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8 Actionable On-site
Optimization Techniques
to Boost your SEO
End the question of “Why am I not Ranking Right Now” And Start Making
your SEO Work for you
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8 Actionable On Site
Optimization Techniques
1 Title Tag Arguably the most Important On Site factor there is
2 Keyword Density Keywords are vital to your site’s SEO
3 Keyword Prominence & Proximity Where you place your Keywords and how you arrange them
4 Outbound Links You’ve got a link here and a link there
5 Image SEO Hiding keywords inside every picture
6 Sitemap Making it easy for Search Spiders to Crawl your stuff
7 URL Slugs That URL is very, very important
8 Internal Linking All the relevant stuff go together
On site
optimization
accounts for
around
twenty five
percent (25%)
of your entire
SEO factor.
This is a
simplified,
Complete On
Site
Optimization
Tutorial for
anyone who is
new to SEO
and wants to
know how to
make the
most out of
their on site
optimization
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8 Actionable On Site
Optimization Techniques
1 Title Tag Arguably the most Important On Site factor there is
2 Keyword Density Keywords are vital to your site’s SEO
3 Keyword Prominence & Proximity Where you place your Keywords and how you arrange them
4 Outbound Links You’ve got a link here and a link there
5 Image SEO Hiding keywords inside every picture
6 Sitemap Making it easy for Search Spiders to Crawl your stuff
7 URL Slugs That URL is very, very important
8 Internal Linking All the relevant stuff go together
On site
optimization
accounts for
around
twenty five
percent (25%)
of your entire
SEO factor.
This is a
simplified,
Complete On
Site
Optimization
Tutorial for
anyone who is
new to SEO
and wants to
know how to
make the
most out of
their on site
optimization
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The title tag is one of the oldest attributes there is to a webpage’s layout. Title Tags have been existent since websites came to being. Title tags are also one of the most important attributes that you will ever get to use in your on site optimization.
As a user, you see the title tag in the top-leftmost part of your internet browser.
It is also used in the search engine results page as indicated in the illustration:
Title Tag
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It doesn’t take a genius to create a title tag. You can always see how title tags are created in the source code of an internet browser.
For example, if you’re using Firefox, type in CTR+U and you’ll see the source code of this page. Press CTR+F and look for <title>
I would say title tags have a very valuable usage both for people and for search engines. It holds really good weight as an on-site optimization factor – giving you a good foundation for your desired keyword. It also lets users know what your page is all about in the search engines and in your website itself.
Don’t take the title tag for granted. But don’t stuff in too much of your keywords in it too.
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The title tag is good for 70 characters. Any more than that and the search engines will show an ellipsis (…) to indicate that the excess characters in the title tag have not been included anymore.
It is also advised that the keywords in the title tag should be found in the body of the content for a higher rank. It would be great if your title tag is also an on-page H1 title tag. For example: This article’s H1 title is the same as the page’s title tag.
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Another good strategy for the
title tag is that you should place
the keywords that you want to
rank for in front – put it as the
first words of your 70 character
title tag – this way, they would
be more helpful for ranking and they would have
better impact on a user as a relevant result.
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You can optimize your title tags for branding as well. If you check http://seo-hacker.org, my title tag is “Learn SEO | SEO Hacker School” because that’s what the site is all about.
SEO School is all about making sure that the SEO that you’re learning really works. I don’t get technical with the lessons, but if and when I do, I explicitly outline every step and every shortcut to it.
Putting your brand in the title tag leverages your brand both in the SERPs and in your website. And that’s a good thing.
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A great title is what it is – GREAT. It should attract people to click the moment that they see it in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). It should compel them to read what your article is all about. It should lure them in.
People don’t read your article’s body unless they like your title. Statistics say that you have 2 seconds for people to shrug off what you have to say because you did not intrigue them with your title.
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People are emotional beings. Whether they are male or female, their decision making abilities are impacted by their emotional pull. You have to capitalize on that and make your title alluring to what tugs people emotionally.
The title tag is the first thing people will see in the SERP about your website/webpage. Make it good so that you will have a positive first impression.
Tips for Keeps: Stick to the basic rules here about title tags and a big chunk of your On Site optimization would have already been solved.
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8 Actionable On Site
Optimization Techniques
1 Title Tag Arguably the most Important On Site factor there is
2 Keyword Density Keywords are vital to your site’s SEO
3 Keyword Prominence & Proximity Where you place your Keywords and how you arrange them
4 Outbound Links You’ve got a link here and a link there
5 Image SEO Hiding keywords inside every picture
6 Sitemap Making it easy for Search Spiders to Crawl your stuff
7 URL Slugs That URL is very, very important
8 Internal Linking All the relevant stuff go together
On site
optimization
accounts for
around
twenty five
percent (25%)
of your entire
SEO factor.
This is a
simplified,
Complete On
Site
Optimization
Tutorial for
anyone who is
new to SEO
and wants to
know how to
make the
most out of
their on site
optimization
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Keywords are vital to your site’s SEO. They are the
cornerstone of your entire SEO campaign. Without
the right keywords, your SEO structure has no
foundation and will get you nowhere.
Understanding keyword
density is one step to
leveraging your
website’s on-site
optimization.
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Keyword density
Deals with the ratio of your keywords in light of the
total number of index-able words placed in your
webpage.
For example, you have 100 words article, then having
a 1% keyword ratio means that you should have the
presence of your keyword one time within that 100
word text.
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Being mindful of your keyword density can give a
signal to the search engines that your article is all
about a certain specific topic – which is the keyword
you are targeting. Having this signal gives your
webpage relevance and good keyword presence.
Don’t mistake this with
keyword stuffing.
Keyword stuffing is
squeezing in as much of
your desired keyword as
you can inside your article
without much/any regard
to your readers. Keyword stuffing is plain wrong and
is a spammy method that won’t get you up in the
ranks anyway. Don’t believe me? Check this out.
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The recommended keyword density is not the same for all search engines.
For example, Google’s recommended keyword density ranges from 1-2%(pictures taken from gorank.com)
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In general, I would recommend that you stick to 2%.
Is keyword density still used in SEO today? Yes I’m sure it is. It still has an effect towards search engines to some extent.
But if you ask me if people still count their keyword density, I would say no.
Why?
Because people don’t usually write for search engines – unless he/she is a black hatter or a spammer trying to get up the ranks quick.
Tips for Keeps: You don’t need to really count if you have a 2% ratio in order to rank well. Just try to be mindful to insert your keywords when necessary. Don’t overdo it. Write for people because in the end, it’s people who will be reading what you have to say.
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8 Actionable On Site
Optimization Techniques
1 Title Tag Arguably the most Important On Site factor there is
2 Keyword Density Keywords are vital to your site’s SEO
3 Keyword Prominence & Proximity Where you place your Keywords and how you arrange them
4 Outbound Links You’ve got a link here and a link there
5 Image SEO Hiding keywords inside every picture
6 Sitemap Making it easy for Search Spiders to Crawl your stuff
7 URL Slugs That URL is very, very important
8 Internal Linking All the relevant stuff go together
On site
optimization
accounts for
around
twenty five
percent (25%)
of your entire
SEO factor.
This is a
simplified,
Complete On
Site
Optimization
Tutorial for
anyone who is
new to SEO
and wants to
know how to
make the
most out of
their on site
optimization
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Now that we’ve discussed keyword density, it’s time
you know the other factors when it comes to
keywords in your on-site optimization. Understanding
keyword prominence, frequency and proximity can
help you leverage the power and placing of your
keywords in your website. This is a tutorial for
Keyword Prominence,
Frequency and Proximity.
Keywords are what makes
your site tick. It is the
bread and butter that your
readers are going to bite
and chew. Knowing where to place them, how to use
them and how often to insert them in a sentence is
important.
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Keyword Prominence deals with how eye-catching
your keywords are within a web page. The important
keywords should be the most prominent in your
webpage.
For example:
Do you see that the keyphrase
I’m trying to target? “Your sex
drive is not the problem”, is
very prominent in the page as
it is my article’s title.
It is at a good place in my
webpage with good fonts and
height. That spells out prominence.
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Keyword frequency deals with the number of times
you let your keyword or keyphrase appear in a
webpage.
It is said that the more times a
keyword appears in your
webpage, the more relevance a
search engine will likely attribute
to it whenever a user would
search for those keywords.
Again, there is a fine line
between keyword stuffing and having good keyword
frequency.
Watch how many times you repeat those keywords
and make sure that your article makes sense. In fact, I
would advise you to just be mindful of your keyword
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Keyword proximity deals with the closeness between
two or more keywords with each other.
The idea is the closer the keywords are to each other,
the better.
Let me give you an example:
“How your on site optimization will
affect your search engine
rankings”
“How your on site optimization will
affect your rankings in search
engines”
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There ain’t much difference, is there? But if someone
searches “Search engine rankings” it is more likely
that the previous title will rank higher than the latter.
This scenario is within the context and assumption
that all else is equal for both pages.
It ain’t a huge factor, but knowing these little things
matter.
Tips for Keeps: Create great, quality, compelling content – that is of first importance. Just be mindful of these three things about your keyword. It’s good awareness but don’t make it the basis for your next article.
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Copyright 2013 by
Sean Patrick Si
Founder & Consultant SEO Hacker
eBook Design and Layout by:
Trisha Si