The SEO Check-list

The most important thing to remember while carrying out search engine optimization is to have a plan, taking an ‘as it happens’ approach to search engine optimization will not only be a risky exploit, but one that makes it impossible for you to manage all the different aspects of SEO. Below is a basic check-list that you should keep in mind before you finish your optimization.

a) Titles, meta tags and various elements

The initial step after isolation of keywords is to make sure your website is correctly formatted and that all the proper elements like H1, H2 etc have been incorporated into each web page on the website. In addition also take care that all images are properly tagged with alt property of the IMG tag. Write out proper meta tags and titles (read the entry on meta tags and various tags for further details).

b) Content

Make sure that all content on the site is well written, is free from typos and if possible has been optimized with the keywords that you are targeting. There should be a balance between the relevance of the content and the keyword density. Especially since LSI, content has become even more important (Read the blog entry on LSI for further details)

c) Links

Categorise the links on your web pages as essential and non essential, the non essential links should ideally have the nofollow property inserted into the <a href=>, this ensures that the page rank of your website is not lowered. There should be an even distribution of links all over the website.

d) Site map

Ignore the site map at your peril, a site map not only helps in indexing of all your web pages by search engines, but also helps in even distribution of links across the site, a well made site map is essential for any search engine optimization effort.

e) Link Building

The link building process of search engine optimization is vital to the success of any project, there is already a detailed entry on link building on this site, in addition you should also read the blog entry on LSI. All in all, the most vital thing to remember is to keep a realistic approach to link building and not get carried away.

The check-list above is just the bare essentials of search engine optimization, depending on the type of site being optimized and the overall objective, the check-list will vary, however rest assured the basics of the entire process will essentially remain the same.

Rishi Modi