Search Engine Visibility

by Shari Thurow

 While SEO is a rather dynamic field for the most part, and one is best to get the most up to date and cutting edge news

on the latest strategies from blogs similar media, it is also essential to cover the basics, and this book does as good a job as any giving a good 360 on the how search engines work, and the basic strategies that help you do well. The edition I have was published in 2003 – but there was a second edition published in 2008 which I am sure has updated what would now be errors in this editions [Meta-descriptions are used by Google now, at least in the listings that show.]

 

 SEO Basics like Title Tags, Keyword Strategy, Internal Linking and Anchor Text are well covered and explained,

 Some other tips:

 

• If you have a search engine on your site, consider using words entered there as keywords.

   

• Consider both singular and plurals

   

• FAQs can be a great way of getting keyword rich text

   

• Don't forget your title tag also serves to encourage people to click on your link in the rankings. You need a short phrase, not just keywords. Test different titles.

   

• Craft your Meta-description Tag well, as Google and other engines can present them in searches. Do not copy your title tag.

   

• Put Alt Text in images (debatable whether it helps in rankings, but it does for image search).

   

• To be successful in non-english search engines, you need to purchase country specific domain names and write web pages in that language. Create a unique website for each country.

   

• Use Breadcrumbs, and use keywords in the breadcrumbs.

   

• Do not use graphic links, but if you have to, use alt text in the graphic.

   

• Use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

   

• Create landing pages that can double as PPC targets, and unique SEO targeted pages.