There are many technical aspects to Search engine optimization (SEO). Too many people get caught up in the detail. In SEO there are only two things to focus on: keywords and backlinks. Everything else is a distraction.
It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an expert. It doesn’t matter if you are starting from scratch or trying to tune up an existing site. Keep your attention on keywords and backlinks and then measure your results. It is as easy as 1-2-3.
- Keywords: Research and select keywords that are relevant to what you do. Many people try and select phrases with high numbers of searches first and relevance second. Make relevance your first priority. If you attract someone to your website, they won’t stay if you don’t have what they are looking for. You will want to use these keywords visibly and prominently on your website… not just in the META tags.
- Backlinks: Getting incoming links from other websites is very important in your SEO effort. A large number of backlinks from relevant websites signals the search engines that your website is very important. Using your keyword phrases in the anchor text tells the search engines what your web page is about.
- Measurement: Track your major metrics on at least a monthly basis. I like to track number of pages indexed by Google, number of links as reported by Yahoo, Home page authority and domain authority as reported by Open Site Explorer, Alexa rankings and actual rankings in the SERPs for my 5 primary phrases. Each month I work to get some improvement in my measurements.