4 simple SEO tips for beginners

I am a novice when it comes to Search Engine Optimization, as I have already declared in my beginner's perspective on SEO. SEO doesn't have to be difficult, although you can easily delve deeply into many levels of arcana and mystery in the quest to make sure your site performs well in the SERPs. In my studies into basic SEO, I have come across 4 simple actions and ideas that you can implement today with little to no trouble at all.

1. Develop a keyword theme

Keywords are the search terms a designer wants a site to feature highly in. Overuse of keywords can lead to accusations of ‘keyword stuffing’ and leave a site open to being penalised within search engine algorithms. On the other hand, if insufficient keywords are used, the site may not feature very highly in SERPs, if at all. One solution is to develop a keyword theme. A keyword theme is an overarching approach to incorporating appropriate keywords as widely as possible, from the main content and exact locations on the page (for example, as early as possible on the page) to tailoring meta data to be keyword rich and creating URLs with keywords in them. The obvious question is "how do I find a good keyword to develop a keyword theme?". There are many good keyword research resources. Try How to make your blog more comprehensive through keyword research for starters.

2. Have valid HTML

Compliance with current HTML standards is crucial for good SEO. Spiders are little more than automated text-based browsers. If a site’s HTML is not valid, it is possible that the spider will not be able to correctly read and cache the site’s contents. At best, the site contents will be analysed incorrectly by the search engine’s algorithm. The worst case scenario is that the site will not be indexed and cached by the spider at all, leaving it out of the SERPs altogether.

3. Logical URL format and structure

Simple and descriptive URLs, particularly those that follow a logical folder pathway within the website page infrastructure, have several benefits including:

• being human friendly
• providing a natural path for the spiders to follow
• when descriptive and form a part of the keyword theme above, they generate keyword-rich hyperlink anchor text when pasted into forums and webpages as a basic link

Simple URLs also are easier for spiders to follow and index.

If you have a pre-existing site with a long history and a number of pages with some Googlejuice, you should consider whether changing the URL is in your best interest. If you do decide to change your URL structure but want to preserve all the good things your old URL brings you, check out moving a static HTML site to WordPress for some good ideas on redirecting traffic from your old URLs to your new ones.

4. Avoid excessive use of Flash, images or forms

Spiders can only read text and therefore cannot index content on a page if the content depends on Flash or images. It is also unwise to isolate content behind JavaScript forms or password controlled areas if a designer wants the page to be indexed by the spider and feature in SERPs. There are ways around this restriction, of course (see How do Flash sites rank well? on SEOBook as one example), but if you don't actually need the bells and whistles, avoiding them is a very easy option.

As you can see, basic SEO really is quite simple. Beginner's SEO - it's not rocket science.

So, what great SEO tips have I missed? Add your own hot SEO tips in the comments below.