September 22, 2004
Web Page Optimization for Google
Do you want a high ranking page in Google? Yeah - we do too. You see if you can rank high on Google's Search Engine you can all but guarantee high levels of traffic to your site. But the question is 'What does Google look for in your Web Page?' Many articles, books, courses and essays have been written on Optimizing your site for Google - many of the theories out there are complicated and seem to be untested and often a little cooky. In my experience Optimizing your site for Google is actually not that difficult. So this afternoon when I found Google Optimization, Web Page Optimization for Google I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I read their simple advice that resonated with my own experience. So what does Google look for? This is what they write about optimization of web pages for Google:
“Keywords Anyone?
Keywords yes keywords. Starting to see a relevant topic on web page optimization? Much like Inktomi Google loves keywords, but the keyword density of your page can make or break you. Too little or too many can hurt you. There is no magic number, but significant weight is placed on the first 25 words but the more content you have, the better off you are.
Your going to want to concentrate your Google Web Page Optimization efforts
on getting the following:
- Keywords in the URL
- Keywords in the Title Tag (4-10 words)
- Keywords in the Description and Keywords Tag (although Google may not take them into consideration.. use them anyway to optimize ”across the board“)
- Keywords in ALT Tags
- Keywords in the body (remember keyword rich original content)
- Keywords in Links (links to your web page using your keywords)
i.e. (Web Page Optimization by MOMC)
- Update pages and add new content often”
Read more at Google Optimization, Web Page Optimization for Google
It all seems a little too simple really doesn't it! Now of course there are plenty of other helpful tips out there (including in the rest of that article - they talk about Meta tags, URL choices, getting listed etc) - but what I see them saying above encompasses what I've done on my other sites and I've found them to be very effective at getting me in the top results on Google for some very popular keywords.