Keep It Fresh

According to Search Engine Watch's Mark Jackson, "Fresh content will help you achieve top rankings right away, and help your Web site become an "authority" site. Search engines love fresh content and deep Web sites."

That's the reality of SEO these days. While it's acknowledged that most websites will continue to have static pages (how many times can you modify the 'Contact Us' section??) site owners who strive to become an authority in their field will find that the increased traffic will translate into better rankings in the SERPS. Regularly updated content, a blog with interesting and informative posts, and your web link posted in vertical directories of appeal to your client base will all compensate you well for the time and effort invested.

Best SEO Tips by Matt Cutts

Google's Matt Cutts, in response to a request from USA Today, shared his Top Five Tips for Good SEO. They are as follows:

1. Spotlight your search term on the page. Once you have chosen a keyword (i.e. 'dog grooming'), ensure that you place that term in favorable spots throughout your site. This includes header tags, title tags, and in the copy itself.
2. Fill in your 'tags'. According to Cutts, the two most important meta tags are Title and Description, as their content is displayed in the search results and greatly influence a visitor's decision whether or not to click through to your site.
3. Get other sites to link back to you. Cutts confirms that this is one of the most important factors Google takes into account when ranking pages.
4. Create a blog and post often. Well, written, authoritative content will encourage repeat visits from bloggers and site owners who may decide to link to you.
5. Register for free tools. Cutts recommends that webmasters use the powerful tools available via Google's Webmaster Central, submit a text-based sitemap, and add their business information to Google's Local Business Center.

His final piece of advice was "less is more." No keyword stuffing, including your URL in link farms, or sharing links with sites whose content is not remotely comparable to yours. Such attempts to manipulate search results don't yield the top rankings that they used to. In SEO, impatience is now a liability.

-R. Keefe