Search Engine Optimization
I used a previous helpful resource that I used in most of my primary research into all aspects of web design, the book by Jon Duckett - HTML & CSS Design and build websites.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an aspect of web developing that helps my website appear at the top of search engine results, mainly when viewers search for related topics that your website covers.
The main thing for me to figure out is what terms and words people will search and plain these terms within the correct places on my website to increase chances of search engines recognize these terms and show a link to my website within there search results.
Search engines have a system that they use to define who comes up first in search results, its not just based on terms that people search that may link to your site, they also analyses how many external sites link to you, this is were the two main considerations of SEO come in.
On page techniques & Off page techniques.
On page techniques
On page techniques is the method of SEO I will be best developing as it all comes from the web page I create.
The main aim here is to match keywords within my HTML code and textual elements of the site based on what my end user is likely to search, this allows the search engine to identity the key topics my site covers and subsequently bringing my webpage up the search rankings when these keywords the end user search's link with content within my physical site and the HTML make up of the site.
There are 7 main points a search engine will analyze within my website to achieve good SEO its important to consider these points:
Page Title.
The page title that appears at the top of the browser window, specified in the <title> element within the code wich is ended within the <head> element.
Keywords and terms can be picked up from the search engine algorithms they use to access the suitability and ranking of a website through this section of the site make up.
URL/Web Address.
This is the name of the Web Address, if possible use iconic keywords within this that may be searched by the end user and subsequently link to my site.
Headings.
Keywords within the <hn> element of the code can be found by search engines, if the search engine knows that this web page is about the subject that the end user searched through there string of keywords it adds a higher chance of "Page authority".
Page authority is a term used in SEO, it describes the probability that a specific page of my website will be found within a search engine, its a system based on an algorithmic scale from 0 - 100 and is decided on through relevance of information and links within my site page compared to other sites with these relevant key words in it.
Text.
Within body copy and text on the website if possible repeat the keyword (the ones I expect to be searched to allow people to reach my site) at least 2 or 3 times but if its small body of text I need to avoid it becoming repetitive the body of text still needs to read smoothly.
Link Text.
Using keywords in the links between the pages of my site will help optimize SEO.
Image Alt Text.
A search engine relies on exact and precise descriptions of images in alt text, this also helps increase image based search result optimization.
Page Descriptions.
The page description is located within the <head> its specified using a <meta> tag (Describes contents of the web page) Its best for me to create a sentence that describers the content of the page. Its not shown in the browser windows physical emulation of my site so use of specific words here will help optimism SEO.
There are certain violations when it comes to SEO, things like adding keywords within the actual webpage's background by placing them in the same color as the web page (white text on white background).
Off page techniques
This is a method that may be relevant for future projects but not right now but its basically an idea of getting other sites to link to my site.
Its equally important as on page techniques as it helps search engines determine my ranking within the search results by looking at other sites that link to me.
Are these links trustworthy?
Violations within this sector can come from paying external websites to link to mine.
Social media promotions of the site will also help optimize SEO, so making my site viral through these promotions may be a future option.
On & Off page factor considerations to achieve SEO optimization.
Plan for good SEO
Consider and identify my specific target audience/persona and understand what they want to see within the site and translate this into relevant keywords within the use of previous mentioned techniques.
Identify keywords & phrases to use on my site, list down what words the end user may type to find my website.
Consider a range of persona's not just the obvious, consider age range, and User experience too, the architecture of the site, does the site work well on mobile browsers, tablets, does the site load quickly?
Make sure site lads quickly, people may get bored quick and potential traffic will leave the site.
Use these key words within Alt description of images to increase image search optimization as well as extra SEO through the keywords used.
Include keywords within previous mentioned sections of the site:
Page title, URL/Web address, Headings, Body text, Link text, Page descriptions.
Social media links, I mentioned the idea of an Instagram page for displaying images so using this as another external link to my site will be good for SEO & external site recognition.
Consider all these highlighted points in blue.
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