RSS 2.0Tips for Creating SEO Content
12/28/2007 - By: Ryan McCormickIn this article, I will be discussing some tips about how to design and write better search engine optimized content.
One of the most crucial aspects of creating SEO friendly content is to start off with your own original content. You will have a higher quality outcome, and you may also be able to use this content later on.
Now, the second part. I am going to run down a basic SEO friendly HTML structure from top to bottom with examples.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Our Annual Meeting</title>
<meta name="keywords" content="annual meeting, minneapolis, ids building">
<meta name="description" content=" We had our annual meeting at the IDS Tower in Minneapolis, Minnesota.">
</head>
<body>
<h1>Our Annual Meeting</h1>
<img src="images/minneapolis-ids-tower.jpg" alt="Pictured here, the IDS tower in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota">
<p>We had our annual meeting at the IDS Tower in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our clients thought it was a great success.</p>
</body>
</html>
Now, notice any familiarities with the above example? Here is what I am trying to explain:
Always define your DOCTYPE, and follow the rules of use. More information about document types can be obtained through www.w3c.org.
The title within the <title></title> tag should match the title in the <h1></h1> level one header tag as best as possible.
Always at least define META keywords and description at the very minimum in the meta content. Rule of thumb with keywords is keep them relevant, try not to use more than 10, and avoid excessive use of the same keyword. The META description should be a basic description of the page you are working on, I sometimes use the first paragraph of my content, since that is usually the most relevant.
When working with images, try to use relevant filenames containing descriptive keywords and always remember to accurately describe the image in the "alt" text of the <img> tag.
Something I do not have pictured here is naming files in your website. Try to use keywords in your filenames that describe the .html file in your site, the top one could be called: annual-meeting.html. This practice is also great for when you are working on your site for remembering which files are which.
This example is just a very BASIC one, but hopefully useful for explaining how to write SEO friendly content. Remember that by using the appropriate titles, headers, keywords, and content you are trying to tell the search engines about your content. Many sites and resources out on the web talk about tricking or hacking the search engines to achieve better results, I would strongly advise against this. Search engines are getting smarter everyday, and blacklisting sites they catch using these techniques.
I will be featuring many more Tips, Tricks, and Articles so STAY TUNED!