Seven simple things that matter in your site’s SEO

Did you ever wonder what really matters in SEO? What stuff makes your site rank higher? What would make your Google rankings better? What is the secret ingredient to the brew? I talk about the 7 simple things that matters in your site’s SEO:

1. Keywords
Keywords are important because they make your site specific in the search engine. Good keywords works both ways, they make your site specific to the search engines and they make it easier for you to identify your target market.

2. Content
“Content is king” is what Organic SEO analysts will tell you. I agree. Even if you’re a black hat, content will always be vital to your site’s SEO. This is the beef, the meat part. It determines your user’s readership therefore determining your site’s traffic.

Your content has to be consistent with your site’s keywords. They have to be at par with each other, otherwise both of them will be useless. Your content must also be at par with your meta data.

3. Meta data
Meta data, or meta tags as some people would prefer to call it, are the words that are hidden in your site’s header. It is read by Google but sources tell me that it isn’t used to determine your site’s page rank (as some nut-heads use it for keyword stuffing).

Meta data is important even if it’s not used by Google for ranking because it increases the weight of your keywords and it also determines what your site is about (as Google uses your meta description as an excerpt in it’s search results page)

4. Images
Your site’s images are often overlooked when it comes to SEO. Don’t underestimate it. The alt text that comes with your images are vital when people are looking for images about your niche. It also boosts your site’s readership – increasing traffic.

5. URLs
Your domain name matters. If it has nothing to do with your website’s content, you don’t really lose Google points – you just don’t gain any. If you’re really serious about your SEO, it’s better to have a domain name that’s in relation to your keywords, content and meta tag.

6. Backlinks
This is the crucial off-site Page rank booster in Google’s menu. Backlinks determine whether your site goes up or whether it stays in the loser corner. Web 2.0 has made the internet a more sociable place. Your site has to be sociable too! If it’s not recognized by other websites that are relevant to yours, you don’t get Google points.

You have to have relevant, quality backlinks if you want to skyrocket your site to the top of the search results. That’s the Google way.

7. Human-friendliness
No matter how strong your keywords, content and meta data are, if people cannot understand it, it is a loser. It’s useless. How many percent of the population can understand SEO in technical terms? Only SEO managers and seekers.

Normal people would not be able to understand SEO in it’s technicality. You have to make it simple for them. You have to make it human-friendly. Simple because that’s where the market is!

Apply it!
Now that you know the 7 simple things that matters in your site’s SEO, try it out! Apply it! See how it works for you!