Easy and effective SEO tips

Okay, these are some of the SEO tips that I use on all my sites and blogs to great success. Yet they are so basic and simple to apply. You don’t need to spend a lot of time or be a SEO expert to apply these. and get the desired results. Anyone can do it. I am not saying that you can be very successful just by applying these tips. Sorry to those who want the easy way out. All I am saying is that effective use of these tips will certainly give your other efforts like content producing and promotion much backing. So, here are the tips for you.

Firstly, if you are on WordPress, go get a SEO plugin. My recommendation is Platinum SEO and would also advice not to go for AIOSEO as it is dated out. Platinum SEO does a much better job. Okay then, now really onto the tips.

Keywords in Title tag

Use your targeted keywords in the Title tag. It really helps to have them in the title tags as it has high importance in Search Engines. But let it make some sense. Otherwise the CTR will be very low. More about importance of title tags in SEO.

Well used Header tags

Header tags (mainly H1, H2 and H3 are important from SEO perspective) are also vital for a well SEOed page. They have extra emphasis in Search engines, so use them effectively. Basically the strategy is to use keywords in header tags. But there is more to it which you can understand in depth by reading this post on using header tags properly.

Fill keyword and description tags

I don’t want to misdirect you. So, let me inform you that keyword tags are no longer used by Google for ranking purposes. So, filling them up maybe useful for the other Search Engines but not Google. But still I would suggest you to fill them up. Helps in meta search engines although maybe they will give you zero traffic year long. Description tag is more important because a well crafted description will give you a better CTR from the SERP pages.

Efficient keyword placement

This tip is a controversial one and some believe it and some don’t. I am telling you this because I know it works.

Place your target term in the first paragraph of a page or post. Preferably in the first line. Better still, begin your article with that term. Also try to place the keyword in the ending paragraph. These are hot spots and may help a bit or more. But if you have a crowded page this method will lose effectiveness.

I am not asking you to stuff keywords. Just modify the article and rewrite a bit to place the terms accordingly.

Be bold

Bolded text carries extra value in the eyes of Search Engines. It implies that the bolded text is related to the subject of the page. So bolden the keywords when possible. But, don’t overdo it.

Canonical urls

Google asks you to use it. So, use it. It will help the Search engines to identify the best page and reduce duplicate content worries. If you are on WordPress, any decent SEO plugin will do this automatically. If you are on any other platform, add the “rel=canonical” to the url you prefer. For example, in this blog the pages

http://www.debojyotipal.com

http://www.debojyotipal.com/

http://www.debojyotipal.com/index.php

http://debojyotipal.com

all refer to the same page. If I have to choose one of them as primary one, I would do that by adding the canonical tag as follows:

<link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.debojyotipal.com” />

Optimize the permalinks

A WordPress installation comes without SEO optimized parmalinks like

http://www.debojyotipal.com/?p=123

Go to the Permalinks settings page, choose custom structure and set it to “/%postname%/”. This along with use of keyword in urls as mentioned below will give maximum benefit you can reap out of it.

Use keywords in urls

Use your targeted keywords for every page or post in the urls. If you have optimized the permalinks as mentioned in the above tip, just write your own permalink. Like this one below:

Get link love

You know it. Links are so essential for getting good rankings. So, go get some links. Here are 50 ways to build links to get you started.

Create a sitemap

A sitemap ensures proper indexing of your site. Using a sitemap will result in more pages being found and indexed. Use a plugin like Google XML sitemaps or create it online in various formats.

Webmaster tools

Join Google Webmasters tools and get your site verified. Verifying your site will give you access to addition information and options from Webmaster tools. You will also be able to submit a sitemap for faster indexing.

Ping it

Don’t forget to ping your blog after each new post. This is automatically done in Wordpress. If you use a platform that does not do it automatically, then your best bet is Ping-o-matic. Pinging ensures that Search Engines becomes aware of new content on your blog and comes soon to index it.

Keep if fresh

Try to add fresh content regularly. Google loves fresh content. Try to post at least once a week. Moreover, if you do not add anything new to a blog over a period of time, all your readers will leave.

Good hosting is essential

SEO is also affected by the performance of a site. If it takes too long to load or is just unavailable for considerably long periods of time, then your rankings are bound to suffer. If the bots come and find nothing, you may even get deindexed. So, get a host with quality service.

My recommendation is BlueHost. They provide great hosting and moreover their Customer Service is fantastic and really helpful. You can host unlimited domains and get unlimited disc space and bandwidth. If you are starting out and need shared hosting, then you can surely try Bluehost. P.S.- Affiliate link in use (Does not hurt you a bit, just helps me a little to run this blog)

Reduce JavaScript usage

JavaScript is still not very okay with the Search Engines. They are beginning to read JavaScript but its still at an early stage. Use it but use it conservatively only when there is no alternative. Don’t make links with JavaScript if you want them to be useful in SEO.

Get a keyword domain

If you have not started anything yet, the best advice I can give  you is to buy a domain with your target keywords in it. That will definitely give you an early SEO edge. Also, try to buy a country level domain if your audience is going to be from a specific country. Just don’t buy a very long domain. FYI, the longest .com you can buy is 63 characters.