SEO Theory and Analysis blog

There really is no need to use the much-abused “keywords meta tag” any more, as the SEO Theory and Analysis blog explains in Ding Dong! The Keywords Meta Tag is Finally Dead!. The main search engines long ago became able to work out for themselves what the key terms on a web page were, and didn’t need to be told by a tag written by the website owner. So if anyone tells you that your website needs better keywords meta tags, you can politely tell them no thanks. And if… Read MoreTime to stop playing with this tag »

A lot of businesses consider launching “microsites” away from their main website because they want to build something around a particular product, or campaign …or because they want to build an independent resource away from commercial considerations. These can really work well. Another reason to build a microsite, which I often see (but is rarely discussed) is because a company has no control over its website (“it’s all run by the Germans, I’m afraid”) …but realises it can get away with doing its own thing on a separate domain just… Read MoreMicrosites – a smart way to sidestep global HQ »

A week ago I wrote an article which suggested that many “search engine optimisation” (SEO) consultants out there were little more than charlatans, and I’d like to thank the many of you who emailed me with sympathetic messages based on your own experiences. There are some great ones out there, although they rightly expect decent fees, and I do understand that it’s often a sign of the immaturity of the customers that forces even good SEO consultants to resort to claiming they’ll “get you to number one on Google”, because… Read MoreRun far, far away. Very fast. »

Another one of those articles which might seem like it’s for the anoraks, but skim through because it highlights an important point. When you write a web page, I hope you’re always thinking about trying to “optimise” your site in the search engines for a relevant search term or two, by means of the words you write in the body copy, the title of the page, etc. But what if you have a search term which could be written back to front (e.g “widgets for working” or “working widgets”) and… Read MoreThe other way around »

Link building is the single most important activity you should be undertaking to promote your web site. Sure, you can sort out the “on page” search engine optimisation, and you should be ensuring your site has a good structure, and you should be looking at external advertising. But link building should be your first priority. The trouble is, link building is difficult. What’s more, there’s no obvious technique to learn. The most thought-provoking posts on the subject are like this one from the SEO Theory and Analysis blog: Why your… Read MoreNobody said link building is easy »

The SEO Theory and Analysis blog today looks at Trends in SEO link building since 2004 and points you in the direction of Google Trends, an increasingly important tool in keyword research. Apart from directing you towards a better choice of keyword priorities for your site, it can also be used to back up your choice of terminology internally. For example, in my editorial capacity I was long ago required to standardise on “sensor” or “transducer” (yes, I appreciate there’s a difference, but this was in general terms). It’s the… Read MoreThe Word on the Street »

Do you have a “sitemap” (an index to all the pages on your site) which is visible to the public? I’m not talking here about what’s known as an “XML sitemap”, which is a specialist file aimed at search engine robots. I’m talking about a set of conventional web pages which list all of the real pages on your site. On the SEO Theory and Analysis blog, Michael Martinez has produced an excellent guide to why and how you should do this. HTML Sitemap Design and Theory – Fundamental Basic… Read MoreWhy you need a conventional contents page »

I like this article from the SEO Theory and Analysis blog: In SEO, you can always say it again. In it, author Michael Martinez contends that you can do as much keyword research as you like, but you’ll still see queries you’d never remotely considered if you look at your logs. It’s a mindset we should all get into.Read MoreThe importance of 1-hit referrals »