SEO Basics
Improving Site Structure
Optimizing Content
Dealing with Crawlers
SEO for Mobile Phones
Promotions and Analysis
Links
The anatomy of a search result
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/11/anatomy-of-search-result.html
Diagram of a Google search results page
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=35891
Best Practices
Page titles are an
important aspect of
search engine
optimization.
Choose a title that eectively communicates the topic of the page's content.
Accurately describe the page's content
choosing a title that has no relation to the content on the page
using default or vague titles like "Untitled" or "New Page 1"
Avoid:
Create unique title tags for each page
Each of your pages should ideally have a unique title tag, which helps Google know how the page is
distinct from the others on your site.
using a single title tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages
Avoid:
Use brief, but descriptive titles
Titles can be both short and informative. If the title is too long, Google will show only a portion of it in
the search result.
using extremely lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users
stung unneeded keywords in your title tags
Avoid:
5
Snippet
Text displayed beneath the title of a corresponding web page on the search results
pages of a search engine. A web page summary and/or parts of the page that match
the search keywords will be displayed.
Open Directory Project (ODP)
The world's largest volunteer-run web directory (a list of Internet links collected on a
large scale and then organized by category).
Domain
An address on the Internet that indicates the location of a computer or network. These
are administrated to avoid duplication.
A page's description meta tag gives Google and other search
engines a summary of what the page is about (1). Whereas a
page's title may be a few words or a phrase, a page's description meta
tag might be a sentence or two or a short paragraph. Google
Webmaster Tools provides a handy content analysis section that'll tell
you about any description meta tags that are either too short, long, or
duplicated too many times (the same information is also shown for
<title> tags). Like the <title> tag, the description meta tag is placed
within the <head> tag of your HTML document.
Description meta tags are important because Google might use
them as snippets for your pages. Note that we say "might" because
Google may choose to use a relevant section of your page's visible
text if it does a good job of matching up with a user's query.
Alternatively, Google might use your site's description in the Open
Directory Project if your site is listed there (learn how to prevent
search engines from displaying ODP data). Adding description meta
tags to each of your pages is always a good practice in case Google
cannot find a good selection of text to use in the snippet. The
Webmaster Central Blog has an informative post on improving
snippets with better description meta tags.
Words in the snippet are bolded when they appear in the user's query
(2). This gives the user clues about whether the content on the page
matches with what he or she is looking for. (3) is another example,
this time showing a snippet from a description meta tag on a deeper
page (which ideally has its own unique description meta tag)
containing an article.
Make use of the "description" meta tag
SEO Basics
Glossary
Summaries can be defined for each page
What are the merits of description meta
tags?
(1) The beginning of the description meta tag for our homepage, which gives a brief
overview of the site's offerings.
<html>
<head>
<title>Brandon's Baseball Cards - Buy Cards, Baseball News, Card Prices</title>
<meta name="description=" content="Brandon's Baseball Cards provides a
large selection of vintage and modern baseball cards for sale. We also offer
daily baseball news and events in">
</head>
<body>
(2) A user performs the query [baseball cards]. Our homepage appears as a result,
with part of its description meta tag used as the snippet.
(3) A user performs the query [rarest baseball cards]. One of our deeper pages, with
its unique description meta tag used as the snippet, appears as a result.
6
SEO Basics
Improving Site Structure
Optimizing Content
Dealing with Crawlers
SEO for Mobile Phones
Promotions and Analysis
Links
Content analysis section
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-content-analysis-and-
sitemap.html
Prevent search engines from displaying ODP data
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35264
Improving snippets with better description meta tags
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/09/improve-snippets-with-
meta-description.html
site: operator
http://www.brianwhite.org/2007/04/27/google-site-operator-an-ode-to-thee/
Best Practices
Use description meta tags to
provide both search engines
and users with a summary of
what your page is about!
Accurately summarize the page's content
writing a description meta tag that has no relation to the content on the page
using generic descriptions like "This is a web page" or "Page about baseball cards"
filling the description with only keywords
copying and pasting the entire content of the document into the description meta tag
Avoid:
Write a description that would both inform and interest users if they saw your description meta tag as
a snippet in a search result.
Use unique descriptions for each page
using a single description meta tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages
Avoid:
Having a different description meta tag for each page helps both users and Google, especially in
searches where users may bring up multiple pages on your domain (e.g. searches using the site:
operator). If your site has thousands or even millions of pages, hand-crafting description meta tags
probably isn't feasible. In this case, you could automatically generate description meta tags based on
each page's content.
7
Crawl
Exploration of websites by search engine software (bots) in order to index their
content.
Parameter
Data provided in the URL to specify a site's behavior.
ID (session ID)
Data provided for the identification and/or behavior management of a user who is
currently accessing a system or network communications.
301 redirect
An HTTP status code (see page 12). Forces a site visitor to automatically jump to a
specified URL.
Subdomain
A type of domain used to identify a category that is smaller than a regular domain (see
page 6).
Root directory
Directory at the top of the tree structure of a site. It is sometimes called "root".
Creating descriptive categories and filenames for the documents on
your website can not only help you keep your site better organized,
but it could also lead to better crawling of your documents by
search engines. Also, it can create easier, "friendlier" URLs for those
that want to link to your content. Visitors may be intimidated by
extremely long and cryptic URLs that contain few recognizable words.
URLs like (1) can be confusing and unfriendly. Users would have a
hard time reciting the URL from memory or creating a link to it. Also,
users may believe that a portion of the URL is unnecessary, especially
if the URL shows many unrecognizable parameters. They might leave
o a part, breaking the link.
Some users might link to your page using the URL of that page as the
anchor text. If your URL contains relevant words, this provides
users and search engines with more information about the page
than an ID or oddly named parameter would (2).
Lastly, remember that the URL to a document is displayed as
part of a search result in Google, below the document's title and
snippet. Like the title and snippet, words in the URL on the search
result appear in bold if they appear in the user's query (3). To the right
is another example showing a URL on our domain for a page
containing an article about the rarest baseball cards. The words in the
URL might appeal to a search user more than an ID number like "www.
brandonsbaseballcards.com/article/102125/" would.
Google is good at crawling all types of URL structures, even if they're
quite complex, but spending the time to make your URLs as simple as
possible for both users and search engines can help. Some
webmasters try to achieve this by rewriting their dynamic URLs to
static ones; while Google is fine with this, we'd like to note that this is
an advanced procedure and if done incorrectly, could cause crawling
issues with your site. To learn even more about good URL structure,
we recommend this Webmaster Help Center page on creating
Google-friendly URLs.
Improve the structure of your URLs
Improving Site Structure
Glossary
Simple-to-understand URLs will convey
content information easily
URLs are displayed in search results
(1) A URL to a page on our baseball card site that a user might have a hard time
with.
(2) The highlighted words above could inform a user or search engine what the
target page is about before following the link.
(3) A user performs the query [baseball cards]. Our homepage appears as a result,
with the URL listed under the title and snippet.
8
SEO Basics
Improving Site Structure
Optimizing Content
Dealing with Crawlers
SEO for Mobile Phones
Promotions and Analysis
Links
Dynamic URLs
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=40349
Creating Google-friendly URLs
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=76329
301 redirect
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=93633
rel="canonical"
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=139394
Best Practices
Create a simple directory structure
Use a directory structure that organizes your content well and makes it easy for visitors to know where
they're at on your site. Try using your directory structure to indicate the type of content found at that
URL.
having deep nesting of subdirectories like " /dir1/dir2/dir3/dir4/dir5/dir6/page.html"
using directory names that have no relation to the content in them
Avoid:
Choose a URL that will be
easy for users and search
engines to understand!
Use words in URLs
using lengthy URLs with unnecessary parameters and session IDs
choosing generic page names like "page1.html"
using excessive keywords like"baseball-cards-baseball-cards-baseballcards.htm"
Avoid:
URLs with words that are relevant to your site's content and structure are friendlier for visitors
navigating your site. Visitors remember them better and might be more willing to link to them.
Provide one version of a URL to
reach a document
To prevent users from linking to one version of a URL and others linking to a dierent version (this
could split the reputation of that content between the URLs), focus on using and referring to one URL
in the structure and internal linking of your pages. If you do find that people are accessing the same
content through multiple URLs, setting up a 301 redirect from non-preferred URLs to the dominant
URL is a good solution for this. You may also use canonical URL or use the rel="canonical" link element
if you cannot redirect.
having pages from subdomains and the root directory access the same content
- e.g. "domain.com/page.htm" and "sub.domain.com/page.htm"
using odd capitalization of URLs
- many users expect lower-case URLs and remember them better
Avoid:
9
Make your site easier to navigate
Improving Site Structure
The navigation of a website is important in helping visitors
quickly find the content they want. It can also help search engines
understand what content the webmaster thinks is important.
Although Google's search results are provided at a page level, Google
also likes to have a sense of what role a page plays in the bigger
picture of the site.
All sites have a home or "root" page, which is usually the most
frequented page on the site and the starting place of navigation for
many visitors. Unless your site has only a handful of pages, you
should think about how visitors will go from a general page
(your root page) to a page containing more specific content. Do
you have enough pages around a specific topic area that it would
make sense to create a page describing these related pages (e.g. root
page -> related topic listing -> specific topic)? Do you have hundreds
of different products that need to be classified under multiple
category and subcategory pages?
A breadcrumb is a row of internal links at the top or bottom of the
page that allows visitors to quickly navigate back to a previous
section or the root page (1). Many breadcrumbs have the most
general page (usually the root page) as the first, left-most link and list
the more specific sections out to the right.
Navigation is very important for search
engines
Plan out your navigation based on your
homepage
404 ("page not found" error)
An HTTP status code (see page 12). It means that the server could not find the web
page requested by the browser.
XML Sitemap
A list of the pages on a particular website. By creating and sending this list, you are
able to notify Google of all pages on a website, including any URLs that may have been
undetected by Google's regular crawling process.
Glossary
Ensure more convenience for users by
using ‘breadcrumb lists’
(1) Breadcrumb links appearing on a deeper article page on our site.
1900-1949
1950-1999
2000-present
(root)
about
articles
2008
2009
2010
price-guides
news
shop
The directory structure
for our small website on
baseball cards.
10
Optimizing Content
Dealing with Crawlers
SEO for Mobile Phones
Promotions and Analysis
SEO Basics
Improving Site Structure
Links
Webmaster Tools
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/
What's a preferred domain
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=44231
Sitemap Generator Script
http://code.google.com/p/googlesitemapgenerator/
Guide to Sitemap files
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=156184
Consider what happens when a user removes part of your URL -
Some users might navigate your site in odd ways, and you should
anticipate this. For example, instead of using the breadcrumb links
on the page, a user might drop o a part of the URL in the hopes
of finding more general content. He or she might be visiting http://
www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/news/2010/upcoming-baseball-
card-shows.htm, but
then enter http://www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/news/2010/ into
the browser's address bar, believing that this will show all news from
2010 (2). Is your site prepared to show content in this situation or will
it give the user a 404 ("page not found" error)? What about moving up
a directory level to http://www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/news/?
A site map (lower-case) is a simple page on your site that displays the
structure of your website, and usually consists of a hierarchical listing
of the pages on your site. Visitors may visit this page if they are
having problems finding pages on your site. While search engines
will also visit this page, getting good crawl coverage of the pages on
your site, it's mainly aimed at human visitors.
An XML Sitemap (upper-case) file, which you can submit through
Google's Webmaster Tools, makes it easier for Google to discover
the pages on your site. Using a Sitemap file is also one way (though
not guaranteed) to tell Google which version of a URL you'd prefer as
the canonical one (e.g. http://brandonsbaseballcards.com/ or http://
www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/; more on what's a preferred
domain). Google helped create the open source Sitemap Generator
Script to help you create a Sitemap file for your site. To learn more
about Sitemaps, the Webmaster Help Center provides a useful guide
to Sitemap files.
Allow for the possibility of a part of the
URL being removed
Prepare two sitemaps: one for users, one
for search engines
(2) Users may go to an upper directory by removing the last part of the URL.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>http://www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/</loc>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.8</priority>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/news/</loc>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/news/2008/</loc>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/news/2009/</loc>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.brandonsbaseballcards.com/news/2010/</loc>
</url>
</urlset>
Examples of an HTML site map and an XML Sitemap. An HTML site map can help
users easily find content that they are looking for, and an XML Sitemap can help
search engines find pages on your site.
11
Make your site easier to navigate
Improving Site Structure
Best Practices
Create a naturally flowing hierarchy
creating complex webs of navigation links, e.g. linking every page on your site to every other page
going overboard with slicing and dicing your content (so that it takes twenty clicks)
Avoid:
Make it as easy as possible for users to go from general content to the more specific content they
want on your site. Add navigation pages when it makes sense and eectively work these into your
internal link structure.
For navigation, the focus
should be on simplicity
and ease of use!
Use mostly text for navigation
Controlling most of the navigation from page to page on your site through text links makes it easier for
search engines to crawl and understand your site. Many users also prefer this over other approaches,
especially on some devices that might not handle Flash or JavaScript.
having a navigation based entirely on drop-down menus, images, or animations
- many, but not all, search engines can discover such links on a site, but if a user can reach all
pages on a site via normal text links, this will improve the accessibility of your site; more on how
Google deals with non-text files
Avoid:
Flash
Web technology or software developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated. It is able to
create web content that combines sound, video and animation.
JavaScript A type of programming language. It can add dynamic features to web
pages and is used by many web services.
Drop-down menu A system in which one chooses content from a menu. When one
clicks on the menu, the list of choices are displayed in a list in a drawn out manner.
Accessibility The ability for users and search engines to access and comprehend
content.
User experience
The experience gained by a user through using products, services, etc. Emphasis is
placed on providing an experience truly sought after by the user, such as "enjoyment,"
"convenience" and "comfort."
HTTP status code
A code that expresses the meanings of responses from the server when computers
are conveying information to each other. The code is allotted as three numerical digits,
with a dierent meaning depending on the number used.
Glossary
12
SEO Basics
Optimizing Content
Dealing with Crawlers
SEO for Mobile Phones
Promotions and Analysis
Improving Site Structure
Best Practices
Have a useful 404 page
Users will occasionally come to a page that doesn't exist on your site, either by following a broken link
or typing in the wrong URL. Having a custom 404 page that kindly guides users back to a working
page on your site can greatly improve a user's experience. Your 404 page should probably have a link
back to your root page and could also provide links to popular or related content on your site. Google
provides a 404 widget that you can embed in your 404 page to automatically populate it with many
useful features. You can also use Google Webmaster Tools to find the sources of URLs causing "not
found" errors.
allowing your 404 pages to be indexed in search engines (make sure that your webserver is
configured to give a 404 HTTP status code when non-existent pages are requested)
providing only a vague message like "Not found", "404", or no 404 page at all
using a design for your 404 pages that isn't consistent with the rest of your site
Avoid:
Put an HTML site map page on your site, and
use an XML Sitemap file
letting your HTML site map page become out of date with broken links
creating an HTML site map that simply lists pages without organizing them, for example by subject
Avoid:
A simple site map page with links to all of the pages or the most important pages (if you have
hundreds or thousands) on your site can be useful. Creating an XML Sitemap file for your site helps
ensure that search engines discover the pages on your site.
Links
How Google deals with non-text files
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=72746
Custom 404 page
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=93641
404 widget
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/08/make-your-404-pages-more-
useful.html
Sources of URLs causing "not found" errors
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/10/webmaster-tools-shows-
crawl-error.html
404 HTTP status code
http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html
13
Oer quality content and services
Optimizing Content
Creating compelling and useful content will likely influence
your website more than any of the other factors discussed here
(1). Users know good content when they see it and will likely want to
direct other users to it. This could be through blog posts, social media
services, email, forums, or other means.
Organic or word-of-mouth buzz is what helps build your site's
reputation with both users and Google, and it rarely comes without
quality content.
Think about the words that a user might search for to find a piece of
your content. Users who know a lot about the topic might use
dierent keywords in their search queries than someone who is new
to the topic. For example, a long-time baseball fan might search for
[nlcs], an acronym for the National League Championship Series,
while a new fan might use a more general query like [baseball
playos]. Anticipating these dierences in search behavior and
accounting for them while writing your content (using a good
mix of keyword phrases) could produce positive results. Google
AdWords provides a handy Keyword Tool that helps you discover new
keyword variations and see the approximate search volume for each
keyword (2). Also, Google Webmaster Tools provides you with the top
search queries your site appears for and the ones that led the most
users to your site.
Consider creating a new, useful service that no other site oers. You
could also write an original piece of research, break an exciting
news story, or leverage your unique user base. Other sites may
lack the resources or expertise to do these things.
Interesting sites will increase their
recognition on their own
(1) A blogger finds a piece of your content, likes it, and then references it in a blog
post.
(2) The Google AdWords Keyword Tool can help you find relevant keywords on your
site and the volume of those keywords.
Social media service
A community-type web service that promotes and supports forging connections
among fellow users.
Google AdWords
An advertising service which places relevant advertisements on search results pages
and other content. When a user searches for keywords using Google, AdWords
advertisements related to those keywords are displayed on the right, top and/or
bottom of the search results pages alongside the organic search results.
Glossary
Anticipate dierences in users'
understanding of your topic and oer
unique, exclusive content
14
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