7 Tips on How to Boost your PageRank

Apr 3
08:06

2008

Bjorn Brands

Bjorn Brands

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Search engines want to lead users to the most relevant information that is available online for any given keyword. With these 7 tips we are going to make sure Internet users will find your relevant page for a specific keyword, through the search engines.

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Search engines have quickly developed into the main interfaces through which most internet users find products,7 Tips on How to Boost your PageRank Articles services, and information online.

In fact, "just Google it" has become a common phrase in the English language. As a result, it is extremely important for your site to get maximum exposure in search engines.

Search engines want to lead users to the most relevant information that is available online for any given keyword. So focus on the user and ask yourself the question, "Is my page the most relevant page for this keyword online?" If the answer is yes, and you offer the best content for this keyword then you are well on your way.

With these 7 tips we are going to make sure Internet users will find your relevant page for a specific keyword, through the search engines.

1) Optimize your text links.

The anchor text in your text links is one of the MOST important aspects of SEO. It should always include the keywords that you are optimizing for. Here is an example for the keyword phrase "beginner lessons."

This is bad: Click Here The mistake is that the anchor text says Click here.

Here is a better way: Beginner Lessons

Good! The anchor text is now optimized. All links pointing to this page should have the keyword in the anchor text.

2) Use keyword stemming.

Make sure to include all the variations of the keyword that you are optimizing for. Here is an example of keyword stemming. The keyword "optimization" has variations such as "optimal," "optimize," and "optimum."

If you include all of the keyword stems (similar words) you can help your search engine ranking. Here is a free tool to identify all of the similar words and stems for a given keyword: http://www.usingenglish.com/resources/wordcheck/index.php?word=optimization

3) Optimize image descriptions.

Every image can include a description called the "alt text." Make sure that the alt text describes the image and includes the relevant keywords where appropriate.

4) Optimize your site structure.

Every "important" page on your site should link to every other "important" page on your site.

5) Only go two levels deep.

Make sure that your site structure is such that pages are only two levels deep (two clicks away from the home page).

This is very important because even if your landing page is deemed to be relevant, the deeper pages are buried in your site the less relevant they are deemed by search engines.

Here is an example of an good site structure that is two levels deep. www.homepage.com

1 page deep. www.homepage.com/products

2 pages deep:www.homepage.com/products/product1

1 page deep: www.homepage.com/services

2 pages deep:www.homepage.com/services/service1

It all has to do with PageRank and the reputation of a site. You want to get backward links that point to your main page to build your PageRank.

However, even if your main page has a high PageRank of say 6 then the pages inside your site don't all have a PageRank of 6. PageRank is not totally passed along. If a page is one click away from the homepage then it will normally have a PageRank of 5 in this case and if it is 2 clicks away 4, etc. That is why you never want to exceed 2 clicks.

Here is a very bad example that you should avoid.

1 page deep: www.homepage.com/product_categories

2 pages deep: www.homepage.com/products/category1

3 pages deep: www.homepage.com/products/category1/product1

In the above example it looks like it takes 3 clicks to get to "Product1"

1. Home page

2. Products page

3. Product1

That means it is 3 pages deep or away from the home page. In other words, where possible, make sure that all of your pages are no more than two clicks (text links) away from the home page. For a small business that should be very easy to achieve.

6) Add and optimize a sitemap.

Include a link to the sitemap in the footer of your home page. A sitemap contains links to every page of your site. Be sure to optimize all the anchor text links on your sitemap.

7) Add good outbound links.

From your key content pages, include links to the best and most relevant content sites. Linking to related authority sites shows that you are trying to help users find the best content and will help you with SEO.

The only way to get top placement in search engines is to provide very compelling information. Search engines don't read information like humans do. They follow specific rules.

Follow these rules to rapidly boost your ranking in search engines.