tags to
give additional prominence, with

having more weight then

etc.
 Choose a succinct and relevant
keyphrase for your page
 Seach Engines can’t ‘read’ images. Don’t
put key phrases in images.

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On Site Optimisation
Body Text
Body Text
 Each page needs content, not only for
visitors and sales effectiveness but also to
enable Search Engines determine what
the page is about.
 Using Keywords at the top of the page
gives those keywords more prominence
 Use various permutations of your
keywords

 Don’t overdo it, or the Search Engines
may categorise the page as Spam
 HDI uses main keyphrase “Hotel Deals
Ireland” and also “hotel deals”, “hotels”
“offers”, “hotel break in Ireland” etc
naturally in the body of text.

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On Site Optimisation
Internal Links
Internal Links
 Links help Search Engines find other
pages in your site

 Keywords in links tell Search Engines
about the content of those pages
 Use suitable link text to complement your
Meta Data, Headings, and Body Copy
 All your pages should be part of the
navigation structure (no orphan pages)
 HDI uses “5* Hotels” rather than “5* Hotel
Deals Ireland” as the link text as it would
detract from user experience.

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On Site Optimisation
Alt Tags
Alt Tags
 ALT text was originally text that was
displayed if the browser viewing the page
could not display images
 Now used for accessiblity
 Often the ALT text pops up if you hover
over the image
 ALT tags offer another clue to Search
Engines about the content of a page
 However due to misuse and spam, their
importance has diminished
 Do still use them, but sparingly and
accurately

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On Site Optimisation
Link Title Tags
Link TitleTags
 Link Title Tags are again used for
accessiblity

 In most browsers the text pops up when a
user hovers over the link
 Some SEOs claim that they have no SEO
benefit
 I believe that they are of SOME
importance but less so that image ALT
tags (as search engines have no way of
reading an image and therefore no clue to
it’s content)
 Keep them relevant and don’t overuse
them

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On Site Optimisation
Site Structure

 Create a Sitemap with links to all the pages in your site
 Using a flat site structure is better (not too many sub directories)
 Avoid Flash and Javascript Navigation
 Domain Names with the Keywords in the URL can help your SEO efforts
 Descriptive page names also give clues to the search engines about a
page’s content (e.g http://www.toys.ie/Video_Games.aspx)

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On Site Optimisation
Fresh Content
Fresh Content
 Search Engines love to see FRESH
RELEVANT content, that a website is
being maintained and developed and kept
up to date
 Many of us don’t have time to change our
pages often, especially if they are already
working well in terms of SEO
 Integrating a Blog/News or Twitter feed is
an easier way of adding fresh content
 Search Engines love blogs, the Titles, the
Tags, the Categories are all customisable
and all help your SEO

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[2] Off Site Optimisation
Synopsis

2.1 Inbound Links (esp Keyword Links)
2.2 Cultivating Inbound Links

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Off Site Optimisation
Inbound Links

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Off Site Optimisation
Inbound Links

 The key off site factor determining SEO success is cultivating inbound
links (links to your site from other sites)

 This can be MORE important that the actual on-site SEO

 Keyword rich links offer the highest value to your SEO efforts
- Buy Video Games Online at www.toys.ie”

is a more valuable link than
- “www.toys.ie for all the latest video games online

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Off Site Optimisation
Cultivating Inbound Links
 Link building can be the hardest part of any SEO strategy
 Link building should be ongoing
 Some ideas on how/where to generate quality inbound links to your site:

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Off Site Optimisation
Cultivating Inbound Links
Directories
 Irish Directories and Travel Directories are good places to start gaining inbound
links.
 Submit your link to the correct category
Swap Links
 Add a Links page to your own website and start swapping links.
 Contact local businesses, suppliers, partners, your web development agency,
suppliers of complentary services etc and ask to swap links.
Blogs and Forums
 Read related Blogs and Forums and start to post comments. You can include a
backlink in most blogs and in a Forum signature.
 Don’t spam, keep comments relevant and don’t pretend to be someone else.

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Off Site Optimisation
Cultivating Inbound Links
Check your Competitors’ Backlinks
 Make a list of suitable site and contact to suggest a reciprocal link

Contribute Articles to Online Mags/Blogs
 Offer to write content for suitable online publications in return for links
 This also helps establish you as an authority on a subject

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Off Site Optimisation
Remember

 Bad links can seriously harm your SEO efforts
 Case study of Cork Company that outsourced site-build and SEO

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[3] What to Avoid
Synopsis

3.1 Gateway Pages
3.2 Hidden Text

3.3 Duplicate Content
3.4 ‘Bad’ Links

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What to Avoid

Gateway Pages
 These are pages created purely for the search engines, but not linked to the
internal navigation structure of your website
 If identified, your site will be penalised for using Gateway Pages
Hidden Text
 This is text or links that use some device, often the same colour as the
background. It is done purely for SEO and adds no value to user experience
 Search Engines can identify hidden text and it is considered bad practice
Duplicate Content
 There can often be good reasons for having duplicate content on websites
 However Search Engines view it as spam and may drop a page or a website
from its index as a result, therefore it is to be avoided

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What to Avoid

Bad Links
 As mentioned, bad links can have a detrimental effect on your SEO
 Research your link requests, and always checkup on incoming link requests






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Does the person have a free email address or is request coming from a company?
What is the PageRank of the page on which they will add your link?
Is their website related to yours in terms of content?
Is it a blog with lots of links but not much content?
Are they offering a 3-way link? You link to their site and a different site will link to you?


Slide 26

Any Questions?
Contact me at
[email protected]
Twitter.com/ActivateIreland

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Tips & Tools
 Google Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

 Google Trends
http://www.google.com/trends

 Google Page Rank Toolbar
Google PageRankTM is a numeric weighting from 0 – 10 for each page online. It determines
the ‘importance’ of a page based on the number of links to a page and the ‘importance’ of
those links. Pages with higher PageRank tend to do better in the search engine results
http://www.toolbar.google.com

 SEOMoz Term Extractor
http://www.seomoz.org/term-extractor

 Find your Competitors Backlinks
Type “link:http://yoursite.com” into Google or Yahoo Site Explorer to see who is linking to
your competitors’ websites (or your own)

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