Guest Post: I’m Not A Webmaster, But I Want To Do SEO (Part 2)

In Part 1, we talked about easy off-site SEO tactics you can deploy to help improve your SERP rankings for keywords.  Now, let’s talk about some things you can do on your site without diving into the code.  We are going to jump right in:

Content Management System

If you’re not a Webmaster, then become one (the easy way)!  Content Management Systems (CMS) are becoming more and more popular.  You have probably heard of my favorite: WordPress.  I use WordPress for all of my sites.  It is a simple way to manage your site.  Have your Webmaster convert your site to WordPress, or another CMS, and then you’ll no longer need a Webmaster, because all of the controls are now in your hands.

Add Fresh Content

Once your website is on a CMS, it will allow you to add fresh content to your site easily!  Search engines love fresh content.  If your site was put up two years ago, and you have not added any new or “fresh” content in the past two years, search engines do not spend anytime crawling your website.  That means they do not find your site relevant or helpful.  You want them crawling your site!  So put up some fresh content, and give them a reason to check out your website.

Optimize Your Content

Whether you go back and edit old content, or are adding fresh content, optimize it.  Give your fresh content a page title with the desired keyword in it.  For example, if I’m still targeting the keyword “Ryan Chaffin” on my homepage, then I would give that page a title on the page using an <h1> tag of something like “Welcome to Ryan Chaffin’s Blog”.  Put the keyword in the title!  Another way to optimize your content is to put the keyword in the content a few times.  Spread it out in the content, and do not force it!  It should flow naturally with the content.

Internal Linking

When you link from one of your website’s own pages to another page on your website, use keyword rich anchor text!  For example, on my site, I’m not going to link to a page about SEO saying, “If you want to learn more about search engine optimization, click here.”  I would link to it saying, “Learn more about search engine optimization.”  Now I have my own website telling Google, Bing, and Yahoo what that page of mine is about.  Internal linking is crucial!  When you have your own website and the rest of the Internet telling the search engines the same thing about your page, then you are more likely to show up for that keyword!

There is so much more to be done in the world of search engine optimization, but it gets a little more complicated.  However, these four SEO tips, plus the information from part one, will give you a great start!