SEO FAST FACTS : quick tips for SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION OF YOUR WEBSITE

H1 TAGS

H1 tags are the coding of your webpage headlines. It lets the Search Bots find out what your page is about. It's not enough to code your headline in Bold , it must be tagged. Make sure your web designer understands this. And use your headlines smartly, reflecting what is on the page.

META DESCRIPTIONS

There are many meta categories, the words hidden in your website coding that tell the internet about your website. Meta Keywords are not so important nowadays - but your Meta Description is. Make sure your web designer has written a paragraph of text in your Meta-Description tags of every page on your site, to explain what each page is about. A Meta-Description is sentences, not random words. Write it carefully, it will show in search results.

ALT & SRC IMAGE ATTRIBUTES

Don't let images simply be named img0003.jpg in your site. That is called the SRC tag. If you name it DarwinHotel.jpg, it will show in image searches of Darwin Hotels, with a link to your website.

Also there is the ALT tag - that is information which displays when you hover your cursor above an image. It is for the audio impaired so they can hear a description of what the webpage is about. But it also shows in search results. So make sure your web designer fills in every ALT tag with appropriate text such as "Darwin Hotel in Mitchell Street", It is another way of attracting hits to your website.

WATCH THAT FLASH

We all love Flash format animations, they are fun and attractive. Unfortunately, Search Bots don't like them very much. Don't make your landing page a giant Flash animation with a "click to enter" button.

The Search Bot is not going to click to enter, he's going to turn around and go to another site. Google bots get a little information from FLV files, but the other bots don't even bother. Flash Animations have a bad reputation as being the favoured format for gambling and other less salubrious sites. Web designers are very enthusiastic about showing off their Flash skills - tell them to ease back!

GOOGLE PLACES

Make sure you claim your Google Place. Claiming your Google Place will encourage more visits to your website through a variety of channels. Download our PDF Guide to claiming your Google Place. It's easy and it's free!

STICKY CONTENT

Most importantly - interesting, well written, relevant content. If you want visitors to stay on your site and be tempted to book, then make friends with them. tell them about your tours, tell them about your destination, what's happening, what’s coming up? Try to keep your website updated - at least once a month go in and write something new. Search Bots love websites that change from month to month - it's proof that your website is not dead. Have links to social media if you are using utilities like Facebook and Twitter regularly.

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e-EnablEment & Tourism E-Distribution

More visitors, staying longer : SOME SEO TOOLS

Having a good website with an online booking system is not enough. You need the design, structure and coding of your site to encourage more visitors to stay longer - long enough to decide to book online. Here are a couple of ideas to make sure your website is reaching the right kind of customer.

FREE seo toolS ON THE WEB

Want to know instantly the SEO status of your website with Google, Yahoo, Bing? There are several resources which can generate free reports, analysing your website for key factors such as header tags (h1 tags) and meta descriptions - the words that search engines use to rank your page in search results.

ANALYTICS

First, let's get an idea what might be wrong with your website. Are you getting enough hits on the right pages? How would you know?

To check your web traffic, to see which pages are working, which ones are not, and how long people are spending on your pages, you will need an Analytics Tool. Many web designers building sites for Tourism Operators will already include an Analytics tool in the administration section of Content Management System.

If you don't have an Analytics Tool installed, one of the leading tools available is free from Google, called Google Analytics. Just click on Google Analytics and register. It is a small piece of code which slips into your webpage code and it generates a monthly report automatically emailed to you . It details who is visiting your site, where they come from, where they are going, which pages they’ll like, and which turn them off. This is your starting point, for building up your web visitor numbers and optimizing your website.

SEO HEALTH CHECK

If your Analytics reports are showing low numbers of visitors, or visitors who don't seem to be interested in the information you are offering them, then there may be something wrong. Is the site coded properly? Are the search engines picking up the information you want to show the world? Are you attracting the wrong audience? You can get an instant health check with recommendations from several websites. Just write in your URL address and minutes later, a pdf report will be generated analysing the coding, the meta tags and backlinks on your site. ALl these items seriously affect your ranking in search results, and also your success at presenting the correct information to web users to effectively convert their visits into sales.

Try entering your web page address into any of these web check tools, click on : SEO SITE CHECK or PEAR SEO and see if you website is coming up to scratch. There are many other SEO Site checkers you can try, just do a search. If they are all identifying the same issues on your site, you will need to talk to your web designer and get to work on your SEO!

SEO TOOLBARS

Get some instant analysis of not only your own site, but also any site you navigate to, with an SEO toolbar, extension or widget. There are many available but some of the best are listed below.

Are you using Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari or Opera? Take a look at SeoQuake, a useful tool bar which will provides detailed page, links and SEO information from a variety of parameters including Google, yahoo, Bing, Baidu – all within seconds of navigating to a webpage. Download from seaquake.com

For Firefox users only, SEOBook Toolbar is also popular.

Users of Internet Explorer have a more limited choice. Many users opt for the Bruce Clay SEMToolbar, which is mainly free, but the more advanced options for professional developers require a paid membership.

These are only three of the SEO toolbars and widgets available out there. If they don’t suit your information requests, do a search and find a widget that fits your website needs. An SEO toolbar is an excellent way not only to check your own website’s SEO basics, but also those of your competitors.