Increasing Your Search Engine Rankings
with On-Page Optimization

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3.  Add ALT Text to Describe Graphic Images

Since spiders can't read images but images can be used to help improve your search engine rankings by using your keywords with the image.

If you have images on your pages

• Use the "ALT" (alternative) attribute of the <IMG> (image) tag and include one or two of your keywords in the ALT description. This will help your page optimization.
• If the image is a hyperlink (i.e. a user can click it to go to another page), then including keywords in the ALT tag will also help increase the ranking of the page that the link points to.

Most HTML editing programs will have a menu option that will allow you to fill in text for the "ALT" representation of an image when you select the image.  If you are going to write the description by hand directly into the HTML, then here's an example of how the image tag would look with the ALT attribute:

<img src="graphics/Ringing_Phone.jpg"  alt="Click on the ringing phone for free ring tones">

Besides helping with your page optimization, using ALT tags has other advantages:

• Some Web browsers display the alternative text while a graphic is being downloaded.
• Some browsers display the alt text when you hover the mouse over an image so it works like a pop-up caption.
• People with visual impairments who use programs that read text out loud will be able to read the alt text that describes the image.
• With more people browsing the Web using palmtop computers and mobile phones,  they will likely be running their browser in text only mode because wireless connections can be very slow.  If they do, then the alt text will tell them what they are missing.

4.  Keep Your Content Fresh to Help Your Site Bloom

There is one thing that is extremely effective in getting search engine spiders to visit your more often, and that is to keep your content updated and "Fresh".

The best way to do this is to add content or pages to your Website on a regular basis.  It would be good if you could add one new article to your Website once a month.  Even better would be more often.  Then, each time a spider returns to your site it will see more new content, which will cause it to adjust the frequency of its visits. 

This will also be a plus for your visitors, who will be encouraged to make return visits because of the fresh content.

5.  Concentrate on Content First, then Keywords

You can make a "not so difficult job" of SEO much harder if you try to write your content and make it search engine friendly at the same time.  You want to have quality content, not only to capture the interest of your visitors, but to make them "want" to return to your site.  So write your content with this in mind first: Write for human beings and not for computers.  Create quality content for your visitors and don't worry about optimization and keywords on the first writing.

Once your content is completed, then work on your On-Page SEO by adding your keywords to your content.  You will just be making minor changes for SEO.

Using the keywords you have decided to use for a particular page, sprinkle those keywords throughout the content of that page,  especially near the top of the page and at the bottom of your content.  Also, use keywords in the paragraph headings, especially if they are heading tags.  Having keywords in your content will help your On-Page Optimization.

Be careful not to use too many keywords on a page.  If you use one or two keywords in about every second paragraph then the spiders shouldn't interpret this as "overusing" keywords to get a better ranking.  Keyword stuffing can cause you to be penalized by the search engines.  Also, there's nothing worse than having content so overloaded with keywords that when your visitors see it, they are turned off.

Go to Page 3 or click the Tutorial Next button for the next step.

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