Internet Marketing Blog

The HubSpot Inbound Internet Marketing blog covers all of inbound marketing - SEO, Blogging, Social Media, Landing Pages, Lead Generation and Analytics.

Subscribe to our RSS Feed
HubSpot RSS Feed

HubSpot on Twitter HubSpot on Facebook HubSpot on LinkedIn HubSpot on Google Buzz HubSpot Blog RSS

Subscribe via Email

Your email:

Get Certified in Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing University - Free Marketing Training Online Classes

Inbound Marketing Software

Learn how HubSpot can help turn your business into an inbound marketing machine.

Website Grader Badge

Marketing Resources

Grader.com Tools
 
inbound marketing book

Connect with Us

Want to share your Inbound Marketing advice with the community? Submit guest post ideas to rburnes[at]hubspot[dot]com.

HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog

Current Articles | RSS Feed RSS Feed

Shortest Tutorial Ever on SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

 | Submit to Digg digg it | Submit to Reddit reddit | Add to delicious delicious | Submit to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon | Share on Facebook Facebook | Share on Twitter Twitter | Share on LinkedIn LinkedIn 


I've gotten a few questions from a number of companies recently that basically ask "What is the shortest thing I can read that will get me started on search engine optimization?".  Here is my response for how to optimize one page of your website very quickly.  Repeat for other pages as desired.  I have also included links to a bunch of other materials after the article if you want to learn more.

1) Find keywords.  Pick a list of words relevant to your business.  Think about which words are most likely to get people to do what you want them to do (convert into leads) and focus on those words.  Then pick one word (or phrase) to use on one page of your site.  For more detailed info, read: Detailed Internet Marketing Keyword Tips.

2) Put keywords in Page Title. The Page Title is one of the most important things that Google and other search engines evaluate to determine what is on a web page.  Put your keyword or phrase in the title, keep it short.  For more detailed info, read Why a Web Page By Any Other Title Would Not Rank As Well.

3) Put keywords in Page URL.  Google and other search engines also use the text of the URL of the page to determine the content of the web page.  You should use your keyword or phrase in the URL of the web page - either the folder/directory structure or the HTML file / page name itself.

4) Put keywords in Meta Data.  While the page metadata (Page Description and Keywords) are not nearly as important as they used to be, they still count.  Take advantage of them by putting your keyword or phrase there.  The description should be readable by a person and make sense and the keyword metadata should focus on your keyword or phrase - do not make it long, less is more.  For more detailed info, read Understanding the Magic of Meta-Data.

5) Put keywords in your H1 text.  The H1 text is usually the title of an article or some larger bold text at the top of your page.  Google and the smaller search engines can see this and they put extra importance on the words in the H1 text.  Make sure your keyword or phrase is there.

6) Use keywords in the page content.  Putting the keyword in your page content also signals to search engines that the page is actually about the keyword and should show up in search results.  I have heard from "experts" that you should use your keyword anywhere from 4-6 times to 10-12 times.  My advice is to just write naturally.

7) Monitor your rank. Give the search engines some time to do their thing (couple days) and then keep checking your rank to see what happened and track your progress.

[End of article "Shortest Tutorial Ever on SEO"]

OK... now for those of you who want to be more advanced, here are some other suggestions and resources.

• Build links to your website.  The number and quality of links to your website are quite important to Google and other search engines for your rank on different terms.  Read this article to understand the importance of links to your website: Link Building for SEO / Internet Marketing and read this article for more details on why to link to others: No Website is an Island - How and Why to Link to Others

• Read our "How To" guide.  We published this article a while back about Improving your Organic Position on Google, it is still relevant and worth reading for more detailed info.

• Know (and increase) your Page Rank. Google uses your Page Rank as a measure of how "important" your website is on the Internet.  Having a higher Page Rank means you have a better shot at being one of the top results for search terms.  For more details, read this article about The Importance of Google Page Rank.

• Avoid common pitfalls.  Sometimes you're just doing something wrong. There are a number of practices on the web that can actually limit your success with search engines dramatically.  Here are some of the reasons Why You're Not Getting Enough Respect from Search Engines.

• Grade your website.  Use Website Grader (free tool) to evaluate the marketing effectiveness of your website.  It gives tips on what you can change on your site to improve your website's marketing effectiveness.

 

 

SEO kit

 


Posted by Mike Volpe on Sat, May 05, 2007 @ 06:33 AM

COMMENTS

I learned quite a bit from the tutorial, and am STILL learning from the "website grader" tool! Great site. Thanks! p.s. - Love it that you are using the versatile Ventrian News Articles

posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 at 1:39 AM by Dan


Great post. I like the speed and validity of the guide. Its all true fellas.

posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 at 5:49 PM by Hornswaggled


Nice Article.

posted on Thursday, December 20, 2007 at 3:57 PM by Akhilesh


posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 at 11:49 AM by jimmy


thanks for the tip...will use forwww.swiftstocks.com in the near future for free streaming stock market quotes!

posted on Thursday, February 07, 2008 at 2:07 PM by Chris Brown


Great article, someone might find this keyword guide useful: http://www.semmy.name/keywordreport.pdf

posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 10:58 AM by Semmy


Hi Joe,
Awesome Article!
Like most of the material we get from Hubspot:
It is To the Point, Easily Understood and Powerful.
That's what I like about this article specifically and Hubspot in General:
When you find people who know what they are doing,
They tell you what you need to Know.
When they don't know what they are doing,
They have a tendancy to Tell You Everything they know.
You Folks Never Waste My Time.
Thank You for that.
Keep up the Great Content!

posted on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 11:57 AM by Jack Napoli


What a great resource, i will be using this for my own www.athenadesign.co.uk">Web site design business in Kent

posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 at 8:17 AM by Steve Clifford


nice, clean and efficient, thanks

posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 at 11:20 AM by Freelance


I have a blog on my website and when I use the website grader tool from hub spot it cant find my blog. Why is this?

posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 12:33 PM by bryan kiser


This is great!

posted on Friday, December 12, 2008 at 3:52 PM by Mike


Great Article. Thank you so much...

posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2009 at 6:10 PM by MGA


I learn something new from your blog every day. Thank you

posted on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 12:12 PM by Anne


For monitoring search rankings, I've found Authority Labs to be very useful.  
 
Is PageRank really all that useful? I've heard mixed things about it, but I thought the consensus was that it wasn't the all-important number that it once was.

posted on Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 1:47 AM by James Archer


Great post! If you have any related soft copies like in PDF format, would be very helpful. Thanks A Ton.

posted on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 3:22 AM by Moses Rozario


Thank you for this post! We are trying to learn as much as we can about SEO to help ourselves and our clients and this was GOLD.

posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 9:52 AM by Andi Narvaez


I will use all these tips on my Website and relax on one of my "sofas

posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 10:30 AM by Sofas


your business model embodies the phrase "if you want people to know how smart you are, give away free information". I know this is just a sample of what you all can do. Hope it's all paying off for you. Everyone I have talked to with your organization is best of class..

posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 7:51 PM by cheri riley


great little article, I'm always busy and never get chance to read most blogs, this was concise and gave me loads of places for further reading so I can focus my time better. Thanks!

posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 at 5:53 AM by stuart turner


Thank you for this tips.

posted on Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 9:51 AM by Perfect


Thank you for the post.

posted on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 7:50 AM by sekhar


Great post and very useful information. This post along with the Website grader has been very helpful in identifying opportunities for SEO. Thanks!

posted on Wednesday, March 04, 2009 at 5:59 PM by Scott


OK, so I have read the article. I have done what you said. My site has gone from a 27 to a 69. I'll tell you how it goes!

posted on Wednesday, March 04, 2009 at 8:37 PM by Ed Rafacz


Thanks for the info!

posted on Sunday, March 08, 2009 at 8:18 PM by Winamp Skin


gr8 article short crisp............thanks a lot 

posted on Monday, April 27, 2009 at 3:36 PM by star


Thanks for the help. Please mention that your readers can further expand their web presence by creating a page on WikiCity, which provides a city wiki for every city: http://www.wikicity.com/wiki/Category:States

posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 9:43 AM by Pat


Oops! Main page link: 
 
 
 
www.WikiCity.com 
 
 
 
Thanks!

posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 9:44 AM by Pat


wow... very good information thanks!

posted on Friday, July 10, 2009 at 10:51 AM by mengembalikan jati diri bangsa


Great Information Source!!! Lot of useful information to put in practice. Keep the great job. Congratulations.

posted on Friday, July 10, 2009 at 6:52 PM by Peter


Its good information but i need one conformation about gambling sites. its posible do these process for gambling sites?

posted on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 2:07 AM by robyn


tiffany

posted on Monday, August 03, 2009 at 3:49 AM by ed hardy


Thanks I was looking for this!

posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 11:48 AM by wrought iron furniture


It is quite common that women usually have the desire to buy new jewelries which are seemed to be better than the old ones. links of london bracelet People under this constellation are usual confident, dynamic and with a sense of humor.

posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 8:55 PM by links of london


Comments have been closed for this article.