Improve your search ranking

Ever wonder why some sites rank higher in search engines than others? Search engine databases, which contain the contents of billions of pages, use a proprietary formula (or algorithm) to score the relevancy of websites for each search query. The highest ranking or most relevant websites for a query are listed first in the search results.

There are more than 100 criteria used for ranking a page, and each carries a different weight of importance. Some criteria we can control and others we can't do anything about. One of the most important criteria that we have control over is body content. The following tweaks can help your web pages rank higher.

Headers, Bullets etc.
Make your copy look like a document with headings, bullets, bolding, italics and other formatting. Also, use keywords that relate to the main topic in your headings and bold face copy.

Location, Location, Location
The closer to the top of the page the keywords or keyword phrases that best identify your topic are placed, the better. Try to have keywords and key phrases appear in the opening sentence of the first paragraph and appear at least once in each paragraph.

Write Good Copy
Not only does it help satisfy the need for keywords and keyword phrases, it provides value to readers, encouraging them to bookmark your site and return frequently.

Root Word
Search engines identify root words that might be pluralised or tensed so don't discount them in your copy.

Word Count
A minimum target per page is 250 to 300 words.

Title Tag
Put your primary keywords or keyword phrases in your title tag. Title tags don't need to be long, but should highlight the main topic.
Example: <title>Tripod web hosting. - Free web hosting!</title>

Harmony
While most search engines don't rank a website based on the description tag, having the primary keywords appear in the title, description and body content create a harmony to your pages that enhances validity.