Basic Search Engine Optimization Guide

SEO, an acronym for Search Engine Optimization, is a vital tool that makes a certain site visible in search engines. It improves the interaction between a site and its main consumers, thus, making it easier for search engines to crawl the content on your site. Also, it affects only organic search results, not paid or sponsored ones such as Google Adwords.

As a newbie in this blogging world, SEO seems too broad and too complicated for me, that's why I created this simple guide. Hope that you find this article helpful, too.

Some important things that you can consider in SEO.

1. Create a unique and concise page title. Page title refers to the topic of a particular page in your site. Avoid using a single title tag or title that is too long.

2. Make use of the description meta tag. It gives the search engines a summary of what the page is all about. It can be made of sentences or a short paragraph.

3. Create a URL that is simple, easy to remember and relevant to your content. You can rewrite or make some complex URLs in your page easier, shorter and friendlier.

4. You can create related topic listing under a page that are really related with the content.

5. Create a site that is very easy to navigate.

6. Create a HTML Sitemap Page on your site or use a XML Sitemap file.

7. Create a useful 404 Page or simply add a 404 Page Widget in you site. Whenever a user comes to a page that doesn't exist on your site due to broken lines or by just placing the wrong URL, 404 Page can guide them back to working pages. This will improve the user's experience in your site.

8. Make sure that your content is fresh, interesting, unique and understandable. Use texts that are easy to read. Avoid too many grammatical errors or misspelled words and avoid embedding text in images just for textual content.

9. Write short and descriptive anchor text. Anchor text tells about the content of the page you're linking to. Avoid using URL or text like 'page' or 'click here'.

10. "Alt" text or filename of an image provides information about the picture and makes it easier for Google Search to understand your image is all about. Take advantage of it, but avoid writing extremely long 'alt' text or pasting the entire sentences on it.

11. Use rel="nofollow" if you don't trust the link or if the link will only affect the reputation of your site. You can also add "nofollow" to some links in your 'comments' area, guestbooks and forums, if you think that they're just spamming.

12. Promote your website via offline promotion, like attaching your business URL to your business cards, posters and newsletters. You can actually place your business in Google's Local Business Center.

13. Use free Webmaster Tool to improve the search results of your site, like Google's Webmaster Tools, Yahoo! Site Explorer and Live Search Webmaster Tools.

14. Make use of Web Analytics program to better understand how the users reach your site and how they interact with the contents on your site.

15. Try to experiment with the pages in your site using Google Website Optimizer.

This article is based on Google's Search Engine Optimization Guide Version 1.1, the latest version at Google Webmaster Central that is published on November 13, 2008. Google Search Engine Optimization Complete Guide

You can also check Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Common Google Adsense Rules

A publisher has a big role of complying to all Adsense Rules, or else, his/her blogs or websites will be banned. And as a new publisher, I've looked around for some reasons why most publishers have their Adsense account disabled.

With this, here are some things that a publisher should AVOID.

1. Do not click on your own ads. Do not even hesitate to click your ads, by any means of curiosity or for the purpose of testing. It will be counted as an invalid click and it may even be a reason for you to be banned.

2. Do not encourage others to click your ads. Don't even put texts that imply to click the ads in your site.

3. Do not join in paid to click, paid to surf, and paid to read programs. Do not put the ads in places that can generate traffic from different sites.

4. Do not place adsense codes in emails and pop-ups.

5. Do not place or link google ads in sites that contain pornography, violent, gambling and illegal activities.

6. You can have adsense and other advertiser in one site as long as the competitors do not look like Google. Try to use different font sizes, font styles and colors for each advertisers.


It is a must for all publishers to adhere to all policies with regards to Google Adsense. For more information, visit Google Adsense Program Policies.

All publishers, webmasters or bloggers must be cautious and must pay attention to every rules and guidelines to avoid unwanted consequences.

Open a Technorati Account

If you want to improve your pagerank's performance and search engine results, it is better make use of Technorati tags. Technorati determines those tags that authors had submitted in their website and helps a site or a blog more visible in the search results.

How to Open a Technorati Account?

1. Go to Technorati and register for a free account.

2. Follow the instructions and fill the form with all the necessary information.

3. Activate the link in the email address that you provided when you signed up.

4. Once you completed, you can immediately log-in to to your technorati account using your username and password.

5. You can now update your profile, account setting and submit a Blog Claim.