing of sub pages becomes problematic.
Flash is better used as supplemental technology, and the main focus should be on spider-friendly and indexable code (HTML, XHTML).
Spider-Friendly URL's
Web addresses containing dynamic characters such as &, $, =, %, etc. are at disadvantage, because search engine spiders may not be able to read them and index the pages. Solutions available to fix this problem include mod_rewrite to rewrite URL's that contain session IDs, or other such characters, into search engine spider friendly URLs.
SEO strategies to improve site rankings and traffic.
2005-2011