In Part 1 of this series, we looked at some of the basics of SEO like keywords and tags. In this post we try to simplify meta descriptions, URLs and ALT tags. Read on and unlock the SEO mystery.
Meta Descriptions
If you were to Google, InstaScribe, you will see something like this:
The text in the black rectangle is called the Meta Description. This is where you put your bait for the potential customer. Meta Descriptions are aimed not so much at the search engine than the search engine operator.
If you were looking for a way to create and publish your eBook, you might have seen InstaScribe in your search results. Unless you are familiar with what InstaScribe does, the name would have been meaningless to you.
The Meta Description might have made you click on the InstaScribe page. Meta Descriptions should be clear and compelling. It should, in effect, be a preview of what one should expect to find on the page.
URLs
A URL or Uniform Resource Locator is in effect the address of a web page. An example would be www.instascribe.com.
Make sure that the URLs you use are clear, readable and reflect the content of the page.
Bad URL: http://www.instacribe.com/title/tt54225/t
Good URL: http://www.instascribe.com/ebook-format-options
For the sake of argument, both point to the same article. Chances are much higher that you will choose the second example as you have an idea what it is about. Search Engines also use URLs as it helps them to understand the relevance of a page.
ALT Tags
Remember that although search engines can read the most intelligent posts on the internet, they can not interpret the most simple picture. They can not even see a picture of a word!
ALT tags are what you use to describe an image. Your website would probably have pictures of you, the esteemed author, and pictures of the cover pages. And no matter how good these pictures or images are, if you do not have ALT tags associated with each one of these, they would be meaningless to a search engine.
The Perfectly Optimized Page Checklist
If you can check the following requirements, you may sit back, pat yourself on the back and continue to anxiously hope that your book(s) will sell.
More Tools:
There are lots of free tools available on the Internet that can help you to rate and evaluate your own, and obviously other, pages.
Mozbar is a free tool that provides you with information about a page. Mozbar exposes the page data and can tell you how difficult it is to rank a specific keyword.
Term Target allows you to determine how densely specific keywords are targeted.
Online SEO checker
Google is your friend! There are hundreds, if not thousands, of SEO checkers out there. How about sharing your experience(s) with us?
There are always more things to consider, Security for example. A page or website that uses a better and more secure payment system will rank higher than a website with something that is less secure.
SEO is very much like life, always ongoing and always changing. Google, Bing and the smaller search engines keep on developing and optimizing their algorithms. So social signals might become more important, or less important.
You do not have to redo your website every month, but you have to do a regular and thorough overview. Combine the information we shared with the results of one or two online SEO checkers and you will quickly see what needs to be done.
One Comment
Leave a reply →