SEO:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): is the process of maximizing the ability of your website to be found by a search engine such as google, yahoo, bing, etc.
• SEO Considers:
  • How search engines work
  • What people search for
  • Terms searched (words)
• This can be considered the MOST important aspect of a site. If users can’t find your site they won’t see it.
• Being at the top of search result means more traffic but also instills consumer trust.

How Search Engines Work:

• Two major functions:
  • Crawling: automated robots use links to search through the interconnected documents
  • Indexing: once the “crawlers/spiders” have searched through a document they build a massive database
• Ranking answers:
  • Relevance: returns most useful/relevant first
  • Popularity: yields highest traffic/popular
  • Algorithms: mathematical equations that filter the results based on relevance and popularity
• Quality:
  • Engagement: SEO determines user satisfaction by the “long click”
  • Panda Update: Google has used machine learning to determine the quality of sites.
  • Linking: higher quality sites typically have more links to them. Apply link building strategies such as social media, blogs, news, etc.

How Users Work:

• User:
  • Needs information
  • Formulate string to describe need (query)
  • Enter query into search engine
  • Browse results
  • Select a result website and navigate to it
  • Scan website for information
  • If unsatisfied return to search engine
  • Browse results again or make refinements to query
• Queries:
  • Do: transaction (buy something, watch video, etc.)
  • Know: information (reviews, research, etc.)
  • Go: navigation (visit facebook, sports, etc.)

Tips:

• Cloaking: do not try to deceive a search engine into finding your site. Present it for the user.
• Hierarchy: make sure every page is linked together in a logical manner.
• TITLE/ALT: use these elements to describe your content.
• Dynamic Content: make sure your content is not buried inside your rich media (Flash, Java, etc.).
• Fresh: update your content regularly.
• Keywords: use words you know your users will be searching.
• Iterations: use the search engine to test your site and make adjustments to improve visibility.
• Forms: search engines cannot penetrate forms (think login).
• CMS: Because content management uses templates so duplicate pages are created which throws SEO off.
• Spelling: when searching for keywords they must be spelled correctly.
• Prominence: words used in titles, text, and metadata rank highest.
• Stuffing: don’t “stuff” keywords to manipulate search engines, it will hurt your rankings.

Keywords:

• Which keywords:
  • Relevant: if use uses keyword will they be happy with your site.
  • Research: try keywords and look at the competition.
  • Value: determine which keywords retrieve the most return.
  • Specificity: broad keywords have a lot of competition. Users that use specific words are ready to buy.
  • Resources: utilize online resources to determine keyword strength.
• Place keyword/s:
  • Title: at least once and in the beginning. Be succinct but descriptive.
  • Top of Page: at least once.
  • Body: at least two or three times (including variations).
  • Alt: at least once in an alt attribute of images
  • URL: at least once.
  • Meta: is not used by the search engine anymore but it is what is displayed in search results.

Search Engine Submission:

• Search engines will automatically index new websites.
• To speed up the process you can submit your site
• Search Engines:
  • Google: http://www.google.com/addurl.html
  • Yahoo: http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
  • Bing: http://www.bing.com/webmaster/SubmitSitePage.aspx
  • Open Directory: http://www.dmoz.org/help/submit.html

Web Validation:

• Checks your web pages for errors
• All sites should be validated before publishing
• HTML:
  • http://validator.w3.org/
• CSS:
  • http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

Final Project

In your final project you must make any site you like using WordPress. Most students choose to make a portfolio, business, gamer, etc. site. You will create a site using Local by Flywheel. Then you will find and install the necessary theme and plug-ins to build your WordPress site. Lastly you will format the site and apply your text and imagery.