This is not all you need to know – but the ABC’s of SEO is a good place to start!

Be advised from the beginning: The title of this article IS NOT “Everything you need to know about…” – it is only “The ABC’s of SEO”. ABC’s implies that we are discussing only the basic building blocks on which a fuller understanding of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be built. Can you remember – ‘way back when you were just learning to read – having to first learn the letters, and their related phonetic sounds? That’s similar to what we are doing with SEO!

Just as a child who is learning the names and sounds of letters is not expected to fully understand advanced literature, so you will not achieve complete understanding of SEO by reading this document. You must start somewhere, though, and if you hope to be successful in writing for a search engine driven market, you must master the ABC’s of SEO.

The ABC’s of SEO? – What’s SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a basic process which enables Google (and other search engines) to quickly and efficiently locate articles which deal with topics designated in a web search. A primary ingredient of the SEO search process is the selection of the best keyword (or words). The term “keyword” refers to the words and phrases with which users are likely to search for their chosen topic. Although the term keyword is singular, in practice, it often refers to a combination of two or more words, such as the phrase “search engine optimization”.

What do the search engines want?

Look back at what you have already read, and at the beginning, you will see “A” and “B”. The first rule of SEO (A) is that the keyword is to be included in the title. In this case, our primary keyword is SEO. OK, there it is; the last word of the title. The second rule (B) is that the Primary Keyword is to be repeated in the first sentence of text. Yes, there it is – the very last word of the first sentence. (And it’s also in the subtitle.)

When SEO is done right, there are subsidiary keywords, as well. Let’s say that the last phrase of the title of this article is a secondary keyword. There it is, right in the title. Yes, it’s in the first sentence, as well. It’s important that the primary keyword be repeated in the last sentence of an article, too. Keep this in mind, check to see if it’s there!

Another important detail is “keyword density”. That means how frequently a given keyword appears within the article. There was a time when greater density automatically meant better page ranking – (definition: Ranking = How close to the first listed is your article?) – But the simple process of stuffing an article with keywords quickly rendered the entire process ludicrous. Some articles were so inflated with keywords that the articles themselves were useless, nearly unreadable.

Is that all there is to SEO? NO WAY!

It didn’t take long for Google to improve on the search algorithms. There has been an ongoing improvement process, as search engines became more sophisticated. They have “learned” to actually evaluate content, as opposed to just seeking concentrations of search terms. The latest Google incarnation (Panda) is literally designed to think like a human. Under the newest algorithms, inflated, keyword laden, fluffed articles are automatically degraded, buried in “the middle of the pack” – or lower!

If you want to completely understand the process, you need to go far beyond the ABC’s of SEO, but in a nutshell, try for high quality, meaningful articles which actually provide useful information. Then go back over them, make sure that the primary keyword (or phrase) is in there, at a concentration of at least 1-1/2% - 4%.

This means that any given word or phrase should occur somewhere between 1-1/2 – 4 times per hundred words. An article of 750 words, for example, should contain the chosen keyword somewhere between 12 – 30 times. This article has 802 (Count ‘em!). This means we need to see “SEO” in this article at least 12 times, not more than 32 times. Want to count? (I found 19.) Now, be sure there are some good secondary keywords, as well.

To fully evaluate primary and secondary keywords, you will need to obtain a good keyword tool, such as Wordtracker. Before you are ready for Wordtracker, though, you must master the ABC’s of SEO.

There is much more to learn, such as effective internet marketing using LSI and theming, but you’ve got to start somewhere. If you hope to succeed in ecommerce and online marketing, you must learn effective search engine optimization. The ABC’s of SEO is a good place to begin.