Getting the basics right

4 Essential Elements of SEO

by Donna O'Hanlon
of http://www.oyster-web.co.uk

Last updated: 12 Sep 2007

CONTENT

Few people have the range of skills necessary to implement a full SEO strategy; for reasons of budget,
time and technical knowledge. If you are limited in what you are able to do because of any of these
factors, there are the 4 main seo elements that should always be adhered to in an ethical seo campaign:

In terms of writing Content for webpages, quality is much more important than quantity. Don't be
fooled by thinking that constantly adding a lot of new content will be beneficial from an SEO point of
view. Doing this will end up in a lot of repetitive and useless information being added, which can
ultimately hinder a campaign. When writing quality content, keep it relevant, to the point and incorporate a broad range of words which are semantically related to the main keyword targets of that webpage.

When writing new content, consider the following:

Is the information useful to existing clients/customers?
Will new visitors to the site/ potential customers find the information useful?

Will others want to share/bookmark the content or Link to it?

If you are unable to answer 'yes' to these questions, then the existing content is essentially useless and not helpful in an seo capacity.

TITLE TAG

To be considered as an SEO professional, you must be aware of the importance of title tags. These are what search engines recognise as the link to a webpage and it is what is displayed in search engine results. If there is no title, there is no link to the webpage.

For starters, do not include the company name in the title. Users are more likely to click on links that contain the Keywords relevant to their search, than a company name that most of the time, means absolutely nothing. Include keywords in the title. This will display in the search results, and increase the chances of users clicking the link to your site.

KEYWORD RESEARCH

Good quality, detailed keyword research is the starting point for an SEO campaign, and probably the most important aspect of a successful campaign. The initial stage of keyword research is critical. Should anything go off track at this stage, it will result in a significant loss of money and time. The importance of keyword research should not be overlooked.