Search Engine Optimization or SEO is more than simply part of web marketing it is quite literally the art, lubricant and accelerant the makes a web site successful. The unfortunate thing is that it like its traditional counterpart, sales departments, operate by principles perhaps best described as artistic. The factor that dictate a sites overall success on search engines include both content, meta data and rich snippets but also include things like the sites inbound links, sitemap, associated social media site and blogs, silo structure, age and so on.
These factors dictate both a sites overall authority on a subject and dictate the success of pages posted. Sites with established authority on topics will rank much more easily when new pages are posted on the targeted topics. A sites overall authority is rooted in large part on two factors: focus and connection. Sites are more successful on search engines if their pages are identified as related to a particular set of closely related topics and if other sites with simular focuses have links which connect to them via relevant keywords (inbound links).
Eight (and a half) SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Rules to keep in mind:
1) Make sure your content is original and if not use canonical tags. No matter what don’t break this rule!
2) Make sure your keyword and variations of it are used throughout your page (keyword density) and also make sure related terms are also used (latent semantic indexing)
3) Make sure to fill out all “alt tags” with relevant keyword information. This is the information you will find on links and pictures and so on.
4) Make sure your keywords in part of your main title tags <h1>, <h2> and <h3>, is bold whenever possible <b> and if possible is included in both the page title, description and URL.
5) Use no follows if you link to content which is not on your site and/or which is not related to your topic.
6) Use rich snippets to provide search engines with information about what it is that your site is selling, doing or promoting
7) Build your silo structure to match that of a mental map moving from your most general topic and branch out into pages that are increasingly more and more focused.
8) Lastly, and perhaps most importantly make sure you have inbound links from other website which connect to you using relevant keywords. For instance if you are trying to promote a bar in Philadelphia on your page you want links from other sites to your page that link the term “bar in Philadelphia” to your page. Remember you are promoting a search term not your name!
*** The last suggestion can be taken to the next level if you rather than simply create inbound links that connect to your pages actually create collection of sites.