Search Engine Optimization SEO

On-page optimization refers to the optimization techniques that are applied on the website pages, while off-page optimization refers to those methods applied outside it. Both techniques have their own relevance in the search engine results.

On-Page Optimization (On-page SEO)

On-page SEO main aspects/methods.

• Hyperlink Title Tags
• Meta Tags
• Header (H1) Tags
• Formating Tags
• Keywords
• Content
• URLs
• Outgoing Links
• ALT images

Dos and Don’ts for On-Page Optimization

• Use the keywords only once in the hyperlink and alt-image tags
• Overall key density in the text content should be between 10 and 20%, with primary keyword density about 5-6% and secondary key word density about 2-3%.
• H1 tags should contain the primary keywords. The priority of the keyword should be according to the sequence of the heading.
• Bold all the keywords in their first appearance, and apply repeat bolding only for the primary keyword in its last occurrence.
• Position the primary keywords in the first and the last paragraphs, if possible, in the first line of the paras.
• Use single-word keywords. They perform better than split keywords.
• Do not use duplicate contents or hidden contents (texts or links with the same color as that of the background)
• Avoid cloaking (a process by which a user is redirected to a different page from an original page directed by the search engine)
• Avoid intensive use of flash and javascript to convey important content as spiders will not be able to decipher these content.
• Avoid pages that require authentication as this would make the page not crawlable by Search Engine’s spiders.
Search engines will penalize the websites that are involved in unethical practices such as cloaking and duplicating either by reducing their ranking or by eliminating the website from their index. It is therefore necessary to follow the guidelines set by the search engines strictly.

Off-Page Optimization

Off-page optimization refers to the process of improving the performance of the website by off-page practices such as

• Keyword research
• Encouraging in-bound links from high ranking sites
• Use of different keywords in the referred links
• Tracking the traffic

Dos and Don’ts for Off-Page Optimization

• Encourage the incoming links by partnering with websites with better page ranking.
• Avoid link farming. Link farming is a method of including hundreds of outbound links in a website. This practice of link exchanges has been developed into an unhealthy SEO method, and so the search engines identify this process as non-ethical and reduces your page ranking.
• Do not direct the incoming links to pages that have no relevant data for the link.
• Do not direct multiple incoming links to a single page.
• Do not duplicate keywords in the inbound links.
• Do not use hidden inbound links.
• Conduct a survey on the success of the keyword/phrase.
• Make a list of new keywords and test their effectiveness with the similar websites.
• Make necessary changes in the keyword if the old keyword does not find better effects

On-page and off-page optimization finds much relevance in the context of SEO. Off-line SEO, however, involves a tedious process of maintaining a smooth traffic to your website. A regular research has to be carried out on the performance of your website. Always remember that a wrong SEO method will have a negative impact on your website