Looking Beneath a Website’s Covers
Who says you can’t get anything for free anymore?
I was researching html validation, search engine spiders, and search engine performance today and came across a few websites that made my job a lot easier. I’ve linked them below, so if you have a website or blog, you’ll want give them a look when you get a chance. On second thought - make a chance, the information’s THAT important.
Free Internet Marketing and SEO Tools - I was particularly impressed with #17, the Spider Viewer. It allows you to see your page as a Search Engine Spider would. I ran some of my websites through and was amazed at the lack of some keywords as well as the abundance of some utter nonesense! I have a little work to do.
Dr. Watson’s HTML Validator - Again, you enter your url, then you’re presented with a list of “errors” found in your html. Rest assured, there’ll be errors. I read an article on About.com and the author said that their own website had lots of errors. It does, however, point out some basic html validating errors that could be causing problems in other browsers and/or wreaking havoc in your search engine performance.
Below the list of errors found, you’ll be able to see your html code with numbers before each line - it makes it a cinch to find exactly where the problems lie. Did I find any errors on my websites? Again… I have work to do.
I’m terrible about getting all caught up in the pretties of a website or blog - the images, the colors (I’m waaay into colors.). Sometimes I have to handcuff myself to the desk and make myself dig behind the scenes….look under the covers, so to speak.
The main reason I launched myself into this research was because one of my websites (Buttermilk Press) (and corresponding blogs, Get Cooking) is performing about as miserably in GOOGLE as it possibly can. I guess there’s just so much competition in the field of recipes, it’s tough to break into the top pages.
The websites above gave me a wealth of information, though, so I may have a shot now. With enough effort, who knows, I might even land in the top 5,000!!!
If you happen to be sitting on any SEO knowledge you’d like to pass on to me, I’d welcome it with open arms. After all, how will the world enjoy my amazing buttermilk biscuit recipes if they never find them?! Geez.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, my name is Chris Lyons, I am in the process of checking out the sites you mentioned. You also mentioned that you would like anyone with SEO info to post it.
One of the most overlooked aspects of generating a high traffic website is original, valuable content. The content should have enough keywords to let spiders know what the page is about but not so many that it looks like “keyword spam”. There should be a specific keyword featured throughout the page that is your main keyword. This helps with SE ranking and helps with targeted ads for adsense.
Keep in mind though that the content needs to be of value to humans also, not just spiders. After all spiders don’t buy anything do they?
This may sound super simple and not so sophisticated but it’s what is being considered by SE’s like Google nowadays. Look at the highest traffic sites in the world, they generally provide high value information. There is one self help site called stevepavlina.com, this is a self help site with over one million visitors per month and he isn’t very cutting edge in the SEO side of things, he just provides loads of original content.
There is no point trying to chase algorithms because there are probably 1 or 2 people in the world who truly know how Google’s algos work. People get so caught up in all the latest SEO magic bullet techniques that they often miss the boat on what really works and that is content. It’s fine for the huge companies because they have money to spend on cutting edge technology but for those that are smaller scale, we need to think about other ways. In the long run this method will help sustain massive traffic.
I predict a change in the way Google operates. In the near future Google will find a way for their technology to sort through sites that are just commercial with no valuable information and those that give enormous value through original content. Pretty soon the sites that have put the most effort into writing targeted content will be the ones at the top. This is what Google wants, it benefits them and the site owner.
I run a company that teaches human potential and peak performance. Check out an example of a site that provides valuable content and visit mine. It’s constantly in a state of growth.
http://www.endlesshumanpotential.com
Wow, Chris, thanks SO MUCH. Great information! I’ll definitely check out the link you gave.
I really appreciate it. - Joi
Leave a Comment