Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Part II

3. Avoid Using Frames

Professional webmasters don't use frames when they want their sites to rank will. Frames may look nice and be useful, but they are generally bad news when it comes to search engine optimization. The reason for this is that when you create a frame, you create a special page (usually with no content) within a page. Thus, if a search engine spider can't find any content it will not find anything to index.

4. Keyword Research

Its important to not only write good and relevant articles for your website visitors, but you must also research relevant keywords that they will be using to find your services. Start your keyword research by using the Overture Research Tool as mentioned earlier. To use Jim's tutoring analogy again, lets assume that Jim uses the keywords "Jim's Tutoring" to advertise his services on the web. There are two things that can happen, search engines might display millions of people by the name of Jim, all of whom may offer their own tutoring services on the web - not to mention unrelated documents and web pages that contain the keywords "Jim" or "tutoring". The other scenario is that the chosen keyword is so unpopular, or in this case unknown, that perhaps only Jim's aunt knows to do searches using that particular keyword.

5. Design Now, Optimize Later

There are many great websites for online tutors with good contents, helpful articles, lesson plans and games that few people ever find on the internet. The problem is that companies and even web designers spend more time and resources making a great looking website instead of doing their research into keywords and search engine optimization.

6. Submitting to 150,000+ Search Engines

Companies promising that they can submit your site to 150,000+ search engines are not worth signing up for. Major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask simply don't like automated submissions, which is what these companies will do when you sign-up for their services. The second reason is that these major search engines account for 90% of all web traffic on the internet, and the rest comes from users typing in the URL directly into their browser. To get listed on a particular search engine, go directly and manually submit your URL at their site.

7. Not Clearly Defining Your Goals

Search engine optimization means working to increase your search ranking, and with a clear goal of how to target your audience. Websites that don't define their goals usually leave behind a confusing impression on visitors. Its better to sit down and draw up a blue print of your goals and objectives, and what you hope the site will accomplish in the long run. The larger the site, the more important this initial step is.

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