SEO Checklist

• Exact-Match Domain Names
  Having a domain name that is also the exact keyword you're looking to target is called an exact-match domain name. For instance, "Cars.com" in regard to the keyword "cars". With the Google Caffeine algorithmic update, these domains got great favoritism for their own keywords. However, with the Google Panda algorithmic update in mid-2011, this diminished, as brand names got more weight. In short, focus less on having an "exact keyword" as a domain, and simply build up a targeted brand name.
• Keywords in the Domain Name
  Putting at least one important keyword in your domain may help greatly in terms of ranking in search results. It's a good thing to keep in mind, since you probably won't snag the exact keyword domain you've always wanted. So, "AcmeAnvils.com" will have to satisfy your old "Anvils.com" desire. It also lets people know that the company "Acme" is in the "anvils" business, too.
• Dashes in URLs and SEO Implications
  Search engines don't discriminate against dashes within URLs in most cases. For instance, "my-site," "mysite" and "my site" are identical in the eyes of a search engine. The less favorable underscore, "my_site" is also a part of that group, although underscores can't exist in domain names: only in the remainder of the URL. Both the dash and the underscore are converted to a space as a search engine spider reads them. (therefore, "my-site" is not equal to "mysite", but it is equal to "my site").
• Search Engine Friendly URLs
  When it comes to the rest of your URL, make sure it is search engine friendly. For instance, a URL like "Mysite.com/11/bin/ap1d7kfx/1.php" will have a difficult time being read by search engines, whereas "Mysite.com/products/tables/antique-oak-tables" will have the obvious advantage. Note how the URL has a logical path, has keywords, and has no ".php" extension. This has all become the new norm in today's SEO practices.
• Domain Hacks and SEO
  Domain hacks are a fun way to create a variety of new URLs, although there is practically no SEO benefits from them. The most famous domain hack was "del.icio.us." It involves registering a partial domain name (in that case, icio.us) and appending a subdomain (del) to the URL. Note that you may have difficulties ranking a domain hack if it has a country extension other than the one you reside in. Certain domain extensions are geo-targeted to certain countries, like .it to Italy.
• Subdomains
  A subdomain is a separate server account created off of an existing domain and appearing as a suffix before the domain name, such as "subdomain.mysite.com." Subdomains are treated like separate websites and have no ties to their host domain name whatsoever. Therefore, their content written on "subdomain.mysite.com" gives no benefit to "mysite.com," and the links from that subdomain pointing to the main domain will not have weight to them.

• Originally Written Content
  All content must be personally written from scratch. Search engines know when something has been copied and pasted from another site...even if that site is ranked dozens of pages back in a search query! Copying already-existing content from another site, RSS feed or even a PDF will not benefit your site in any way.
• Spell Check It!
  Proper spelling and grammar counts to search engines! Don't even bother attempting to optimize a website for a typo or misspelled word...you'll be wasting your time, as that practice has died long ago.
• Update Content Continually
  Content that is regularly updated will be noticed by search engines. It helps them know that you're paying attention to your content, and updating obsolete information. Search engines aren't the only one - even Facebook's algorithm gives favoritism to Facebook Pages that update regularly, sending them higher in Facebook's internal search results.
• Bold and Italics...and SEO
  Emphasize important terms and keywords within your content using bold and italics. They'll stand out to search engine spiders as they place a small degree of emphasis on them. That goes for the occasional word or phrase fragment...NOT an entire paragraph! Don't overdo it. Also, don't regard this as a major metric in SEO - but a casual one to be taken with a grain of salt.
• Everything Text-Based is Indexed
  Remember that PDF documents are also crawled by search engines. It's always better to put content directly within a web page than on a PDF. Offer the PDF as a download-able item if you wish, but keep your real content as a part of the site itself.
• Keyword Saturation and SEO
  Keyword saturation involves the number of times your most important keywords are repeated on a single page and on the entire website as a whole. This was a major determinant of SEO in the olden days, and has now become more prone to getting your website penalized when overdone.

• Naming Images Strategically
  Name your image files accordingly: if you're displaying a picture of a blue vase, don't name it IMG003.jpg. Rather, name the image "bluevase.jpg" or "blue-vase.jpg." This helps do several things: 1) associate the image with your content, 2) add to the overall idea of what your page is about, 3) give you the chance of having your image appear in an image search, which may bring in many unique website hits.
• ALT Attribute
  Include the ALT attribute within all of your images. Along with your well-named image, the ALT attribute will help your image rank for services like Google Images because it behaves similarly to "keywords" that appear in the background of the image. The attribute itself exists for the sole purpose of showing whatever its label is, in case an image shows up as a red X.
• Data Embedded in Your Images
  Embedded image information: this has never been proven, but rumors state that embedding information within your images will help their ranking. This can be done through Adobe Photoshop (through "File" >> "File Info"). By filling in the "title", "keywords" and "description" fields, you'll further justify what your image is about.
• File Extension
  There is no benefit for using a GIF versus a JPG versus a PNG in terms of SEO.

• TITLE
  The TITLE element defines what is seen as the identifier on the upper left-hand side of your browser. It's what people see as the link representing your site in a search engine results page. TITLE is one of the most important on-site optimization elements, as it is heavily weighed on by search engines in determining what your page is about. Every individual page should have its own TITLE set specifically for it, but there's no doubt that you should leave the latter part of it "universal." For instance, page 1 can be "How to plant a tree | Tree Enthusiast" and page 2 can be "Trees found in the northeast | Tree Enthusiast." Note how the latter half is the site's name, and probably the term you also want to rank for. The former part is simply that specific page's name.
• META Keywords
  META Keywords are a manually typed list of keywords that a webmaster can set for each page. They used to be a fundamental way of ranking websites back in the 1990s, but are now practically worthless as none of the major search engines use them as a factor to rank websites anymore. However, many professional SEO firms will use them for "due diligence" to insert words relevant to a business's website, just in case that business gets sued for causing "commercial confusion." For instance, if your archery site is Targets.com, and you set your META keywords to archery target related things, it's a measure to prove that you're not attempting to rank for Target.com - the retailer.
• ALT Tags
  ALT tags are short descriptions that can be attached to an image, describing what the image is, in case it can't load. In which case, you'll see the classic black outline box with a little red "X" in it where the image is supposed to be. However, if that image had an ALT tag within it, you'll see it all written out within the outlined image. They're commonly used to optimize images for "image searches" in search engines, as they help them determine what an image is, since an algorithm cannot "see" and identify what something is a picture of (yet). Many argue that ALT tags within images also help for the overall page SEO effort, too.
• TITLE Tags
  Not to be confused with "Page Title," TITLE tags define what a hyperlink is about. Think of it as the "ALT Tag" of hyperlinks. When you set a TITLE tag to your hyperlinks, the tag's text will appear in a thin stripe if you hold your mouse over the link for a couple seconds. Try it out here: hover over this link for a second or two, and you'll see a message I loaded as its TITLE Tag. TITLE tags have absolutely no weight on SEO whatsoever, they are nothing more than a good usability measure for a website.
• Headings
  Also known as the H-tags (H1, H2, H3, etc); headings help a search engine see the "hierarchy" of content on your site. For instance, use H1 on the main title of a page, and the H2 as the sub-title that falls under the main title. Continue this hierarchy for the rest of your page. Search engines will notice the main and sub titles, helping them realize how content flows.
• Hyperlinks and SEO
  There's so much more you can do with a hyperlink. Rather than stating: "For the best sports car resource, click here," try: "The best sports car resource." By including keywords within the URL itself, you're helping to boost the awareness of what that hyperlink will be showing when it gets clicked. The text included within a link is called "anchor text."

• Making Sure Text Is Searchable
  Never, ever include content (text) within Ajax, Flash, JPG images, or any other format that search engines can't read. Remember: if the spider can't see it, you won't get credit for it in search engine rankings. That's why those old websites of the 1990s that were primarily made of dozens of images all got hammered when Google evolved. The search engine simply couldn't determine what the site was about, since there was nothing to "read."
• Navigation
  Always remember, less is more when it comes to website navigation. Rather than crowding your page navigation with links, think about the most logical path a user can take. This is almost always the path that will "funnel" them down toward a particular goal or area. The flow of your site should include links to major sections of your site from your home page, and those major sections should flow to deeper links.
• No "Nested Tables"
  Don't nest content within too many tables. In other words, if you have content that is within a table that is within another table that is within another table (and so on), the search engine will find it to be unfavorable. The 'cleaner' your code is, the better it will be...not only for your site's load time, but its searchability.
• Tags for Internal SEO
  If your website software utilizes "tags," use them to their fullest capacity. Tags are used by search engines to link relevant pages within the same website together. They're kind of like sub-categories within categories, which create new pages that list all similar pages together when clicked. So, link all "Ford" pages with tags like "american cars, sedans", etc.
• NoFollow When Necessary
  Only Google recognizes the NoFollow tag. Be sure to use it on links pointing to pages that simply don't matter when ranking, which also happen to be the links that appear on every page of your website. These include pages like "About Us," "Contact," "Legal/Disclaimer," etc.
• Site Speed
  One of the newer elements added back in 2010 on Google: your site is being criticized for how long its pages take to load. The longer it takes, the less your chances are of maintaining good rankings. Note that this appears to only be a Google ranking measure.

• Keyword-Rich Backlinks
  Keyword-specific links pointing to your site will improve your rankings for that keyword. Common practice amongst legitimate bloggers and webmaster is to use social networking to build relationships with other webmasters. In doing so, they'll reward each other with much-needed keyword rich backlinks.
• NoFollow and DoFollow Backlinks
  Thanks to the "NoFollow" attribute, links marked as "NoFollow" pointing to your site will count as a backlink that will pass no influence on to your site. Websites including Wikipedia (and many other wikis), message boards, and most large or famous websites that allow community added content are included in the fray. The inclusion of NoFollow has been seen as a curse to many honest webmasters who have worked hard to build links, only to have them greatly devalued and no longer passing page rank. The term "DoFollow" has been widely used to refer to links that are not using NoFollow. Note that NoFollow is strictly a Google algorithmic measure.
• Internal Backlinks
  These are backlinks pointing from a page within your site to another page within your site. Two examples of internal backlinks are breadcrumbs (usually those links at the top of an inner-page that take you "backward," like Home » Cars » Honda » Accord), and keyword-loaded links within the body text of a page that point to another page on the website (i.e., "...which is similar to an older article I wrote about hydrogen powered cars in America..."). These links greatly influence the subject matter that pertains to your website. They are even chronicled in tools like Google Webmaster Tools for your review.
• Backlinks and Class-C Servers
  Backlinks that come from websites on different servers weigh far more greatly than backlinks that come from websites on your SAME server. Aggressive internet marketers are known to register various low-cost server accounts for the sole purpose of managing a different website on each server account, and inter-link them strategically. These different Class-C servers have different IP addresses, and search engines will not see them as being "related" in any way.
• Hyperlinks from eMails
  Clicks that come from email referrals may not affect search rankings, but they still count as great links - even though they are not "static" or permanently live on the internet.
• Linking From Relevant Places
  Advertise your site to specific, relevant markets. Not only will it increase your website hits and possibilities of making more sales, but it will further associate your site with the theme of the site you're advertising on. You'll want to get backlinks to your toy train site from other toy sites. It wouldn't make sense to get links to your toy train site from an MP3 site.
• Link Directories
  Add your link to link directories, under the correct category: this is an ancient procedure that internet marketers accepted as a boilerplate practice up until the mid to late 2000s. Today, the benefits and credibility of web directories have diminished greatly, and are more of an afterthought than a part of a real SEO strategy.

Getting Indexed by Search Engines

• Website Submission
  Services that advertise "We'll submit your site to 1,000 search engines" are more hurtful than helpful. Search engines prefer to "find" content on their own. It's highly recommended to simply submit an XML sitemap of your site (this is explained below), and to begin bookmarking and building links to it. They'll find your site in the short-run, and you'll be appearing in results.
• Generate an XML Sitemap
  Notify search engines that you've added a new page to your site by updating your sitemap each time. Also called an XML sitemap, these simple 'directory trees' of your site help search engines to learn more about the structure of your website. Sitemap submission for new and updated sites on a regular basis is key.
• Pinging Your Site
  Pinging your site was another old practice seen throughout the 2000s. Today, it's technically not necessary, as search engines are able to instantly cache websites; if not naturally, than through sitemaps and backlinks.

• Social Presence & Frequency
  Being active on a social network, such as posting daily on a Facebook Page or Twitter account of which is pointing back and/or embedded on your website, is a positive measure toward linking your band name and website to that network. These social network accounts, in turn, will begin to rank for your business name on search engines.
• Social Reaction
  Most importantly of all, social reaction to your accounts has become the crowning achievement in today's SEO efforts. The act of people "Liking," "Re-tweeting" and "+1'ing" your activities not only on social networks but through buttons on your site is perhaps the biggest SEO ranking measure seen from 2011 onward.
• Bookmarking
  Unlike the days of SEO's past, bookmarking your own websites or running "rings" of bookmarks for your own sites is now a dead practice that no longer works, nor does it provide any benefit. Now, search engines look to see how many people all over the country (or the world) are doing this FOR you.

• Exact-Domain Email Address
  Having an email address pertaining to your domain name is a key credibility factor. In other words, "info@companyname.com" carries great credibility whereas "companyname@aol.com" carries none, and quite simply, looks unprofessional. Not only does this portray credibility to customers, but also to search engines.
• Phone Number
  The usage of a phone number on a website proves to search engines that you have an off-site means of contact, which will tie that phone number to your website itself and potentially solidify your standing.
• Social Networking Accounts
  Websites that somehow integrate social applets or links to a Facebook Page or Twitter account will tie those accounts to the website and brand name, and further "attach" each other in search results.
• "Good Neighborhood" Servers
  You'll want to make sure that your website is being hosted by a reputable web host, and that it doesn't share servers with gambling, warez, hacking and porn sites. Otherwise, this can most definitely bring down your website's trust in search engines.

• Brick-And-Mortar Address
  Having the actual FULL address (street address + state/province + zip/postal code) of your business office or building somewhere on your website is a major determinant in having search engines rank your site so that it appears to people within your local area. Certain "yellow page" sites may even cache this information and create a listing for you.
• Local Info In Page Title/Content
  Tailoring your website content -- including page titles and body text -- toward local terminology will certainly help your website appear for your local area. Discreetly mention your services in "Smalltown, IL" or wherever you're from. Include your town, state and ZIP code in your home page's TITLE area.
• Offsite Measures
  A great deal of effort in geo-targeting a website should also be performed off-line. Include your business on local business directories, join your local Chamber of Commerce (or similar, if you're outside of the US) and try to get a backlink from their site -- or try to get a backlink from your local newspaper's website or any other local site for that matter.
• Server Location
  Search engines recognize where in the world your site physically resides. If you're an American, it's best to host your site from a Houston or Los Angeles-based hosting company, rather than a London-based one; and vice-versa.
• Domain Extension
  If you're really looking to geo-target your website, using a country-code TLD (ccTLD) -- a domain name whose extension pertains to a particular country -- is a wise consideration. For instance, if you manage a company based in Manchester, be sure to use a .co.uk domain (while you're at it, also make sure you're hosting from a company located in England, too).

Black-hat & Gray-hat Practices...Don't Do It!

• "Too Good To Be True" Practices
  If a technique seems too good to be true, it probably is. Everything listed on this page is 100% legit for safe SEO practices. Anything involving buying traffic, buying many links at once, inserting code maliciously, automating a script to fudge search results in your favor, or anything else that will appear sketchy or abnormal to search engines will probably hurt your site.
• Attempting Black Hat
  Many illegal resources and e-books exist that teach black hat or "illegal" search engine optimization practices. You'd only be fooling yourself by attempting them. Remember, your site could be banned permanently from Google and others. Yes, there certainly are masters of the Black Hat approach, but it is not worth your personal risk to attempt to do what they do.

Ongoing Steps for SEO Success

1. Get A Sitemap ASAP!
   Update your website's sitemap whenever new content has been added to your site. If you don't have one already, create a free Google Webmaster account, which lets you update your sitemap with the click of a button. Sites like XML-Sitemaps.com generate one for you, for free (up to 500 pages). If you use Wordpress, use the Google Sitemap Generator Plugin which auto-generates the sitemap every time you create a new page or post.
2. Don't Abandon Your Site!
   Add new content on a regular basis! Don't forget to check all editorial in your favorite word processing program for grammatical and spelling errors before uploading. Go back and update old articles if you feel the desire to add to them, or to "refresh" their content. Search engines will notice.
3. Track Your Site's Analytics
   Use an analytics program like the free Google Analytics to check your daily site performance. By using this invaluable marketing tool, you can further enhance your site by seeing who is visiting, and what they are looking for. In turn, tweak your site according to those results to make it more helpful to both people and search engines.
4. The Never-Ending Quest for Backlinks
   Constantly work on getting more and more backlinks to your site, especially from websites that are in the same category or industry as yours. Make a personal goal - 1 new backlink per day, etc. The more, the better!

How Do I...

Popular SEO questions answered

• ...get my old website to have search engine friendly URLs?
  URL re-writing will allow you to point those nasty looking links toward whatever you specify. It will probably involve a heavy amount of programming labor that you will most likely want to hire someone for. Alternately, a good idea is to re-build your website using a CMS that has search engine friendly URLs as a capability, then to 301-redirect all of your old site's pages over to their counterparts on the new site.
• ...know if someone has stolen my content?
  First, use a free service like Copyscape to search for duplicates of your content elsewhere on the web. If they exist, you'll want to file a DMCA report with Google to proceed with their ban from search engines, if you are successful in the ruling. Otherwise, they might have chance of ranking for your content before you get the chance to!
• ...prove my website's age?
  Visit Archive.org - it showcases what websites have looked like since the mid 1990s. It's a great resource, and held in very high regard as well!
• ...contact Google?
  You're better off looking for the Ark of the Covenant. Contacting Google is a near impossibility, as they don't have customer service, per se. However, each of their services (Google AdWords, Analytics, Webmaster, etc.) has its own official forum.
• ...know if my site has been penalized by Google?
  Google has various penalties. For instance, the Google -50 penalty pushes your link down 50 spots. So, if you were ranking #2 and get the Google 50 penalty, your site then becomes ranked #52. This also counts for natural searches for your own domain name, itself. The only real way to check this is to type in "site:www.mydomain.com" in Google, and see where your site is ranking. The more severe the penalty, the further down you go. The remedy is to immediately spot and fix whatever has done this (usually, people who have done underhanded things to rank higher already know, or may have been ready for such an occurrence).
• ...know if my site has been blacklisted from Google?
  Visit google.com and type in "site:www.yoursitename.com". You should see a search result page showing a listing of most of the pages of your website. If there are no results, your site either has not been indexed yet, or is blacklisted. To re-index your site, make sure you've fixed whatever problem has gotten you banned in the first place, and re-submit your sitemap on Google Webmaster, AND, submit a re-inclusion request.

• Google Analytics: A free analytics package from Google that competes with many commercial off-the-shelf analytics software packages, such as Omniture. Analytics tracks all standard behavioral data on your website, and can also track conversions.
• Google Webmaster Tools: A "dashboard" for webmasters that allows you to submit a XML sitemap of your entire site (do this EVERY TIME you add a new page to a website), and view general data about current rankings, backlinks, internal links and keywords associated with your site, amongst other tools that let you see your "site speed" ranking and Google +1 activity.
• Bing Webmaster Central: This is basically the Microsoft version of "Google Webmaster Tools." It performs the same basic functions, except for Bing.com and Yahoo.com. The old "Yahoo Site Explorer" was Yahoo's own version, but it merged with this tool in 2011.