This week, I tried something new. Each day, I wrote a post about a topic that I’ve been studying: search engine optimization (or SEO, for short).  In case you missed them, here’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday‘s posts.

When in doubt, “Google It”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to write about today. So, I did a quick Google search for “top SEO tips” as a starting point. It felt like cheating, but at the same time, shouldn’t the best advice on Search Engine Optimization be at the top of the search?

The first result was for www.top10seotips.com. I jumped right to downloading the free eBook, which I found to be really useful. (Note: there are a few hoops to jump through in order to get the book, but I think it was worth it)

From the title, SEO in a Day, I was really skeptical. In my experience, articles/books with “___ in a Day” are usually really watered down, empty content. I was pleasantly surprised. I learned about how to optimize this blog (which is powered by WordPress) by installing a few more plugins and tweaking the settings. I also found his explanation of keywords and keyword tracking to be really helpful. I’d say it’s worth it to download and review the 36 pages.

Make it easy

One other gem I found on the site was this idea of making it incredibly easy to link to your work, and with the link text YOU want. Check out Top 10 SEO Tips. At the top of the page, he wrote the HTML code he’d like people to use when linking to his site. Honestly, it made it easier for me to create the link, and he will benefit more from the link because the link text includes keywords that he is targeting. He didn’t leave it up to me, he did the work for me. Consider adding something like this on your own site.

I don’t necessarily agree with his comments that you should fire your Webmaster, developer and SEO expert and strictly DIY. I think it’s important to have basic knowledge of whatever you’re hiring a professional to do (so you can speak intelligently about what you’re looking for and make sure you’re not being taken advantage of) but a professional can almost always do it better and faster than you can.

Still looking for more tips?

Then you should check out, 55 Quick SEO Tips Even Your Mother Would Love.

Here’s a roundup of a few things I learned:

• Use keywords in the image ALT attributes.
• If you don’t update your content often, you should have blog and update it at least 3 times per week.
• When optimizing blog posts, you should optimize your post title tag independently from your blog title. Use keyword-rich captions with your images.

Let’s get to work.

When I relaunched my site in December 2009, I thought I had a good handle on the basics of SEO, but after this week of researching and writing on the topic, I have plenty of SEO-related updates and maintenance to do. I hope you found this series helpful.

Feedback, Feedback, Feedback!

Did you like the increased amount of posts this week? Do you like the idea of a weekly topic, or were you bored by the end? Comment on this article or send me an email at danielle [at] daniellebaird [dot] net with your thoughts or with ideas on another series. Thanks for reading!

This week, I’m trying something new. Each day, I’ll write about a topic that I’ve been studying. This week’s topic: search engine optimization (or SEO, for short). Check back each day for a new post, or why not just subscribe to the RSS feed?

Page ranking is complicated. It can vary from search engine to search engine. It can vary from day to day.

Learn the lingo

There is a lot of terminology surrounding SEO and page ranking. You may want to keep these glossaries handy as you explore the page rank resources:

http://www.seoglossary.com/

http://www.sempo.org/learning_center/sem_glossary/

The relationship between page rank and keywords

Page rank is directly related to keywords. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, saying that you want to “show up on Google” means nothing. You want your site to appear in the search results when someone types a query into the search box. The words they type in the search box are keywords or keyword phrases.

When someone types in a keyword phrase, the search engine looks through its database of indexed pages and returns the best matches for those keywords. How do search engines determine the best match? This is where things get a little more complicated.

One thing to keep in mind is that search engines are dumb. For example, I am a freelance graphic designer, but if I don’t ever use the words “freelance graphic designer” on my site, I can’t expect Google to “know” I’m a freelancer based on the contextual information on my site. I have to use those keywords in my text, in the page titles, etc. to say “Hey Google! The search for ‘freelance graphic designer’ and the content on this page are a good match!”

Handy-dandy resources

Here are two resources that help you make sense of how different factors, including keywords, impact page rank:

Google’s PageRank Explained and How to Make the Most of It
This article explains, in detail, the algorithm behind Google’s patented PageRank and the various factors that impact it. Some takeaways: More internal linking (links within your site) and increasing the number of pages of your site helps your rank. However, don’t create duplicate “cookie cutter” pages just for the sake of a higher rank – it’ll actually count against you. Inbound links (links from other websites to yours) increase your ranking, because another site is essentially “voting” for your site. Outbound links add credit to your site’s existence, but too many outbound links actually drains your PageRank.

Search Engine Ranking Factors 2009

seomoz.org has compiled a phenomenal amount of information from world renown SEO experts. Their top-five ranking factors: Keyword Focused Anchor Text from External Links, External Link Popularity, Diversity of Link Sources, Keyword Use Anywhere in the Title Tag, and Trustworthiness of the Domain Based on Link Distance from Trusted Domains. Some of the Ranking Factors can get really overwhelming and jargon-heavy, but scroll down to the comments section to read what some of the experts have to say (in plain English).

Up next:

In tomorrow’s post, I’ll share some tools on how to discover what your PageRank is and how to know where your site appears in different search engines based on your keywords. Don’t miss it: subscribe to the RSS feed.